You have the same concept of money as my father. Without social security or anything else he would have been able to retire at 50 and live well. I mean live well as in not change his lifestyle much. He ended up getting lucky and got bought out at the age of 45. They offered him a ton of money and stock and he could keep all of his benefits except vision insurance. So now he lives REALLY well. He still budgets his money and now he can buy any "big boy" toy he wants, and live the way he has always dreamed.

How did he do it? Well he made decent money. About average for then. But we never wore brand name clothes, we rarely ate out, my mom did her shopping with coupons at the store that did double coupons only on the days they did triple coupons. They saved money every place they could, put as much money away as possible, and forgot about the Jones. My favorite quote from him is "Are you working for your money, or is your money working for you?" Let your friends live how they want. They will regret their decisions when they see you and your DH retired years before them.

I don't envy them their things! I know we could buy/do those things, too, by just making different financial choices. I don't know if it's a case of envy at all--they're my friends, I wish them really well and hope all their choices turn out to be great ones. But it makes me reflect a little and wonder about the benefits to the "live now and let the future take care of itself" attitude. Like several other posters have said, I think the best thing is to strike a medium (live well now and appreciate what you have--neither of which necessarily require a lot of money--, but put some away for hard times or future big expenses, too). But it's tricky for me to find the balance. I want to learn to relax and let it go--but keep it under control.

I Agree with 3lynns Too!!

I Know Many People who are trust fund Babies - And they are living the good Life Debt free.

Also another Couple I know why Have a Wealthy Mother Who will loan them Money Interest Free for Their House and Cars.

They Set their payments too.
They Bought a House in 2000-
Paid 245,000 CASH
And they only Owe Mom 1200.00 a month until she dies i Guess .
They Drove a Land Rover Then too.
Paid With Moms Cash and paid Her Back 250.00 per month.
The mom is just happy to help.


And I know A Couple in Debt 45,000 ..... Well that was back in 2001!! NO clue about them now.
So....
No one really knows Unless you know The peoples story.

I'm not sure that there is a right or wrong answer to your question. This is really a matter of 'to each their own'. I have seen the benefit and downfall of both lifestyles. My in-laws spent their whole lives saving; not taking many vacations, not buying new cars, etc so they could save for retirement. They had grand plans for things to do after they retired. Those plans never happened because my mother-in-law passed away suddenly in September. On the other side, I have relatives who lived for the day and didn't plan for the future who are now paying the price for that. I'm hoping that my husband and I are finding a happy mix between investing in our future and living in today.

That's true. We have no debt except for our mortgage and that's by choice. Our kids go to private school, have private lessons for things, have a nice house. We sacrifice in other ways to pay for this stuff and still save. We drive older cars, don't eat out, don't really go out, buy thrift store and clearance clothes, etc. Everybody makes the choices that work for them.

My parents have a very different view of money than my husband and I due to their life circumstances. When I was a kid, we always went on vacation every summer and we ate out probably once a week. I have learned in my adult life that my parents had been living in debt for all of my childhood. Don't get me wrong, they still saved for retirement and they still owned a home, but they did have some debt to pay off. However, I also learned about why they made these choices. My grandmother on my mom's side died when she was 53 and my grandfather on my dad's side died at 42. They had both watched their parents die young and decided that they wanted to live life to the fullest as long as they had it. Does this mean they wasted money buying us designer jeans, etc? No - but they did make the choice to do a lot of things that led to fun times as a family and spending time with their children. My dad says now he might have done it differently because he will have to work a little longer before he can retire, but in general, I think they are happy with the choice they made because they have lots of wonderful memories and have visited some great places. I have always been frugal, but after having a conversation with my mom about this, I have started to reconsider how frugal I choose to be. It is all about choices and being happy with the ones you make.

I have my own spending style. While I do believe saving for retirement is a wise thing to do, have a little fun and enjoy life while you can. I do my best to live frugally and stay out of debt while trying to save for retirement even though it's hard since I don't make much and it seems sometimes money disappears as fast as I recieve it even when I try to pay myself first.

I think that people focus WAY to much on others instead of themselves. Just because they have money doesn't make them better or happier then me. Everyone should be saving a little bit of something for the future.....even if you don't make to that age....because you may make it!! I don't want to play the "what if game"! I will be prepared.

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SAHM to MacKenzie 09/10/03, Brooke 09/21/05, KayLynn 04/23/08 and WIFE to Fred 5 years!
~Live your life until LOVE is found...Or love will just get you down~

It reminds me of when we first bought our house, it was a major cosmetic fixer upper. Excellent bones but the plaster walls were crumbling in some of the rooms, the floors all needed to be refinished, ect. We had plenty of people tell us we were crazy to not take out a second morgage and finish the house right away all at once. We decided not to go into more debt and finish it all in cash when we could. It's been 3 years and all the walls are replaced, painted and insulated and we put new flooring in the kitchen, dining room and the family room. We did all the work ourselves. It looks pretty darn good I must say

Would I love all new wood floors? Yes. I'd love to put the second bath in upstairs and carpet all the bedrooms right now. Ya know what though, the floors upstairs may be ugly but they are fine and we are saving for the carpet and are doing it next summer. In cash.

To each their own I guess. What is right for me is not always right for someone else. We all try to do our best and I just pray that the people I know who have gotten themselves so far into debt and not saved a dime for retirement, college, ect. will make it out okay.

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Goals for 2008:
Pay off all credit card debt
Establish savings of $1000+

The people who blow and leave debt leave it for their families to pay. Just because you die and don't have to pay your debt doesn't mean your family gets a free ride. I don't think people really understand that.


Second senerio those people have to live with themselves. They aren't happy and if you really think about it you know they aren't. They fill themselves up with stuff to cover what is missing.

I do believe you have to find a balance and do some of both of the worlds without digging yourself into sever debt.

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