$100k salary, $50k lifestyle.

Completely agree with this and it may seem a little unfair to those on low incomes, but it’s not.
So many people are trying to achieve financial freedom on average incomes and I can’t understand why they don’t focus on increasing their incomes substantially to knock off decades from their working lives ?

The first part is undeniable and the habit must be ingrained asap.
The 2nd part is where some people get stuck.
When saving 5-10k/annum is a huge sacrifice and makes your life miserable, another approach would be best, like improving yourself so you can make more money in less time.

 

I don't spend a lot of money - we save fair bit. I don't want to accumulate more stuff than I need. Having a house full of stuff just adds to the stress/complexities of life.

I find the best days usually cost nothing - it's hanging out with the kids, family/friends, being active (surfing/riding, whatever).

Cheers

Jamie

 

Good on you both ! You worked for it so enjoy it , not sure how old you are but you might have 15-20 years left so enjoy it

 

Most of you dont go through the blood sweat and tears a few of us went through to get financially stable.

You didnt have a recession and interest rates at 21%
You didnt go out and drive a cab or pick up glasses in a pub .

Im still going thru my blood sweat and tears working weekends in jobs i hate , but you know what im enjoying it !

I dont hesitate nor ashamed of being poor but at least im working on becoming financially stable.
I had a work colleague recently have big basket of fruit delivered to my house because she felt sorry for me having to work weekends picking up glasses in a pub , im nearly 50 and im forced to do this because when i was younger we didnt have the help from the Govt you get now !

I feel lucky owning my own city apartment and a city IP outright but its not enough if something happens so im forced to not buy clothes etc and suffer to be financially independent in the future.

 

I will be 62 this year and the wife 63.

You cut us a bit short - our plan is to be around for at least another 30 years .

 

That's pretty low by PC standards. There are people on here squirrelling away money and only eating cabbage because they are living until 120 apparently.

 

wouldn't the fully paid off unit be providing you with enough extra pos cashflow to allow you to live a bit better and buy a few decent things?

 

I too, see this often.... a lot of people also don't appreciate the sacrifice it often takes to earn a largish income. This alone can encourage spending as you have far less "me time" so when you do, $$$ is the last thing on your mind.

 

Exactly.

As an example, I recently went back to fulltime job... I'm going to work now & don't yet know whether I'll get home in 5 days, 8 days or 11 days.....

9-5 sounds like kindergarten to me.

 

Yes that describes me. I went from minimum wage as a magazine editor (20kpa) to working at the UN (100kpa) in a year.

I accumulated many IPs, always cycling through, holding for under 5 years.

I travelled a lot, but it was always funded by working incountry (eg teaching ESL Italian kids then travel on the wages for a month)

I lived like a student, having fun but not spending 100k. 90% my income went to my mortgages for ten years.

Fast forward and by age 30 I had 1 million net. Now I have about 4 times that. Thanks to globalisation/China and the Sydney boom.

Now I spend money on kids, kids friends gifts, family gifts, friends gifts, food

 

Well done.

Watch out for the Tall @Poppy syndrome .

 

Good job @Poppy
You must be so glad you delayed the gratification back then so you can enjoy yourself now.

We were similar in going from a lowish income to higher incomes relatively quick, like 80k combined to 500k+ in a matter of months when an accidental business just grew.
Kept working super hard as always and didn't even think about spending more money than usual for a good 5 or 6 years while accumulating lots of property inducing forced savings.

I think it's those who's income increases very gradually over time who fall into the trap of continually slowly upgrading their lifestyles to match their incomes.
When it's done slowly over a long period of time it's not as noticeable.

 

did a quick count. me and wife spend about 40k a year .

i guess we are in the wrong end of the spectrum. this dont include mortgage....

there is a chinese saying

There is no such thing as saving money, just earn more.

 

Sounds about right.
Savings is the side effect of what happens when you earn more than you can spend, (without going down the path of instant lotto millionaires).

 

I like the Mad FIentist's take on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs applied to personal finances, shown diagrammatically here:



Most people exist at the bottom level and very few make it to the top. Making that last level jump up involves changing from a 'me' to 'we' mindset, something many struggle to do as previous levels have been mostly focused on themselves.