Are you Struggling, Comfortable or Rich ?

[buggerlugs]

http://www.news.com.au/finance/money...-1226910189131
Old mate on $25,000 a year spends his money very carefully, certainly living within his means.......

[Charliewool]

The whole three...
Can vary on a daily, weekly, monthly basis.
And heavily influenced by planet alignment (and where the Mrs has hidden her purse)

[ROOSTA]

Interesting read.. With all the hoohah going on at the moment it does tend to make you reflect.. In our household we are very fortunate, dont go without much, have enough to support a friend and a family member who arent so lucky, however at the end of each month the bank balance hasnt gone up much.. If I or the missus went total scrooge we could probably knock over the mortgage in a few years, but whats the point? We enjoy our lifestyle however if these changes come in it would probably force us to re-evaluate things..

[Trevor 57]

comfrtable, but we have worked hard for it, and I certainly don't take it for granted because for many many years we struggled

[zilo]

I'm rich cause I don't owe anyone anything..

No mortgage and no loans....and a fantastic home.

Worked damned hard to get that way though.

[XBROO]

Struggling at the moment but was to be expected, be right again when I get back to being employed.

[buggerlugs]

I often think that I couldn't give a bugger about winning lotto because I would then never appreciate how hard I have worked to get what I have ( if you can understand that !! )......

[GASWAGON]

I worked very hard for 10 years..........Then quit my job to try courier work....What a watse of time and money that was! Now i am still unemployd 12 monts later. Be careful wot you take on as 'full time' work.

Thought Imwould try forklift operating work....Found out its all casual/semi permannet work that does'nt pay to well..........Goin back o the tools now fixing bloody forklifts.

[mendyxr6]

I'd have to say I'm pretty comfortable.
Married, 5 kids, single income, investment property, solid well paying employment with heaps of perks

[Brendo_GSUte]

I'ld say im comfortable but theres always the sword of damocles above my head should projects dry up or theres a stroke of a pen for investors to get an extra 2c out of their share prices.

But this is where the communist in me comes out. Feel for the guy that is on 25k per year and say yeh people on or above 150k should get taxed harder with a maximum wage of 500k. I mean who needs 500k a year, spread the wealth.

The reason why were in a stuttering economy is becasue the rich get richer by soaking up what little money is out there

[Lotte]

Depends on the definitions of each.
I'm "poor" because I'm renting and saving for a home deposit, meaning I have to watch my money in much the way I did as a student.
I'm "comfortable" because it's much more manageable than when I was a student.
I'm "rich" because if I chose to just rent, or ended up buying, I'd have a lot more disposable income.

Depends on definition and your perspective based on experiences.

[danzvtil]

Its all got to do with perspective, if you have a roof over your head with running water, you are richer than 80% of the worlds population.
My needs are simple, I have a job, if im sick I go to hospital, if im hungry I go to the supermarket, if I need fuel I can go an fill up at anytime with no restrictions, my daughter is at a great little school which costs a pretty penny, but will set her up for life.
I cant take my money with me when I die, im comfortable.

[Ford_The_Win]

I'm doing ok and proud of what I have achieved. I grew up dirt poor with a struggling single mother, worked hard and put myself through two uni degrees. Now I am reaping the sweet rewards and always looking for new opportunities to better myself. I have seen many people with more opportunities than me squander them. It is a very satisfying feeling to look at everything I have done and know it was all my own doing. Regardless of what you may earn or have, that feeling is what makes me feel rich.

[ebxr8240]

For the younger guys.. About 25 years ago I came into some $$$ I bought two investment properties and everyone said I was crazy !!! $90k and $112K back then..
I worked all the O.T I could. Now nearly 61 and its working out for me..
I know plenty of my work mates etc would have p!ssed it up against the wall...
Not saying real estate is the way to go.. Just over the years things appreciate..
You can hardly buy a house in Sydney under $500k now..

I would say we are doing O/K ..??

[Yellow_Festiva]

I think rich can be defined as not owing anything to the bank, owning the roof over your head and the car you drive and having enough money in the back or invested to live comfortably off the income without having to work.

That's certainly not me (yet) but I'm certainly not struggling.

[AndyXR6T]

Admittedly I'm between comfortable and struggling. We live week to week but with a mortgage, car and 3 kids I think we are doing well. I don't have excess cash flow to do 'whatever' I want but being smart with our money allows us to make sure our kids are in a great school, have a decent roof over their heads and are spoilt rotten with toys etc. I'm 27 and understand that if I bust my balls for a few more years to come I can get into the 'comfortable' bracket and slow down a little

[davenl5l]

comfortable despite being on a carers payment........BUT.... I bought a coupe project so now no money and addicted to ebay and gumtree (insert happy sad sob here)

[Loonar]

Definitely struggling, made redundant nearly 2 years ago, can't get a look in anywhere (ageism is alive and well ). Missus hard working and no huge income... nothing in reserve, one hiccup could lose house, not to mention prob. unable to pay rego. on the XW next time !!!

[The G6ET Spot]

It all goes in swings and roundabouts.
I would never have described myself as rich but we were quite comfortable.

But in the past 2 years my wifes job has gone from full time to casual with around 20 hours a week.

Then I got sick early last year and have been in and out of hospital, missed a total of 7 months work in that time. 3 months on this last episode.

So with little income coming in and bills still needing to be paid we are struggling at the moment but I know that it will turn around soon.

[aussiblue]

Not sure yet. Just retired and hopefully I can live modestly comfortably on my super. Although at the moment I am living on my rapidly declining emergency savings as my super fund is taking its own sweet time handing over my money so I can manage it (I think they are a bit narky that I didn't think their allocated pension plan was value for money). I also have missus and adult disabled son at home to support so I will have to be careful. And no pension of course.

[XBROO]

Originally Posted by Loonar

Definitely struggling, made redundant nearly 2 years ago, can't get a look in anywhere (ageism is alive and well ). Missus hard working and no huge income... nothing in reserve, one hiccup could lose house, not to mention prob. unable to pay rego. on the XW next time !!!

I'm feeling you mate, just hang in there you'll right yourself sooner or later.

[NAK302]

Originally Posted by davenl5l

comfortable despite being on a carers payment........BUT.... I bought a coupe project so now no money and addicted to ebay and gumtree (insert happy sad sob here)

carers payment from the government, yeah?
so tax payers paid for your project/ebay/gumtree, yeah?

[tut0r]

I'd say I am in the struggling section right about now, In the process of starting my own business the last year so its been me mostly investing all the money I have into gear and advertising. I'm only 26 mind you, but have to always assess if I'm doing the right thing or not!

P.S I am a painter so its highly competitive to get work now days :(

[duaned]

I would say we are "comfortable". As DINK's, we own our 7 year old home, own our 2 cars and van outright and have no loans etc. WE generally get what we want but are not in a position to splurge out on big ticket items without major consideration. But I would like to be in the "rich" category though.

[Bushbasher]

Originally Posted by GT-0733

carers payment from the government, yeah?
so tax payers paid for your project/ebay/gumtree, yeah?

So by that little back handed dig I take it you'd rather the person he's caring for is shipped off to a facility, yeah?
At the govt.s' expense at twice the cost or more, yeah?,
..and he should be out looking for a job, yeah?

[Pepscobra]

I consider myself filthy rich... beautiful wife, gorgeous 18 month old son, FPV in the garage.

... got not much money though.

[NAK302]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

So by that little back handed dig I take it you'd rather the person he's caring for is shipped off to a facility, yeah?
At the govt.s' expense at twice the cost or more, yeah?,
..and he should be out looking for a job, yeah?

no, i'd suggest he needs to be a bit more careful about telling everyone how he spends his taxpayers pay in a time when some of us are going to get slammed by another fkng levy.

and my response to him has ** all to do with you anyway, yeah?

[LG17]

I'm just struggling to be comfortably rich!

[FormulaFG]

Originally Posted by Pepscobra

I consider myself filthy rich... beautiful wife, gorgeous 18 month old son, FPV in the garage.

... got not much money though.

In that case I would consider you wealthy, not rich.

Congrats though, I envy you.

[revcore]

I'm definately struggling...Being on the DSP due to my medical condition makes life difficult as it is and it's set to get even more difficult once Hockey hands down his budget which outlines tough financial cuts to both aged and disabled pensioners :(