Are you financially comfortable?

Kim_kim

PasturesNew wrote: »

In short, no. Compared to you, no way. Perpetually single person households will always be bottom of the heap.

I'm a single person household.
I live in a nice little semi, I run a car, I have a weekly cleaner, a lawn mowing service, I annually get a gardener in to cut back the hedges, I have someone come to my house and clean my car inside and out, someone else in to clean my oven and a window cleaner.
I use top of the range cosmetic and bathroom products and I buy decent clothing.
I don't feel bottom of the heap - thank you.

ETA I pay the full raft of bills too, nothing inherited or paid off.

BucksLady

Spirit wrote: »

Doing things is more important than owning things.

I agree with you and for me it's also about creating 'happy memories'.
I don't want to reach the end of my life with a shed load of money and unable to recall any happy times.

southoftheriver

We are comfortable but only because we don't have a mortgage or any children.

The latter will change by the end of the year! We're trying to save for a deposit but we live in one of the most expensive areas of the country (moving somewhere cheaper but still not cheap) which doesn't help.

[Deleted User]

Mid-30s couple here. We've got 2 kids, big-ish mortgage, new-ish car, weekly cleaner, fortnightly gardeners.. this year getting away on 2 cruises and a little UK break on the coast. The kids don't want for anything. We're blessed really.

Being comfortable, in the South east, is bloody tough. We've not overstretching by sending the kids private (the local schools are good), and we've stuck to one car.

ognum

Kim_kim wrote: »

I'm a single person household.
I live in a nice little semi, I run a car, I have a weekly cleaner, a lawn mowing service, I annually get a gardener in to cut back the hedges, I have someone come to my house and clean my car inside and out, someone else in to clean my oven and a window cleaner.
I use top of the range cosmetic and bathroom products and I buy decent clothing.
I don't feel bottom of the heap - thank you.

ETA I pay the full raft of bills too, nothing inherited or paid off.

It is very interesting the different things different people think make you 'comfortable'. We are all so different.

MortgageVirgin

Eight years ago, I was in big trouble. Red bills, money owed on store cards, living off my credit card and, in the last week before payday, paying by cheque to buy less than £10 of food, even letters from debt collectors. My car had been written off and it took a while for the insurance company to pay, so I was getting lifts to and from work. I remember being sent home ill once and not having enough money for a bus ride home, so I walked five miles, stopping to throw up along the way. I was too embarrassed to ask for help.

Then my dad was taken ill and needed someone around the house to help, so I moved back home paying rent, but nowhere near as much as living on my own. Slowly, I paid off the debts and now have paid off my student loan, have no credit card debts or loans or store cards, have bought a house with my partner and we can overpay on the mortgage and still save over £1000 each month.

I feel secure, unexpected bills are more than covered and I can afford to do and buy whatever I fancy. However, I am very careful and will never allow myself to sink so far into that hole again.

theoretica

I think being confortable depends on who you are at least as much as how much money is coming in. Some people, above a certain basic minimum, make themselves comfortable. I think this includes budgetting, being realistic about what you can have and valuing it and not envying other people too much.

Kim_kim

ognum wrote: »

It is very interesting the different things different people think make you 'comfortable'. We are all so different.

I think comfort is life's little luxuries.

Not the roof over your head & your private pension scheme - they are necessities.

FBaby

Being financially comfortable to me means that I don't have to worry about money whilst enjoying the lifestyle I aspire to. It means no worries now, but also if something were to happen impacting on our monthly income.

chucknorris

Very comfortable, I've just handed my notice in, I am retiring at the end of this December (aged almost 59), and since doing so, I have felt an inner calmness starting to take over.