Are you well off?

I recently bought a house and I'm getting married next week and I haven't completely emptied the bank account, so I'm doing ok. I don't know about 'well off', but comfortable for now at least. I don't come from money, but I have a decent software development job and I don't buy things I don't need. Unless I really want them.

Yes and no. I'm early 20s, in college, live at home and work part time. Aside from running a car and giving my mam a few bob, all my money is mine, so I can afford to spend it. I just try not to as much as possible, I try to save so in the future money won't be a worry to me. But wealth is relative. Sure, right now I'm comfortable, but only because I don't have big overheads at the moment.

Have my own place and a few quid in the bank if I need it, driving an oul 04 Golf that gets me around and usually get a sun holiday every 2 years.

I've never had a well paid job but I came from a poor backround so I don't spend money on things I don't need and I'm able to have a reasonably good life on the money I earn.

I have no mortgage or rent. I own my house (and farm and some land) outright and to be perfectly honest, that alone makes me feel "well off". I feel that, especially in the current climate, you can't put a price on not owing any money to any financial institution.

I am under no illusion about how lucky I am and I don't take it for granted. I still make sure to save money for the "just in case" scenarios even though, the reality is that I'm very comfortable. If something did suddenly crop up, it's not like I'd be unable to pay mortgage or rent and be under a lot of pressure in that regard.

On the outside though, my husband and I aren't flashy and I would say people would not necessarily think we are "well off". Rather than driving expensive cars and having loads of expensive shit, our house is quite small but it's *all* ours. We don't have an expensive extension, 5 bedrooms that we don't use, or anything like that.
What we can do with our relative financial comfort is go to nice restaurants for meals regularly, get up on a Saturday morning and decide to go wherever we want, go to every gig and festival we want to go to without having to save in advance. We also like to look after our friends, who we know would do the same for us if the tables were turned.

I think people having "nice things" isn't the best indicator of being "well off". There's a guy local to where I live, in debt up to his eyeballs, the whole community knows about it but the whole family go around in leased bmws and mercs so they *look* "well off".

I had a terrible childhood, I was abused and neglected and I know what it's like to have nothing, to have less than nothing. I remember my mother saying "no" to everything and then beating the shit out of me for daring to ask. I remember going without food for days. I remember wetting myself with fear and I remember promising myself over and over that I would not live that life as an adult.

Not really, but I've little interest in gathering wealth

im comfortable at 40.

decent job pays well but we are a single income family so its gotta cover wife , 3 kids, 2 cars, mortgage.. it covers all i need.

i get out once a month and do gym/boxing few times a week.
kids do their activities.

prob need to be a little more frugal cos saving anything is proving to be difficult.

edit

apart from mortgage i am debt free so that pleases me.

No. I have a decent job but a good few outgoings so im just chipping away at that every month. I was poor growing up and it left a fairly serious mark on me when it comes to self esteem as I equated money with how worthy a person you are. Its only when I travelled to genuinely poor countries and to see through the absolute crap of keeping up with the Jones in this country that I can appreciate myself.

Definitely not well off. Although I do own a lovely house which only has teeny tiny mortgage repayments (couldn't rent a shoebox for the same).

I slaved in hospitality jobs for a decade when I went back to college to study law as a mature student in 2011. I had to (was fortunate enough to be able to) borrow enough money to supplement my income from waiting tables as I graduated and sought a training contract with a law firm.

I will finally qualify in 10 months time (after an 8 year process) and will prolly earn around the average industrial wage.

But no more waiting tables and it already feels more satisfying.

tempnam wrote: »

As the title says, are you well off? - i.e. are you comfortable, financially; do you have nice things like a big house, nice car, decent holidays every year, do you own property etc.?

If so, how did you get to your current situation?

Personally, I'm not. I have a very small modest house in a rough enough area, a small family, a car, and I work full time. Every month we cover all bills & expenses and then have a small amount left over until payday. We can't afford pensions, health insurance or to put much into savings.

I know a few people who seem to have a lot more in terms of disposable income, bigger house, etc. etc. But all these people seem to have received help along the way.

For example, one guy I know has a huge house outside Dublin on a big piece of land, has property in Ireland and UK, a decent job etc. - but he 'comes from money' - was sent to private boarding school and his family owned the land where he now lives. Other people I know are able to turn to their parents for help if they ever need it.

I'm aware that there are plenty of people worse off - homeless families etc. And i am grateful for the fact that I can provide a roof over my family's head.

So are you like me, or better or worse off?

I worked my ass off from the age of 12 to get where I am. I scrimped and saved and by 18 worked two jobs when not in education and one when I was. I also pushed every rule and boundary to the limit and took investment risks which sometimes cost me money.
A friend of my wife once commented to her “ isn’t your husband lucky to be where he is “ she told her that being married to a man who works 70-80 hour weeks is not as much fun as people think. I lost a bit in the crash but I’m probably comfortable by your definition.
We have two cars but they aren’t new and aren’t bought new don’t have paid tv and go out to dinner probably twice a month. There are investments made for the kids education. I don’t have a large disposable income but I’m in what I call a stable position as in if I lost my job I would be ok for a while and I don’t really worry about money.