Do you live within your means and how?

I'm a nut for smoothies, and they're still expensive to make at home, but not as much as plopping $5 down on one at a smoothie shop or at Jamba Juice.

A bag of frozen strawberries is like $3, plus bananas ($1), plus the tub of fat-free vanilla yogurt ($2), plus the skim milk ($3 per gallon) ... yikes. But for that $7 or so a week, I'll get four-five smoothies for the price of one at a store.

 

Just because they have it . . . doesn't necessarily mean they can afford it.

Yeah, but you think Gretchen is hotter than Shania.

So you obviously have some disturbing issues far more serious than making ends meet.

 

I can't deny that. Fortunately I have the money to seek counseling.

 

I'm wondering how much adult peer pressure has to do with spending habits. For example, I visited my friend's new house a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty enormous. Of course, he told me it's not easy to afford, especially with a newborn and his wife out of work ... but you still start to feel silly to show off your house after seeing someone else's that's a lot bigger, better decorated, etc. It's almost like life is a poker game, and everyone's hand is their house - or their things in general. That's how you show that you're winning this game.

Then again, I visit another friend who lives in an urban neighborhood, very small house, and we sit in his driveway and drink cheap beer and listen to music for hours on end and never once do I think to judge him for a second.

So maybe we internalize a lot of this stuff ... maybe no one really cares whether someone else has nice things.

But it's kind of sad how it ends up working out - friendships can drift apart in adulthood because of incomes.

 

This can be tough. I have one wealthy friend who can be a little clueless about the fact that not everyone has the same kind of money she does. I went shopping with her recently (probably a mistake) and it was hard to not be able to buy nearly as much stuff as she did, especially while she was egging me on to spend more than I was spending. She's also in the process of building a new house (more like a mansion) and it's sometimes hard to listen to her talk about her decorator, designer and architect, all of whom she's probably paying more than I make in a year. I just have to take a breath, know that I probably wouldn't be happy if I were in her shoes (seriously) and try to be content with what I have. It's not always easy, but you have to accept reality and know that being jealous isn't going to get you anywhere.

The flip side to this is that she sometimes says how jealous she is of me and my life (she's married, 3 kids; I'm single) and I know she wouldn't be friends with me if she based friendship solely on living similar lifestyles. So yeah, we internalize and judge ourselves much more harshly than we do others.

 

Here's my situation:

I am about to enter my sophomore year of college. I have always been a forward thinker in general. So when I decided I was going to go into the journalism business, I knew that I would not make that much money, especially starting out. Therefore, from the moment I made that decision I started to look toward the future financially. I worked my butt off in school to finish near the top of my class, I did well on the SAT's and ACT's and as a result I got a really good academic scholarship to college. For that reason I have been able to put some money away and right now I have about $2500 in my checking account for general spending and college expenses like books and such. I also have a little over $4000 in a CD and that is where advice from you guys would come in. I want to take the next step and begin really investing it so that by the time I am out of school I can still live fairly comfortably even on a measly salary. Where would be the best places to invest it? I realized that some suggestions have already been mentioned on this thread, but I was wondering what would be best for my particular situation. Thanks for any and all advice.

 

You've already shown intelligence and forward thinking far beyond myself and most everyone else on this board.

But if it's investment advice you want . . .

"Plastics."

[/thegraduate]

 

Interesting take. When I visit my sister, I experience some of this. My brother-in-law makes close to $400,000 a year. I, uh, don't. So they're pretty cool about not sweating stuff when I come out to visit. I'll buy a case of beer for the boat, but if I start going to buy food and stuff, they'll say ... "c'mon, don't worry about it." We've got you covered there. It's nice in a way. I know I'm never going to be in that tax bracket. But I don't want to look like I'm taking advantage of the generosity. We went to the bar at the marina a couple of nights, and I went to pay for parts of the tab, and my BIL wouldn't have any of it. It's kind of an unspoken thing. He knows he can afford $150 tabs. I know I can't. As long as I don't sit there and binge on Courvasier or whatever and really run it up, there's no issue. Plus, I spent a bunch of money just getting out there (plane, rental car, etc.)

 

Well, act like it's a story you have to write and do some research.

 

Yup. I do make a bit more than that, but not enough more that I should stay out of the discussion.

Single. No car. Don't smoke or drink. Perfect health. Max 401K match. Max Roth IRA contribution. Comparison shop for the top CD rates.

My father retired at 56 and I want to beat (or at least tie) him.

 

One of my grandfathers is 83 and still works 20 hours per week. He's worth several million, but won't retire. He tried it once back in his early 60s, said he was bored and went back to work.

My father is 68 and still working even though he could easily retire. Plans to for as long as he can. He still travels when he wants. When I ask him about it, he says that he's too young to quit working.

I have a feeling I'll be the same way.

 

When I was younger I thought I'd work until the grave too but then I got a job with sweet hours that gave me plenty of time for myself and saw what an awesome time my Dad has with every hour his own.

I can definitely do the life of Riley thing. No doubt about it.