Broke, are the majority of us broke?

[Robby]

There is an interesting slant in this thread towards the hair-shirt ideology of never enjoying your money and just paying off the mortgage. It's amusing to me because I see exactly the same approach in my parents and in-laws. In their case it was to spend their working lives being mortgage slaves, but also continually trading up on the houses.

I'm not doing that. I'm not waiting until the mortgage is paid off before enjoying my money, because that will just make me tight and bitter.

Likewise, I don't really understand the mindset of spending nothing, saving everything, to retire early. If your job is that shit, do something more interesting.

I make enough to pay for everything I need to, and then a bit to save. When I have enough in the savings for something shiny, or some kind of work on the house, I spend it. The safety net is kept small, if something goes seriously wrong with the house or a vehicle I have insurance.

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[Robby]

[MarJay]

[Nobby the Bastard]

[Britabroad]

[pepperami]

[Nobby the Bastard]

[Britabroad]

[chickenstrip]

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[Britabroad]

[MarJay]

I'm not saying people shouldn't buy nice things. Especially where nice = longer lasting, more useful, better at the task at hand etc. I just happen to have some things that cost 5% of the cost of brand name things that do the job well enough for me.

For example, I could have gone for a Rukka Navigator suit which I believe is £2000 or something like that, but instead I got a Ixion jacket and no brand waterproof armoured overtrousers for £100, which seem to be waterproof and warm so far...?

I am just careful to know what I want, what I'm prepared to settle for and what is a priority. For example, I recently watched a Youtube video by a car Youtuber who was talking about stereo systems. He was showing a £60,000 stereo system, and saying stuff like "And you can even connect to it with Bluetooth!" Well, when sending audio over Bluetooth, it's compressed, so you won't hear any benefit over a system costing £50 let alone £5000 or anything in between. The cables alone cost £9000. I'm fairly certain the electrons don't travel any differently in £9000 cables than they do in £900 or even £90 cables.

I have an £80 ebay special amp, no CD player, no MP3 player etc, I just connect it to my PC - it also has bluetooth capability, and I use it with cheapish cable with my 1995 vintage JVC 80 watt (RMS) speakers. It sounds good enough for me. I don't think most people have ears that can actually hear the difference in a £60,000 stereo... and I work in the professional video and audio industry! Nobody I work with (even the 'creatives' would really claim otherwise. They swear by £1000 audio monitors to hang off of their professional audio gear... not £8000 a pair speakers.

I would like a nice car, and by nice I mean VERY nice, but I'm saving for it. I'm also aware that if I had kids I probably couldn't afford to do that, I'd have to settle for a car that worked and was reliable rather than something special. *shrug*.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[wr6133]

[arry]

[arry]

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[arry]

[P.]

I don't feel broke, I buy what I want when I want it / need it, I don't tend to struggle with money, there is plenty in the bank and I own my house, so I'd say I'm doing well above average.

I don't dress well, I don't really go out and I live at my desk, part work, part gaming. I drive a shitbox car because a nice car isn't something that interests me and if I was to buy a car, it would be something outrageous like an Aston or Supra, something equally flamboyant... so I just don't.

I haven't suffered in the slightest since the pandemic, its almost to the point where I could probably stop working and be OK, so again, probably well above average, but thats what a near fatal bike accident gets you.

[Britabroad]