Articles about "I used to be rich" fucking drive me crazy

[GilloD]

Via the Times,

The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments.That left me with take-home pay of $2,777, barely enough to make ends meet in a one-bedroom rental apartment.

Lesson 1: Don't get divorced.

Lesson 2: You can't get by, as one person, on 2777$ a month? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you. Fuck you. Fuck fuck fuck fuck you.

[GilloD]

Elsewhere in the same article:

Not surprisingly, Patty’s re-entry into the job market was bumpy. When Saks Fifth Avenue offered her a full-time job selling high-end clothing on commission — something she knew about and loved — she grabbed it. But with her take-home income averaging only about $2,400 a month, we didn’t make enough to cover our bills

what the fuuuu

[The Fake Shemp]

A decent one bedroom costs over $1,000 per month.  That's not including utilities.  What about groceries?  Car insurance?  Transportation costs?  Credit cards?  Student loans?

Living by yourself is costly, dude.

[Eric P]

A decent one bedroom costs over $1,000 per month. 

probably more depending on the area

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah.

[Draft]

$2,500 take home is probably what, like $3,500 total? So like $42,000 a year?

That's like barely OK, man. I mean, depending on where you live it might be anywhere from pretty good to barely OK. But it doesn't even begin to approach rich.

[tehjaybo]

$2,500 take home is probably what, like $3,500 total? So like $42,000 a year?

That's like barely OK, man. I mean, depending on where you live it might be anywhere from pretty good to barely OK. But it doesn't even begin to approach rich.

Easily double what I make.

[Mr. Gundam]

My mortgage is just under $3,000 a month.

[The Fake Shemp]

MUST BE NICE TO BE RICH

[Mr. Gundam]

Wait, you dudes are paying $3K for a house monthly? Is that bank credit or rent?

We bought our house, so we're paying off the mortgage. I'm guessing that's what bank credit is.

[Mr. Gundam]

Wait, you dudes are paying $3K for a house monthly? Is that bank credit or rent?

We bought our house, so we're paying off the mortgage. I'm guessing that's what bank credit is.

How's the rent on top of that $3K?

You must be filthy rich.

Rent? You don't pay rent when you buy a house, you pay the mortgage each month instead. Instead of paying rent, my wife and I are paying off our home loan.

And we're far from rich.

[Flannel Boy]

did you get your raise?  

[T234]

I make $7.20 an hour. It sucks, the end.

AND THIS IS THE MOST I'VE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE

[Cravis]

For most people it doesn't matter how much you make, you'll always spend more. I saw a couple who made 230K a year and they had close to 200K in credit card debt alone. The husband was getting his pay cut in half and they had no clue what they were going to do. Champagne tastes on a beer budget...

[GilloD]

It's just like. For a few years now my wife and I have been like just breaking even. Neither of us makes very much money (Combined we pulled in about 20k in 2007, closer to 40 for 2008) and between rent and student loans and expenses, we barely have a couple extra bucks at the end of the month. Recently I got a large-ish (About 5k) raise and that gave us some breathing room, but. We did it! We got a lot of shit off the street, we carried a couch for half a mile, we payed strangers to use their pick-up truck. We DIY'ed as much as possible. I wouldn't change a thing.

And so when I see some fuck up be like, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can't get by on 3000 dollars a month", it's like. Are you kidding me? You can, you just don't want to.

That's what drives me nutty.

[Smooth Groove]

Making a small salary isn't as bad as having to compete with a sister who is going to be making a lot of money. 

In 3 years, my sister will be making at least $300,000 a year.  It drives me nuts whenever I think that I might not make as much as her, especially since I'm supposedly smarter than her. 

[Tauntaun]

I still owe you a movie date GilloD.     I hope you like popcorn.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I get the big tub for my big love stick.

[close]

[Eric P]

Making a small salary isn't as bad as having to compete with a sister who is going to be making a lot of money. 

In 3 years, my sister will be making at least $300,000 a year.  It drives me nuts whenever I think that I might not make as much as her, especially since I'm supposedly smarter than her. 

i wish i had some ambition

[Draft]

$2,500 take home is probably what, like $3,500 total? So like $42,000 a year?

That's like barely OK, man. I mean, depending on where you live it might be anywhere from pretty good to barely OK. But it doesn't even begin to approach rich.

Easily double what I make.

So you're poor.

I'm sorry.

But your poorness doesn't then make $42,000 a year some amazing sum of money.

[Flannel Boy]

If you've never had a high income, it's difficult to feel that you're entitled to one. But once you've been accustomed to a certain income and the lifestyle that comes with it, you'll feel a sense of deprivation when it's gone.

[The Fake Shemp]

Smooth, I'm in the same boat.

I've scored off-the-charts in any aptitude test, was accepted into gifted and talented programs during my youth, college recruiters began frothing at the mouth and my focus shifting to watching horror films and reading comics instead.

Meanwhile, my sister just got a free ride into Cornell and is going into the medical field.  She'll make money that I can only dream about.

I'm like, my grandparents' biggest disappointment (especially for a Jew!).

[Smooth Groove]

Making a small salary isn't as bad as having to compete with a sister who is going to be making a lot of money. 

In 3 years, my sister will be making at least $300,000 a year.  It drives me nuts whenever I think that I might not make as much as her, especially since I'm supposedly smarter than her. 

i wish i had some ambition

It's more like peer pressure.  I wouldn't care if I didn't personally know so many people that make at least $200,000 a year.

Sometimes, I think I should re-evaluate my life because none of them share my love of the internet, sports, video games, films, etc.  

It just seems like successful people aren't meant to have hobbies.  

[Kestastrophe]

for Smooth and Willco:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204475004574127134005990974.html

[Van Cruncheon]

so what's the prize for beating her on the salary scoreboard?

i hope the trophy is long-term personal happiness and satisfaction!

(for the record, my brother is supposedly "less smart" than me, yet makes thrice what i do, and i broke six figures awhile ago. let's just say the money i make kinda keeps me from the whole envy thang altogether.)

(also, as malek points out, i've been poor my whole life until i started working. anything above the $40k or so combined my parents made is a win.)

[Smooth Groove]

Smooth, I'm in the same boat.

I've scored off-the-charts in any aptitude test, was accepted into gifted and talented programs during my youth, college recruiters began frothing at the mouth and my focus shifting to watching horror films and reading comics instead.

Meanwhile, my sister just got a free ride into Cornell and is going into the medical field.  She'll make money that I can only dream about.

I'm like, my grandparents' biggest disappointment (especially for a Jew!).

Yeah, you truly are an oddity among Jews but you're still young though.  

You could still go back to College in the next few years if you don't find your place in the real world.  

Have you been to Cornell?  I would love to do some graduate studies in Cornell but New York seems so far away.  

so what's the prize for beating her on the salary scoreboard?

i hope the trophy is long-term personal happiness and satisfaction!

(for the record, my brother is supposedly "less smart" than me, yet makes thrice what i do, and i broke six figures awhile ago. let's just say the money i make kinda keeps me from the whole envy thang altogether.)

Yes, it would indeed make me personally satisfied.  Does that make a bad brother or person? 

[Van Cruncheon]

i can tell you with 102% certainty you will be briefly happy, until the rest of your life settles in and the compromises really start to eat at you


it doesn't make you bad; it just makes you immature and ill-equipped to deal with the vagaries of adult life. hey, we all gotta deal.

we calibrate our happiness to our immediate context. it's why a starving somali dude can be happy, and a fund manager can be suicidal. there's never a moment where anyone can say WOW I GOT IT MADE regardless of your income, station, or accomplishments; it's about the calibration of your expectations and your ability to enjoy the moments in life.

[Smooth Groove]

Well, I know my sister certainly isn't happy working 60 hr weeks on her way to that high salary. 

[Brehvolution]

"I can't hardly afford to put gas in mah Hummer H2 anymore."

lol cry moar

[GilloD]

Making a small salary isn't as bad as having to compete with a sister who is going to be making a lot of money. 

In 3 years, my sister will be making at least $300,000 a year.  It drives me nuts whenever I think that I might not make as much as her, especially since I'm supposedly smarter than her. 

Dude, my sister and her husband make close to a million a year. He's in real estate, she does money stuff with oil companies. And they're poor compared to their "friends". Which is great for them! But it's definitley not for me. All that money just makes you want more money. It's nice to just. Be happy and grateful for what you have.

For example, my sis and her husband went to vacation in Morocco. They stayed in fancy places, took the approved tours and ate the high-class meals. They blew close to 10k on like 2 weeks.

My wife and I stayed in Morocco for almost a month on about 500 bucks.

If you have the money, I mean. Spend it! But don't feel like not making real bucks is a slight against you. It just means you have to be smarter.

[Van Cruncheon]

there you go. all i'm saying is set your priorities wisely, and don't let manufactured competitions spur into you into a life you may come to despise, or ruin the great one you may actually have.

[Eel O'Brian]

i certainly never lived up to my potential, but whatcha gonna do

[GilloD]

You from US, GilloD?

Yeah. For another few months

[Van Cruncheon]

Prole, 6 figures means over $100 000 right? or over $1M... but I doubt you'd be posting here then.

> 100K

i am not a millionaire. if i get there, yay, but my problems, expectations, and general level of happiness won't change in any meaningful way, save for the moment when i buy a Z8 and run down a hobo

[GilloD]

there you go. all i'm saying is set your priorities wisely, and don't let manufactured competitions spur into you into a life you may come to despise, or ruin the great one you may actually have.

REAL TALK

[Brehvolution]

I'm definitely not money rich, but I do feel rich in life.

[Van Cruncheon]

i certainly never lived up to my potential, but whatcha gonna do

most people don't. hell, the american idea of potential is so screwy and out of whack with reality that it's a joke unto itself. why a 1600 sat score or an A+++++ in ap english or being captain of the college baseball team should translate into success is a question i can't fathom the reason for asking -- success is a destination set only by the achiever, and is only meaningfully accomplished through the exploitation of learned wisdom and personal discipline.

unless you're really attractive. then everyone loves you, and you got it made -- you don't even need to knock for the doors of opportunity to open, much less call in the battering ram like us uggos

[Smooth Groove]

Wise words from Prole and GilloD.  I'll consider them strongly.

Sometimes, it is easy to lose track of what you really want when you try too hard to live up to others' standards.  

I guess my life is already pretty nice since I already have 1/2 a Z8 without having to pay for it.  

[Van Cruncheon]

yeah, i'd say so, although you need to run down a dirty homeless to truly realize its potential

[Van Cruncheon]

complacency is a killer. i'm feeling a bit of that myself.

[Smooth Groove]

unless you're really attractive. then everyone loves you, and you got it made -- you don't even need to knock for the doors of opportunity to open, much less call in the battering ram like us uggos

Or you could be born with a big, black battering ram.   

[The Fake Shemp]

I prefer the term "chuds", personally.

Look, I'm happy for my sister.  She probably had the worse childhood (maybe) and whereas I turned to pop-culture and film to smooth over life's rough edges, she committed entirely to schoolwork.  So, in terms of that, I'm extremely proud.

But I know that outside of my parental units, I'm pretty much considered a universal disappointment by relatives (lol jewz).  Our New York relatives all had kids that are doctors, lawyers, etc.  And I was considered the "Great White Hope"; the one Federman that would show our cousins and in-laws that they were all second-rate hacks in their perspective fields.  I was groomed to be the ultimate Hebrew prodigy.

For our older relatives, like my great grandma and great aunt (who is still here kicking), I was the last, real hope since I was entirely Jewish.  All of my father's brothers have married women of Christian-based faiths.  So I was the last shot for the clan.

That turned out to be a miserable failure.

[Smooth Groove]

I wonder if there are any millionaires here or on GAF.

Or on any gaming forum.

Dcharlie? 

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm about to walk away from 45k/year myself to be dirt poor.  I'm spending a ton of money on hardware and software to pursue post-production work.  I'll likely slog through unpaid internships this year after I get certified and won't see a dime 'till next year.

Although, I'm contemplating doing freelance work helping film/edit local stuff like weddings, parties, etc.  I know my mom paid like 2k for her wedding video and the wait was long since there was such a backlog.  I got to imagine somebody needs an extra set of hands out there.

[Eel O'Brian]

my business has been slowly declining over the past few years, perhaps that is a subtle kick in the ass for me to get going on doing something else i'd actually enjoy before i am too old

[Kestastrophe]

When I graduate and ultimately move into accounting I'll actually be taking a pay cut.  I broke the 50k mark here quite a few years ago

lol, try $13 an hour. That's what I made as an intern at a CPA firm in 2007.

As for my happiness: I would love to get rid of the $60,000 in student loans that I have accumulated for my bachelors and two stints in grad school. Oh yeah, I would also like a job (any job, even as a fluffer)

[Barry Egan]

Smooth Groove - What field of medicine are you planning on devoting yourself to?  Couldn't you still decide to go in to dermatology and beat out your sisters earnings?

Not that I don't agree with Prole, I'm just curious.

[Tauntaun]

I'm about to walk away from 45k/year myself to be dirt poor.  I'm spending a ton of money on hardware and software to pursue post-production work.  I'll likely slog through unpaid internships this year after I get certified and won't see a dime 'till next year.

Although, I'm contemplating doing freelance work helping film/edit local stuff like weddings, parties, etc.  I know my mom paid like 2k for her wedding video and the wait was long since there was such a backlog.  I got to imagine somebody needs an extra set of hands out there.

Oh, they do.   

[Mr. Gundam]

I always thought it would be awesome to have a six figure household income, but I quickly learned that things aren't any easier or any more awesome.

I wonder if there are any millionaires here or on GAF.

Or on any gaming forum.

morphix?

[drew]

A decent one bedroom costs over $1,000 per month.  That's not including utilities.  What about groceries?  Car insurance?  Transportation costs?  Credit cards?  Student loans?

i get by easily

you dont need groceries when you do drugs!

[Flannel Boy]

I always thought it would be awesome to have a six figure household income, but I quickly learned that things aren't any easier or any more awesome.

I wonder if there are any millionaires here or on GAF.

Or on any gaming forum.

morphix?

His mother received a one time lump-sum for an injury. People that receive such legal awards or lottery winning or inheritances don't stay millionaires for long.

[Mr. Gundam]

Yeah, I would always question his financial judgment, but he claimed to be wisely investing his money. I haven't seen a ridiculous post in the GAF monthly buy threads from him in ages.

[Smooth Groove]

Smooth Groove - What field of medicine are you planning on devoting yourself to?  Couldn't you still decide to go in to dermatology and beat out your sisters earnings?

Not that I don't agree with Prole, I'm just curious.

Dermatologists have great lifestyles but they don't usually make as much as surgeons.  Also, Derm is ridiculously hard to get in.  I'm too lazy to study enough to get into a Derm residency. 

Smooth Groove - What field of medicine are you planning on devoting yourself to?  Couldn't you still decide to go in to dermatology and beat out your sisters earnings?

Not that I don't agree with Prole, I'm just curious.

Plastic surgery. Dentist. Smooth would make a killing and finally put 1TB of RAM into his PC.

My sister is actually contemplating a plastic surgery fellowship after her residency is over.  Dentists generally don't make more than doctors unless they are dental surgeons.  In that case, they often have both dental and medical degrees. 

[border]

I make pretty much nothing - which is to say I live as low-profile as I can and still end up owing more money with every month that passes.  I'm not sure what is more depressing - the fact that I make nothing, or the fact that even if I made more I would probably still be unhappy anyway.

[huckleberry]

I don't make shit at my current job (not for the amount of stuff I have to suffer through) and am completely and utterly miserable in it.  In a last ditch effort to save myself from becoming something I absolutely hate my wife and I are flying to Portland/Seattle the second week in June to test the waters and see how things are out there.  I fully do not expect to make alot of money - that has never been a motivator for me at all.  Hopefully the change in scenery will give me a different perspective and allow me to snap out of this years long funk I've been in.....

[Don Flamenco]

I'll be making a few bucks after law school...it'll seem like more than I'll know what to do with.  I just don't want to become like my brother, who set a very high standard of living for his family and freaks the fuck out when it seems like something might compromise it.   

It seems like the happiest people live below their means (usually in terms of the house and vehicles they own), but still treat themselves to nice vacations and such.

[Loki]

i can tell you with 102% certainty you will be briefly happy, until the rest of your life settles in and the compromises really start to eat at you


it doesn't make you bad; it just makes you immature and ill-equipped to deal with the vagaries of adult life. hey, we all gotta deal.

we calibrate our happiness to our immediate context. it's why a starving somali dude can be happy, and a fund manager can be suicidal. there's never a moment where anyone can say WOW I GOT IT MADE regardless of your income, station, or accomplishments; it's about the calibration of your expectations and your ability to enjoy the moments in life.

Well said.  This is why I frequently rail against certain elements in our culture, since they sow the seeds of discontent.  My mother often takes my father to task about his finances (mind you, he works 70-80 hours/week at age 55, and they're simply middle class), and sometimes my father will say "look at your parents; your mother didn't take a vacation in 50 years of marriage and she never complained."  It's all about your expectations.  Moreover, it's about realizing what's truly important in life.  I feel that the materialism/consumerism of our times often blinds people to what really matters.

[Eel O'Brian]

i'm thinking of studying tattoo removal procedures, that seems like it might be a lucrative field in the next 5-10 years

i could be scraping off tramp stamps on the road to riches

[demi]

Yeah, I would always question his financial judgment, but he claimed to be wisely investing his money. I haven't seen a ridiculous post in the GAF monthly buy threads from him in ages.

lol. thats because he does it on OA. posting pics of his new macbook... his new car (the nissan cube!), etc.

[border]

Tattoos have, for better or worse, become pretty socially acceptable amongst both the middle and upper-middle class.  At work I see a couple soccer moms with half-sleeves pretty frequently.  Moreover, people are becoming more complacent about upward mobility, because they're realizing the central theme of this thread (money won't make you any more happy).  I don't really think that many people are going to be getting tattoos removed out of a desire to sell out and get a bigger paycheck.....unless they hate the look or design of the original tatoo, they'll either find a way to creatively conceal it or just accept their current status level.  For men at least, once you reach a white collar job, pretty much everything but your face is going to be covered by clothing anyway.  A professional woman might have to suck it up and wear long sleeves and long skirts to cover tattoos on her arms and legs, but unless you went nuts and got something on your neck or face, there isn't much reason to get anything removed.

I think that taking time in life to travel around and really experience things outside of your everyday surroundings is pretty key.

“Traveling is a fool's paradise... I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there besides me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Barry Egan]

yeah, travel's nice for people who can't have genuine incite.