opinions --

Hey girls do you think it's easy to pay a $80 rent if your salary is $200 and you have to eat too??? :LOL: :laughing:
OK OK I realise that it sounds like a dream but I just wish I didn't have to pay any rent though. Oh but don't we all....
Love ya guys!

Aha! Billie! I knew you couldn't still be working! (Like me whos just sooooooooooo busy......!)

PM me when you get a min!

See ya

Airprincess....I think it is very sad that your family had to act like it was a competition, just because you could afford to pay for your dad's honeymoon....I think it was a wonderful gesture of love on your part, and I am sure that he didn't expect everyone to come up with something equally as great, knowing that you were doing okay financially. It is sad that your family had to be jealous of that.
I too have had the problem of people turning up their noses and getting bent out of shape because of the way I spend my money.
It seems to me, that if my husband doesn't have a problem with it, then it is noone else's business!!!!!!
It makes me angry!!!!
I don't have a whole lot of money....but I also have no children to support, and so I spend my extra money on the things I truley love...my houseplants, my pets, and my Boyd's Bear's collection.
Sure I save some too...but I have gotten grief about this from a couple "friends" of mine...who felt I had no right to spend my money the way I do. It pretty much ended one friendship...(along with other things) because I don't beleive anyone has the right to tell me how to spend my money that I work hard for. This person made comments to me regarding how many cats I have to feed, and that I had just bought two lop-eared rabbits, and also bought two pygmy hedgehogs...and they thought this was all a waste of money.
If I can still pay my bills...and my husband isn't upset about it...then what I spend my money on is none of anyones business!!

I have never been rich... or even well off. EVER. But.. I have never ever done without. Ever. I always had what I needed and even a few of the wants.

Now... We're not poor, we're not rich... we're in between. Craig has a nice job that pays pretty well. The only problem is.. the bills.

San Francisco is TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE! It's outrageous. You would not believe how horrible it is.

For a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom loft that is *TINY* we pay $2750 a month.
Almost 3k a month for a teeny tiny loft!!!! Not to mention the rest of the bills. It's a pain in the neck.

We still have enough money to go out to eat or just go out. I just find it ridiculous to spend so much money on such a tiny tiny place. I guess thats why we are looking for another place OUT of the city. Thank God.

--Cass

$2750 a month???? Is this the way it is all over the US? I remember one episode of Sex and the City where Samantha mentioned she's paying 7000$ a month for her Manhattan apartment. To be honest, I thought I had misheard the figure, but now I'm not so sure...

I know both ends of being considered well off and not so well off. While I too was in the army, we were both bringing in 2 nice salaries (together we would make the equivalent of 3500$). We paid only 600$ monthly rent for our Tel Aviv apartment (not too expensive for Tel Aviv, but not very cheap either). What happened was that we were expected by relatives (mostly on my side) to help the family. We gave a lot of money to my pensioner grandpa, my then unemployed mom, my student brother and my soldier brother... We didn't manage to save anything, though we were not spending a lot of money on ourselevs.

It's been one year since I left the service and I hardly make any money with my internet company (this site), so now we're considered to be well... "not well off" My mom had since got a job, my brother graduated and has a nice job, so the family in less in need. We also moved into a tiny little place that we rent from our in-laws, so that costs us only 350$ a month. We spend a lof less than what we used to spend while living in Tel Aviv, simply because there is a lot less to spend on. All in all, we're happy with what we've got and don't worry about the money, but it was funny how my dad gave me some money this week as an early b-day gift saying he figured out that's what we need most I guess I'm not used to be on the receiving end of money in my family

Debby,

No one should ever tell you how you should spend your money, or judge you on it. No one has any idea what is going on in my or your head, or why we choose the things we do, therefore it's not up to them to pass judgement on it.

I'm adopted, and when I thank God everyday that I was wanted, and that my adoptive parents were so wonderful & nurturing. Now that I'm in a position to 'give back' I'm going to do it & I don't like it when people who have no idea of my past, or the issues that I deal with (feeling accepted, worthy of love, etc.) judge me, or choose their own stories on why I do what I do. I know that in your own way you have the same things going on, and it's not ANYONES business.

As long as the bills are being paid ( and I try to put some away for my retirement ) noone needs to worry about it.



Anne

My family gives me money & gift certificates for my birthday & Christmas all the time. It's very rare that I get an actual 'gift'. I guess they think that I know best what I need for that occasion, and they just leave it up to me to decide.

I have a friend who has a one bedroom apartment in NY, that basically consists of a medium size bedroom, medium size living room, a closet sized kitchen (with a 'dorm' size refrigerator) & a bathroom and they pay around $2500 a month. I have seen Samanthas place on SATC & in real life it could very well be $7000.

I pay $1250 on my morgage. I live in a 3 bedroom townhouse with a full finished basement. It's really not that big but big enough. It's 10 years old & I'm the second owner. The good thing is the area that I live in is booming, and property values are going through the roof. It's an up & coming community, and places are very sought after. On the other hand my dad lives in the most affluent suburb on Indianapolis in Indiana, his house has 4 bedrooms, hard wood floors, cathedral ceilings & a huge fenced in backyard, with a deck, apple and pear trees and a grape arbor. His house cost only $8000 more than my townhouse. It really all depends on where you live.

Anne:

Here in the states real estate and other living costs flucuate wildly depending on what part of the country you live in. New York area and California are notoriously expensive. Southern states tend to be cheaper, although are rising, too. Salaries also vary according to where you live. When my father retired here 3 years ago, he sold his rather modest house in New Jersey for over $300,000. You can be in the lap of luxury for that price down here. My little house cost me $72,000. The price of new homes here is about in the $100,000 range. A decent apartment in a good neighborhood will run you $700+ per month. If I had to pay San Francisco prices on my salary, I'd starve!

Here, a decent apartment (4-5 bedrooms) in a decent place would cost around 180,000. I thought in the US you could have a big farm for 40,000$ or so, guess I was wrong

Anne - you can find bargains in that price range - they call them 'handy man's specials'.usually an older farm house that has the need of renovations and repairs. Some states are a lot more expensive than others - where I live in NYS you can find bargains up here in the Northern section - not down by NYC though!

I'd say $180,000 is a fair price for a 4-5 bedroom house in my area. No so elsewhere.

In Arizona it depends on where you live. If you go way out near "farmland" where it really isn't developed, you can buy a house for a really good price. I knew of a guy who bought a 2-story house for around $130,000 with 4 bedrooms. I don't remember the square footage, but it was because where he bought the house it was just getting developed. Scottsdale is where it is expensive, especially North Scottsdale.

I know our house value went up because they are really booming over by us. Just behind us (well, the people's houses just across the street) they built a movie theater. They are also putting other stuff in with the theater: restaurants, etc.

But, I've noticed for a 2-story, 2000 sq. ft., it costs nearly $180,000+.