Are you rich or well off?

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

$1,000 is not a lot of money these days, it can barely carry you through a week. I also don't know how people who have kids can manage with it since you have to buy food/clothes/toys for kids and that takes up a large chunk of it as well.

So, I agree with the base fact of what you've said here. Anyone would be a fool not to. It's basically just true. However, when people take up a position about this as if it's a socio-political motivator, I think that's where you see a travesty of justice regarding this as an issue. This is because this concept, as an "issue" is not entirely about the "injustices of the world", but rather about locus of control.

For example, people with an external locus of control will talk about pricing in comparison to their plight. People with an external locus of control will talk about pricing in terms of "fairness" and in terms of what society should be doing to make it better for them.

Whereas people with an internal locus of control will talk about pricing in regards to production, relevance of a product, or necessity of product. People with an internal locus of control will talk about pricing in terms of analytics and in terms of what they can re-adjust for, plan for, or increase their earnings for.

One point of view is wildly liberal and is rooted in complaint. One point of view is more centered and rational and is rooted in navigating life.

[Hamato Yoshi]

My parents werent rich but decent income...... but to give an example :

Battle Cat cost 300 krones in the 80s , my mom earned 3000/month as a nurse......so MotU was expensive to buy in Norway (unless on sale)

I dont think we kids understood how much toys cost and what makes me really sad is parents who steal so that the kids can get x-mas presents as it would break their hearts otherwise to not have presents

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You think having a car is expensive in the US then you havent been to Norway , youngsters driving 20 yr old cars cuz they cant afford new one and if you want full tank its around 100$ to fill it :/

My step dad had to eat lots of baked beans , education was expensive......i like bb but not day after day after day for several yrs , ugh

[Hamato Yoshi]

"and they look down on you"

Wanna know something , its the same in Oslo : if youre not from the city they think youre less worth , Oslo isnt even that nice anyway , might as well live in Bergen or Trondheim......but sadly many have to move there cuz of jobs

Who knows , maybe Tokyoans looks down on those not from Tokyo......many out of towners sleep at work as to commute back outside T takes too much time and theyre tired

[CyberCubed]

How to tell if you're rich:

If you look at $500 and think that's nothing. If you look at $1,000 and you shrug your shoulders. If you look at $5,000 and say "That's last weeks pay."

Rich people are something else.

[wpugh2424]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

How to tell if you're rich:

If you look at $500 and think that's nothing. If you look at $1,000 and you shrug your shoulders. If you look at $5,000 and say "That's last weeks pay."

Rich people are something else.

I make good money but I don’t look at the above that way.
I don’t care how much I make, I understand value and basically aim to retire. U never know how life could change

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Hamato Yoshi

My parents werent rich but decent income...... but to give an example :

Battle Cat cost 300 krones in the 80s , my mom earned 3000/month as a nurse......so MotU was expensive to buy in Norway (unless on sale)

I dont think we kids understood how much toys cost and what makes me really sad is parents who steal so that the kids can get x-mas presents as it would break their hearts otherwise to not have presents

_------------------------------------------

You think having a car is expensive in the US then you havent been to Norway , youngsters driving 20 yr old cars cuz they cant afford new one and if you want full tank its around 100$ to fill it :/

My step dad had to eat lots of baked beans , education was expensive......i like bb but not day after day after day for several yrs , ugh

I loved your example, dude. Please let me tell you why....

So when I was a kid and just beginning to understand wanting things - like action figures, He-Man was becoming a cultural thing. And my first associations that things cost money was because of He-Man. I swear to God.

I didn't understand the value of the dollar, but it was because I wanted He-Man that I was put in a situation where I began to understand you had to trade one thing for another. And what I learned was that a He-Man figure cost $5. That was literally my first encounter with fiat value. And the reason I learned this was because my parents and I went to Toys R Us to get He-Man, but we couldn't find him. Another parent at the store said that she heard that K-Mart still had some - this was back during a time where people still did that sort of communication for fellow families.

And so, my parents took me to K-Mart and there on the shelf was He-Man in a long rectangular box packaged with Battle Cat. Except that package was more like $10. And I remember a discussion ensued as to whether or not my parents were able to get it because it was the expensive one. I must have looked like I really wanted it because there was no other way to get He-Man beyond that two-pack. I went home that evening with He-Man and Battlecat and I'll never forget how fulfilling or captivating it was, and also how there was something inside me that I realized my parents got it for me even though it was "so" expensive compared to a regular He-Man which was supposed to be five bucks.

Masters of the Universe and that experience was my gateway to beginning to understand what money meant. This likely occurred in 1982, and so I was 4 or five. I remember it was chilly out - so I was probably five because I have a fall birthday. I remember much of that night like it was yesterday.

[Leo656]

God damn, I was so spoiled with He-Man. It came out the same year I did so I doubt I even chose it for myself, my Dad might have just up and decided that's what I'd be into. I can believe that. He always loved the He-Man brand. It was weird, he wasn't much of a fantasy guy - G.I. Joe was his thing and stuff that "wasn't real" annoyed him sometimes - but he always said that he thought He-Man was the coolest thing ever.

I didn't have everything, but about 2/3s. Just about every single figure up until the more-elusive Waves 5 and 6. All the playsets except for Eternia, almost all the vehicles... my Dad used to take me to Toys R Us for random $100 shopping sprees every now and then, just whatever I wanted within a $100 limit. And very often he'd come home from work with one or two random He-Man figures just because Toys R Us was on his way home. And he was always great at keeping track of what I had and what I didn't. Like I didn't even have to ask, he'd just constantly gift me with He-Man stuff. It was awesome.

Again, he worked for Squibb and was a bartender on Saturday nights, so on a good week he took home about $1000, back then. He lost his job in 1990 or so, but before that we were sitting pretty without much of a care in the world.

I was spoiled with a few different things, but He-Man was the big one. Still have most of it, too, except for a few things that broke or went missing in various moves, which I'm slowly replacing. I'm gonna have to pass on most of Wave 6, though. $500 for a loose Scare Glow isn't something I think I'll ever be in a position to justify. Hard to believe it was $5 brand new in 1987.

[Last Ronin]

I look at a penny and think at least I have a penny and not broke.

[PizzaPower1985]

Originally Posted by Last Ronin

I look at a penny and think at least I have a penny and not broke.

LoL. Yeah... that sounds pretty broke. I think all of us here might be in a similar boat... except Cubed. He's rich. And lucky. And handsome. And gets everything he wants. And will never die. And is in fact, immune to disease!

[CyberCubed]

Well I've had like 30 cavities over the years and 3 root canals but they've all been taken care of for free by dental insurance. So that's another thing I got for free, I had so much dental work done and I never paid one dime.

[IndigoErth]

So all that sugar and junk hasn't been without a price. Do you have much natural tooth left?

I mean, I've never had it too good on the dental front myself and so many fillings over the years and have three crowns... but even I only have one root canal (after a fractured tooth let in an infection).

Having great insurance to pay for it all is nice, but a lack of needed dental work to begin with would be better.

[CyberCubed]

From about the time I was like 17ish till now, every one of my teeth have had cavities and some more than once or twice, but I go to the dentist every 6 months and get it taken care of for free. Keep in mind this is over the course of two decades, so it's not like I got them all at once.

But it's fine. It's free, and it's practically painless, and I get done in less than 30 minutes. Never understood why people have mental breakdowns over getting a cavity done or are "scared" of seeing the dentist. You literally feel no pain at all and it's done in less than 30 minutes. In and out.

[Leo656]

Haven't been to a dentist since 1991 and hopefully never will. F*ck that sh*t. My teeth grew in crooked while my family was poor so there wasn't anything we could do about it. I'm not in any pain so I really don't care. A few are chipped from wrestling, but again, it's cosmetic, I don't give a sh*t. If I did go to a dentist, he'd pretty much just want to start ripping sh*t out and I'm not having that. Unless I'm in pain there's no reason to go. Haven't had any cavities in all that time, either, as far as I'm aware.

My wife's a soda addict, though, so hers are a mess. And we have no insurance so she pretty much has to suffer with it. She had half a tooth break off a few weeks ago but there's nothing we can do about it. So she just chews on the other side of her mouth. I keep telling her she needs to quit drinking that garbage but I guess she doesn't see it as a priority. She had all her fronts capped over 10 years ago, but that was so expensive she hasn't been able to get anything done since. It's not that I don't care, but she knows I wouldn't pay for that even if I had the money; I've been telling her for 20 years to stop drinking soda or she'd end up having problems, and she chooses to keep drinking soda anyways, so oh well. I wouldn't pay for the new lung for a two-pack-a-day smoker, either. I'm just glad she doesn't smoke. The soda sh*t's bad enough.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Has your wife tried drinking with a straw instead to avoid making the soda touch the teeth?

I regret not taking care of my teeth when I was younger, all the sugary stuff really did a number on my teeth in the end. I ended up getting lots of fillings and 2 root canals which cost me thousands in total.

I did eventually give up consuming refined sugar though on a regular basis, and have never felt better since. No more toothache and weight problems.

[Leo656]

Nope. She's one of those people who's gonna do what she wants "because I wanna be happy" until it's too late, after which she's gonna piss and moan and expect other people to fix her self-inflicted problems. There's one in every family.

[Sage Ninja]

I intended to post something but after reading through the thread I kind of feel a little down. I know it's immature but hearing about how some people are better off financially even just a little bit than makes me feel kind of...blah, about my situation. Let's just say I am wearing the same glasses I had when I was still in high school...

[CyberCubed]

People making over $100,000 a year got lucky with tech or work in areas with high rent/housing, so even if they make that much...their money is still going down just as fast just to live where they are. So it kinda evens out, because they're not really enjoying all that money, especially if they also have kids and spend through it quite fast.

Overall it doesn't really matter, I don't care that people my age make 10 times the income I do, because well, it is what it is. Some people just got into better positions or studied for one specific area in college and made it in that field.

[Mayhem]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

People making over $100,000 a year got lucky with tech or work in areas with high rent/housing, so even if they make that much...their money is still going down just as fast just to live where they are. So it kinda evens out, because they're not really enjoying all that money, especially if they also have kids and spend through it quite fast.

Or are plastic surgeons, in the case of one guy I know in California with a huge huge Atari collection heh.

But I can concur on the sentiment. Another friend of mine in Cali, works in the VFX industry, regularly makes six figures on the contract work he gets, still struggles due to the massive costs in the state, AND is responsible for paying for all the software licenses he needs for the products he uses in his job! Some of those are thousands per year. Anyone caught pirating or using non licensed software is often blacklisted from the industry.

[Barkworm]

Growing up, I often felt like my family was dirt poor. My parents were immigrants who worked their asses off to be able to afford some real estate and make sure their kids get some decent education. Until we finally managed to move into a large apartment of our own, the four of us had been living in a tiny place for more than a decade and my father had died of heart failure, quite possibly because he had worked too hard as a steel plant worker.

Today, I will sometimes whine about not being able to afford a house in the city and being forced to move to the countryside because of that. But that just means that I'm an ingrate sometimes, I'm perfectly well off, my wife hasn't been working much for the last five years and we get by just fine on my income alone.

[Last Ronin]

Rich doesn't necessarily mean happiness. I'm poor but not poor poor. But, I live well enough good house, two cars, meh job but pays the bills. Small town low crime rate, and great friends and family. Some need more in life to be happy but I'm fine in my current situation.