Central A/C! Growing up in the 80’s in the Seattle area central AC in houses was rare. It’s way more common now. I always joke that my kids don’t know how good they have it not to have to deal with fans and being too hot to sleep.
McDonalds birthday parties. In retrospect my mom would have been a Pinterest mom if it was around growing up. She always did elaborate home theme parties. Money wasn’t the reason why she didn’t like my McDonald’s birthday idea. I thought only rich kids got to have birthdays there.
Having a American Girl doll AND her furniture.
Driving a convertible.
Two sinks in the kids bathroom or Jack and Jill bathroom. So luxurious!
I realized one recently: Not having to buy lemonade/OJ concentrate in the frozen cans and then make it yourself. That was all we ever did when I was a kid. I buy the fresh stuff in the jugs now, even the OJ where you have half a dozen options (low pulp, no pulp, calcium added, low acid, etc.). That's totally a "rich" thing to me.
I grew up with a very very skewed sense of “rich”. We were very comfortably upper middle class, but I went to a private school with celebrity kids, families that had literal armed guards at guard houses on their properties etc. So I grew up thinking it was normal to have multiple houses, private beach access, “house staff”, and on and on. Luckily I got some perspective in my early adulthood
To me now it’s the ability to not stress/think about money. One of my kids is in a ton of therapies for his anxiety and I’m able to just sign him up and not worry about insurance or which dr etc. He can just get what he needs. This is the most important thing for me.
If I were to be “rich rich” at this point I think it would be a private chef. This is my DREAM. Someone to cook amazing healthy meals that my kids will eat. If I ever win the lottery I’m 100% getting this.
I keep coming back to this post…I love seeing other people’s markers for a rich life. It’s so interesting, and it’s given me some ideas too, lol.
I did think of another one. Quite a few people mentioned being able to pick up the tab for a meal out, but more specifically, something that makes me actually feel like I “made it” is when I go out for dinner with my parents and I pick up the tab. There is something about being able to do that for my parents that makes me feel like I have my shit together, lol.
Just this past weekend, FI and I, along with my brother and his family met my dad and his GF for lunch. My brother and I split the check. Our dad kept trying to pay and give us money for it, offering to at least leave the tip. We said absolutely not. It makes me feel good to be able to do something small like that after him basically paying for everything our entire childhood into early adulthood, and I can tell that he’s also a little proud of us that we’re able to do it, as well.
devonpow move to the Caribbean and you can have a private chef easily!
It is so interesting what is and isn't 'high end' based on yur experiences/where you live.
I feel rich compared to my friends in other countries because I have a full time housekeeper/nanny. And take regular weekends in villas by the beach.
However, for me to feel really rich, would be to be able to pay for all my healthcare costs with no concerns or worry for the future. Healthcare costs are crappy in countries outside the US too....
Post by mcppalmbeach on Nov 4, 2021 11:36:25 GMT -5
Updating… I volunteered at my kid’s book fair today. It’s a title one school, many ell students. Rich would mean I could buy every freaking kid in that school a book..even a hard cover: Some of their eyes just light up at all those books and I know many of those kids will not get one Their school does a good job of giving them books to keep…they have a book vending machine for a special reward and a lot of their teachers will fundraiser at the beginning of the year and give them a book a month from scholastic, but there is such joy to picking out your own special book. Today they were just making wish lists, but I don’t think I can volunteer on the day when they come back to buy
Post by themoneytree on Nov 6, 2021 9:59:15 GMT -5
We are financially in good shape. I am comfortable spending ridiculous money on things which I think add value. Upgrades to our house, landscaping, buying a new Tesla for H because at the minute they are gaining not losing value. I’m also pretty ok with spending a lot on travel and experiences. We eat out a LOT and travel a lot (pre Covid).
I guess what a (financially) rich life for me would be spending money on myself. I don’t bat an eye buying a subzero for the kitchen, but I go to the hairdresser twice a year, never get my nails done, my clothes are old and almost always from the sale rack and I lost interest in Prada and Gucci handbags long ago. So for me it would be spending more money on me. LOL.
Post by goldengirlz on Nov 6, 2021 13:30:02 GMT -5
I bought my mom a first class ticket to come visit us for Hanukkah. She has bad arthritis and this is her first time traveling alone since my dad died (and only one of the few times she’s flown alone … ever). I wanted to make it as easy and fun as possible.
She cried when I told her. Being able to do that made me feel like I’ve made it.
My parents live in a little terraced house in Ireland (that we all grew up in, 7 kids!) I know my mom would love to bump out the back and make the tiny eat in kitchen bigger so we could all sit at a long table. I would love to have the kind of money where next time I go home I’m just like “hey, I’m paying for that renovation”. My brothers and sisters and I could all chip in at some point but they don’t want to have us stretch ourselves and there’s no way they’d want us taking out a loan for it - they would be very upset about that. So I guess I need to be rich enough where they know I can pay for it with cash and still be fine myself 😀
I felt like I “made it” last year when we maxed out our 401k contributions (to the federal limit, not the company match). That’s $40k of gross income! And then our financial advisor telling us that as long as we stick to that, we’ll be able to retire as planned.
There are a lot of things in this thread we continue to be able to afford to do even with that level of contribution. And when I feel like we can’t afford something, I remind myself that we don’t have to worry about retirement anymore.
So, yeah, that’s definitely my “rich life” indicator.
I wouldn’t say no to a couple of raises so that we can increase travel though.
I felt like I “made it” last year when we maxed out our 401k contributions (to the federal limit, not the company match). That’s $40k of gross income! And then our financial advisor telling us that as long as we stick to that, we’ll be able to retire as planned.
There are a lot of things in this thread we continue to be able to afford to do even with that level of contribution. And when I feel like we can’t afford something, I remind myself that we don’t have to worry about retirement anymore.
So, yeah, that’s definitely my “rich life” indicator.
I wouldn’t say no to a couple of raises so that we can increase travel though.
ETA: oh, I actually had a moment about this earlier this week. I won an award at work, which came with a $500 visa gift card. My boss said “what are you going to spend it on!?” And I had to tell her at least three times that I literally have no idea. The award itself means so much more to me than the money. And when I want something, I usually go ahead and buy it. So I have to really think about what I would spend $500 on for myself. That seems really rich, that I don’t have a list of things that I would love to spend a few hundred bucks on.