Lighthearted! What thing did you say you'd do as a sign you'd 'made it'?

[Tiredofitallagain]

I always said I'd know I'd 'made it' (whatever that means!) When I could go to M&S for my weekly shop!

DHs made it moment is when he can wake up on a spontaneous Saturday and decide to take us to Paris on a whim! (We are in UK)

Obviously his more exciting than mine but I guess for both it's about having enough disposable income to not feel guilt about 'luxury spontaneous' buys!

What are yours? Achieved? Gave you the thrill you thought?
(Ours as yet unacheived haha!)

Mine was similar. Take my PE Kit to school in a Jane Norman bag.

These days it’s go to Alaska for a month. Obviously my aspirations have grown since I was 14 😂

Get a wreath for my front door 🥰
I lived in a lovely apartment for years through my 20s and early 30s, rented. All my friends bought houses before me, I was the last. My door just led to a corridor, and I never used it, so no point in a wreath. I had a patio door leading to the back that was just easier to use, and it was a sliding glass one, so a wreath wouldn’t go there.
I dreamt for so long of having my own house, and when I finally bought one, I couldn’t wait to buy a wreath for the front door. I felt weirdly emotional putting it on, it was definitely my “I’ve made it” moment!

When I was a child - a bathroom! After having a tin bath in the kitchen 😂

Booking a small group tour or private to go see things when on holiday, so not on a big bus. And booking private transfers from the airport….

This thread is lovely!

I said I will know I’ve made it when I could join David Lloyd gym….. now I can afford it but I am so busy with work I wouldn’t have time to use it enough to be worth it. Be careful what you wish for!

I know I made it when in my living room the sofa doesn’t touch any of the walls and can walk around comfortably etc. I was so happy for that.

I can go on multiple holidays a year without credit cards, been to Hawaii last year.

And my nephews / niece tell me all the time that I’m on holiday and they want to be like me.

Also my sister made a point last week.

Last week I had a leak and flooded my dining room / home office. Just called my normal guy out and he fixed it. Then sent the invoice after, I don’t have to ask for the upfront cost estimate.
I can just call someone out to fix something and don’t need to ask for a quote before.

My sister told me when they call someone out they do have to ask an estimate first and they’ll go with the one they can afford.

ive been retired for a few years now and am doing ok financially, but in the 70s when we had 3 children under 3 and my husband was in a low paid job we were really poor.
I didn’t work as there was no way I could earn enough to pay child care for three little ones , so we lived hand to mouth . We weren’t entitled to any benefits. I couldn’t afford to pay my gas bills when they came in , and direct debit wasn’t really a thing then , so I had to pay my bill weekly in dribs and drabs . Once I had paid my quarterly bill the next one arrived on my doorstep. This cycle went on for years.
my ambition was to be able to pay my bill when it arrived in one complete payment .
after the youngest started school I was able to get a part time job and was able to pay all my household bills as they arrived. We never looked back and had a good life until my husband died .

Showing off about being able to have central heating on?
You seem to be suggesting you are self aware so don't show off but there's something there that needs working on, perhaps why a snippy dopamine inducing response was required?

This was mine; buy a book i liked, in a book shop, without thinking I should check Amazon first!

This!! Partly there 🤞

Bravo!!!!

I think your sister is wise - always get a quote, not much fun being ripped off.

Same here, to an extent. I lived on my own in a flat and although I was working full time, every week I made a shopping list with prices ( to the penny) for when I did my weekly shop in a budget supermarket ( Kwik Save).

Once on a shopping trip in Iceland ( the frozen food store, not the country) I found a box of pasties for a bargain price, I was so excited, I was telling my parents, and I've never forgotten my dad sneering and laughing about what the quality would be like. I'm low contact with him these days, and things are much easier financially for me now.

As I said it’s my “normal” guy who I called and I knew he won’t overcharge me. Using him for the last 8 years.

My sister meant that they’d have to call out 2-3 different people to get quotes and go with the lowest.

We spent years with 3 children in a 2 bed terrace and had a 40 min walk to school and back twice a day. We had to penny pinch with shopping and if anything needed replacing we had to somehow scrimp more save the money. All I wanted was a 3 bed house close to school and to be able to food shop without a calculator. We achieved it a few years ago and we were so happy!
Unfortunately due to the cost of everything now, the calculator is back out but my children are so much happier where we moved to. Now I just want to get back to not worrying about how much something costs when i shop and be able to throw in the extras!

When I was younger, it was being able to buy clothes from TopShop without waiting for them to be in the sale!
In my late 20s, it was having a membership
to the nearby spa with outdoor pool. Ten years later, I’m still a member and feel so lucky!

Ah thank you. It is a lifetime hurt that we never got to look after mum in her old age. She gave everything to everyone else and I would love to be able to take her to castles and garden centres.
She would even get off the bus a stop early and walk an extra 10 minutes to save the 6p. Carrying all the shopping!
I still think of her dream whenever I am in M&S

Only the best seats for concerts and the theatre.

I did my time in the rafters.

When my children were ready to fly the nest, and no longer rely on me

Holidays abroad. When I was at school I remember sitting next to people after the summer holidays who were all tanned and talking about their week in Spain and it all sounded so glamorous and exotic to me.

I spend my time drilling it into my kids about how lucky they are to have visited the places they’ve been but I think they just see it as normal.

The final part of making it for me will be paying the mortgage off, then we will have extra money and the security that the house is ours.

Always wanted to holiday in The Maldives (travelling first class, obviously!) ... but fear they may have all sunk before I get there! 😅

I felt I’d made it when I could go to the till without checking my bank balance, and knowing to the penny what the bill should be. Or take a child, or myself, to the doctor (not in UK) without hesitation when needed.

I've made it.

I sold a business I'd had for 22 years and retired at retired at 42. However, i am so tight with money (except for shoes!) I don't have anything i would do. I shop in Tesco and always have. I have 3 kids in school so unable to be spontaneous. I guess just being able to finish working so young was my it moment.

My husband always said when we could stand in the bathroom with arms outstretched and not be able to touch both walls at the same time. We bought our house last year and feel like we've finally managed it after years and years of scraping by. Of course we now can't afford to do anything due to the mortgage 😬