to think too many people on here are too obsessed with other peoples' money?

[wannaBe]

it's getting rather tedious..

too many threads complaining about what other people earn/spend/opinionating on if you can afford x and y then you must be rich, and if you can't then you're not, and on and on and on.

Really, who cares?

Why does it bother people so much how much other people have?

If you're happy, what does it matter? If you're not, and don't have enough money, being bitter about other people isn't going to change that.

Can't we just move on from obsessing about other peoples' money?

YANBU... but best keep quiet about it because if no-one ever judged, coveted, was gripped by avarice or obsessed with the apparent cushy lifestyle of others, MN would self-destruct in an orgy of 'nothing to moan about'.

YABU a bit. You are on AIBU - this thread is all about judging - whether money, parenting methods or other lifestyle choices.

YANBU

I am often surprised at the intricate knowledge people seem (or claim) to have in regard to the finacial situations of others. I was brought up not to discuss money but a lot of people appear not to have got that memo.

Lend us a quid op, go on you can afford it

YANBU at all. It's not as if just because person A stops having money person B will automatically have money is it? Or that having money or not having money makes either one a better person?

catgirl - I don't really discuss money with others. But I have friends who totally unasked, do tell me everything about their financial situation. So I know how much they earn, how much they still have to pay off on their mortgage, any debts, etc. I don't want to know this stuff, they just tell me.

YANBU It's a very British thing. The politics of envy. Don't see it abroad so much. V boring, and why do people care.

Yanbu - otoh there's more than one drops in the value of their house/husband's salary in to seemingly every conversation!

But I don't think people talking about money here is always about envy. In rl lots of people don't talk about money, what they earn, etc. On the net people can feel freer to talk about this. I have posted a thread asking people about perceptions of when someone is rich not because I am envious, but because I am genuinely interested in people's perceptions.

Oh get to fuck. If you were struggling to feed your kids like lots of people in the UK, you'd be a bit fucking pissed off that other people were whining about the cost of caviar. It's very easy for rich people to be all 'oooh isn't it vulgar to think about money' when actually if you don't have any then obviously you are forced to think about it every day.

I agree - it is nosiness.

Erm actually wibbly, I was thinking of the threads where people assume people are benefit cheats and seem to think they know everything about another families situation.

Obsessing about money while at the same time telling others that discussing money matters is soooo rude and lacking in class is what we do best :o

I think it's fascinating, like market research, fantasising about winning the lottery, different people's perceptions of what is a lot and a little, different people's priorities (how they view what they can and cannot afford, etc). Fascinating.

I think that money is interesting for a lot of people in an online forum situation like Mn, precisely because we can't see one another for the usual visual cues on judging someone's income level/social class etc, don't know one another's postcode, profession etc. We are what we say we are on here, and there's the whole internet anonymous disinhibition things, so what we say about money looms larger than in real life, maybe?

I know the single thread that's struck me most since I've been on here was the one about whether 'people from ordinary backgrounds' would struggle at an elite university - I found that my background, which I've always considered 'ordinarily' poor, was considered deeply deprived by lots of posters. I was a bit shocked.

I remember that thread and as someone from a poor background I was too shocked that others considered my background deeply deprived.

I think one of the interesting things about MNs are the wide range of people in lots of ways, including income. In rl people do tend to mix more with people similar to themselves, so its really interesting to get very different viewpoints and experiences - even if I don't always agree with them.

A lot of the differences are age-related too. There are lots of older posters who grew up in times when having less was more 'the norm' and most people's lives were simpler/more basic in terms of possessions, technology, a warm home, etc. Some of the younger posters might consider it 'deprived' to only have a 'portable' TV in the main room, for example...

YABU

I really like all the money chats! I have no idea why some people are so squeamish about discussing money. I'd happily discuss it all day long, if asked to.

If you don't like to hear about people's finances then don't go on those threads.

YABU. This morning I googled my neighbour's husband to find out what he does for a living because they are putting in a pool, going on a vair fancy "once in a lifetime" vacation AND renovating their basement all at once. I just had to know. Then I felt ashamed. Do you think people can tell if you have googled them?

"I was brought up not to discuss money but a lot of people appear not to have got that memo"

While down at the pub I overheard two of the girls from the office discuss blow jobs. Girl A was trying to convince Girl B that it was ok as long as the guy was clean. And then the subject moved onto what it was like when the guy finishes.

I was reminded of this when Girl A complained to me that Girl B was on more money than her. She only suspected this because they don't know what each other earned. They can discuss blow jobs but Girl A won't ask Girl B if she is getting screwed paywise by management. :o

pushed

I honestly don't think the acceptability or otherwise of discussing oral sex was something my mother ever raised :)

I think its quite intresting as I have never met anyone with some of the wages/incomes that are on here but a lot of people think they havent got much/are struggling etc. I think they must be mad

Lieinsareasrareastigers - I think its the other way round on here and the young ones would see it as ok to have a portable telly in the living room but some of the older ones think they are struggling living in a half a mil house with 5k a month coming in.

Well you won't be happy with me OP as I have just started another thread about money.

I know what my siblings earn. They know what they earn. So I find it strange when I hear people say - 'My sister would be so shocked if she ever knew what I earned'.