If you feel comfortably off why is that?

[Smarshian]

I have recently received some inheritance, which has reduced our mortgage payments for now. Alongside this I have a new job which has meant a bit of a pay rise and in September our childcare bill will go from around 1150 a month to around 300 a month, which will obviously make a huge difference to us.
I went to buy a bottle of wine yesterday from the shop and instead of buying the cheap one we usually get I bought one for around £10, which I prefer. Not extortionate by any stretch but I just realised I didn’t HAVE to get the cheaper one this week.
What makes you feel comfortable?

Co-owning a 2nd home with my BIL mortgage free through inheritance.
Knowing if shit hits the fan, we always have somewhere to go.

We spent a lot of money on our various hobbies. We would have a lot more disposable money if we didn't, but it brings joy.

@WombatChocolate yes it helps being on the same financial page as a partner.

We started putting money aside each month for one off costs like repairs for the house or car. So not real savings but it mostly smooths out the expenditure unless something very dear like the boiler goes. That has made me feel much more comfortable.

Ditto a little account for fun money so things like pre covid theatre tickets felt like ok, I know there’s plenty for that, instead of being reluctant to book because it’s a chunk of money at once (babysitter doubles the cost of tickets!)

Being able to overcome a financial shock, such as an unexpected bill without worrying. I'd be screwed if I lost my job but so long as that doesn't change financially we have nothing to worry about.

A decade ago I was buying 99p shirts off eBay, I kept one of them, it reminds me to be careful and how we've built our family etc. Now we can save 500-1000 most months but that' sonly been in the last year or so, interested to see where that settles after lockdown.

No debts, no panic if ds suddenly needs new shoes/clothes etc, takeaway if we feel like it, filling the car without a second thought, can cook whatever we like without counting the cost of ingredients.
I've been at the other end of the spectrum where I robbed Peter to pay Paul constantly and I am lucky I have managed to get away from that situation. I'm still a cautious spender, but it's nice to not have to worry about paying the bills.

Having the house re rendered, for cosmetic reasons only. It’s an expensive job and the realisation we can do it, purely so it looks nicer, makes me feel comfortably off.

When Covid struck and DH couldn’t work, we could pay our bills easily on one salary. Not because we are rich but because we made a choice a while ago to live well within our means. It was a massive relief not to have to worry about that side of things on top of everything else like getting toilet roll

I feel very comfortable now but have had years of hardship/watching our pennies. My husband and I left school at 16 with no qualifications but through hard work, working long hours, etc (at the age of 56 I still clean toilets on a Saturday and Sunday evening 😂) we have elevated ourselves into a comfortable lifestyle: our home is worth almost £600,000 and we are due to pay off the mortgage within a couple of years. We own two investment properties which we rent out.

Years were spent not having a foreign holiday nor having meals out, because our goal was to own a nice home, we sacrificed a lot. Without sounding too smug, I feel like we are now able to treat our teenagers to what they want, rather than telling them we can’t afford it, and if I want a £10 bottle of wine I do not feel guilty 😃 However, I can still be careful with money and would probably still buy two bottles for £10 😃

Same as PP, when I lost my job due to covid we survived on one salary. I did find another job very quickly but it was great relief that we would still be able to live our life and have our home.
We currently pay £800 a month in nursery fees, going down to £300 next year hopefully so that's a good reminder of how things actually are when I worry about money. I'm a worrier! DH wanted the massive house, I aired on the side of caution and we got our house (which is still a big house to me!) and we have options: part time working, holidays, our boat! I feel very lucky to be in this position. We are far from rich but when our fridge and tv broke last month we sorted it immediately with no credit and that made me realise we could be a lot worse off.