how do you know when you are rich?

[lilibet]

Browsing thru the ' how much money do you have coming in' thread, I noticed that one mum with 4k a month coming in said 'we're not rich'. So my question is, when would you think that you are rich? Obviously not the same for every one, so here are my thoughts.

1. when I can buy bags of cesar salad for 1.99 and not wait until they are a 30p sell off
2. When I can buy clarks shoes for the ds's without blowing a weeks food budget. 3.When the cats can have whiskas pouches

But then of course, when that glorious day arrives, I will have other things that I can't do and I won't be rich anymore!

I honestly believe that everyone spends x% of their income, i.e. some people will always spend more than they earn, even though their wages increase over time, and some will always be savers. I'm stuck in the middle, I always save a nice portion, but to the extent I leave myself without enough available cash to survive daily and end up using credit until I paid again, so am in the current position of having a nice amount of savings I can't touch, but also two concurrent house loans, a mortgage, and credit card debt. It makes no sense.
To answer your question: I feel rich when I can go to the ATM and withdraw money for day to day purchases and not have to calculate how much is left each time. Or when I can buy clothes on impulse and not worry about leaving myself short that month.

when you can afford a nanny,housekepper,choffeur and gardener,i never will

lilibet - I know exectly what you mean! I have to confess to not contributing to the 'how much' thread as a) i think it's quite private (even on Mumsnet) but also 2) I am genuinely quite embarrassed by how much money comes and goes through our household while I am aware that friends manage perfectly happily on much less.
Strangely I wouldn't describe ourselves as 'rich' either, and yet I know that some aspects of our lifestyle (house/holidays) and savings would make a mockery of this in the eyes of others.
Strangely I find that dh & I always seem to be benchmarking ourselves against friends who have more than us, and completely forgetting that we have 'more' (and I would use that expression with reservations I add..) than others.
I found myself thinking about the whole 'what is rich' thing even more recently as ds1 (aged 3.5) has started asking questions like "why doesn't X friend have a playroom/ big house/ two cars etc" and I've been trying to explain the concept of some people having different lifestyles, but how that doesn't necessarily change them as people. I am SO conscious about not wanting to bring up a little snob of a son!
Meanwhile, judging from the 'how much money' thread, I would probably be classified as 'at the richer' end by Mumsnetters I guess, yet I buy and sell things on eBay, cut coupons and shop for promotional offers.
I don't feel rich 'cos I don't drive a Jaguar SK8

• how sad is that?

Yo know you're rich when....

.... you love your kids enough to even spend your spare time on mumsnet talking about them?

Like the song says (a bit of a personal anthem this one):

With my family all around me
I've all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
Sitting on a beach of gold

Oh lord I'm a poor man
With all the riches I can hold
I'm a beggar
Sitting on a beach of gold

Sounds a bit cheesy writtien down, but I've always found the sentiment behind that fairly thought provoking.

I was, for a few weeks, about two months ago. The bank paid £30,000 into my account, I kept it for 6 weeks before finally ringing them to tell them. They said 'Oh, can you put it in writing?' and offered me £20 for my time. Guess what? They never paid me the £20. - Moral of the story, ALWAYS check your bank statements, if any money is paid in which is not yours - wait for them to ring you!!!

Furball - that's awful - write back to them and invoice them for £20 + two months interest (use their highest credit card rate!)
Oh, and cc the letter at the bottom:
cc: The Editor, The Sun newspaper...

Bet they'll send you a cheque in the next post! (Obviously DON'T really copy The Sun..... )

When I was young I worked 2 jobs and earnt a load of dosh so I could travel. I worked all the hours I possibly could and primarily saved so much because I literally didn't have time to spend it. This taught me one very important fact which was - the more money you have the more you covet. I found I was getting greedy in terms of wanting more and more and more. I wasn't comparing myself to others or being particularly tight with my money I just didn't have the time to spend it.

I then went travelling and spent the majority of it but it made me realise that coveting money is not the be all and end all and I think I have a much better outlook in terms of wealth now. I like to have money so I don't have to worry about the food bill, shopping or purchase of little extras but at the same time I am sensible with how I spend it, try to buy bargains when I can and don't treat myself or my family too often. I think in our consumer society people quite often feel the need to have bigger and better constantly and I try to remain aware of that and not buy into it all that often.

Saying that though, I still don't know where a lot of my money goes even though I set budgets on a regular basis. I always remind myself how lucky I am to have a good paying job and be able to live the life style I do but remember that this can change in the blink of an eye and am prepared to adjust my lifestyle accordingly.

I find my wealth comes from my husband and my son. We don't have a fairy tale relationship but I believe we have a strong one and we both worship our son and will give him whatever we possibly can without allowing him to expect things without working for them. My view on whether people are rich or not is by the lifestyle they live and how happy they are living that. Therefore, they could be gypsy's travelling the country but they have the love and support of their family and to me that is true wealth.

I know that sounds corny but I really do measure wealth in terms of love, laughter and support as opposed to how much you have in the bank, earn or can buy.

I'm not rich, but I'm comfortable. I don't worry about getting money out of the ATM, and I know I have enough savings to cover most eventualities. However, my car is 20 years old, we live in a flat with no garden and holidays in Barbdos are definitly out of the question. We could have a lot more money if dh went back to work, but then we wouldn't be as happy. Money aint everything in life

Interesting point lilibet about "being rich" is one of those things that you never quite attain. For me, it would be to be able to afford a cleaner and two foreign holidays a year. So I think it is probably eventually feasible.

But a few years ago I would have said living in a four bed house and buying a brand new car without going into debt. But now I am doing that and don't feel rich. Like Slug I feel comfortable. I know that I can afford what I spend. Just would like to be able to spend more.

You know you must be rich when the security guard stops following you around the shops! Also when shop assistants smile and say "hello" to you, and MEAN it!
You know you are poor when you can only dream of these things!

It has been pointed out to me by b/f that if I cut down on the wine I might be rich! No chance! It was my friends daughters birthday yesterday, she is 10 like my son, and her mum got her lots of little things, like a new school bag, pencils and pencil case and she was thrilled with them. Its my ds's 10th birthday soon and i have gone a little bit further into debt to buy him a second hand playstation 2. I wish he would be happy with a pencil case but I know he won't be!
Having said that, I used to live in a large 4 bed house when I was with my husband,foreign hols every year but I left and now live in a very small 3 bed, and we have no chance of a holiday, but I wouldn't go back for the world. The children are happier, better behaved (sometimes!!) and I now have a much more contended life.

Cheeky b-f!
Unfortunately a £3 wine a week would no afford me a cleaner or a foreign holiday or I'd be going for it!

Rhubarb I think you'd also have to ditch the pushchair and small child to get some shop assistants to do that.

to get someone in to do the decorating.

When I can buy a Louis Vuitton bag and employ an interior designer and go into those posh curtain shops that cost a fortune. Buy Oilily for my kids, have a house in Barbados.....

Message withdrawn

Let's get 'Spendalot' on to tell us all

I happen to know that "spendalot" does have clean sheets every day (it came up in another thread!)

When what makes you happy has got nothing to do with money.

When you can walk in a shop and just buy things without even wanting to ask the price. The bill just goes on your account to be picked up at a later date.

I too think however much you've got you spend about the same % every month. Our income went down a bit when I went to working part time but we've managed just fine.

I have never been one for overspending! I know exactly what is going in and out of our accounts, and we never get overdrawn. We live comfortably, but our one car is an old banger and when we bought our house we didn't stretch ourself to the hilt. We also only buy stuff after saving for it, never buy now, pay later - I'd be too worried about not being able to pay it off.

I think even if I were rich, I'd still watch the pennies. Sad I know, but it saves a lot of worry in the long run. An ex of mine inherited about £40 K a few years back when his father died. His way to spend it was to have loads of holidays abroad, buy a new car and party. One year later he was in deep debt and is still trying to climb out of it.

We also have friends who earn probably twice what we do but still have 'money problems'. I find this really hard to believe, but the fact is they choose to have 2 brand new cars on loan, and choose to buy a huge house so their mortgage payments are killing them and basically want the best in everything to keep up with the Jones.

Me, I'm happy with what I've got!

When your agnecy forgets to pay you and you don't notice until 5 weeks later!!!! Every penny of my wages are accounted for (and then some!!)... but a girl at my work did this. I couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before!

Blimey - with three cats,I would HAVE to win the lottery to afford puches for them every day... And it still wouldn't stop them from raiding the local rabbit population as a supplement.

OK then, I would be rich if I could fill DDs wardrobe from baby gap, and baby monsoon

Mmmmmmm - new sheets every day! Pure irish or crisp egyptian linen of course... Drooooool...

I will count myself as rich when I don't have an overdraft at the end of every month. We were just getting to that point when I had ds1.......

this is such a hard one i couldnt put my finger on it - then like a hammer to the head it came to me last night in bed!

a swimming pool - indoors - constitutes rich - it is the definition of rich to me as growing your own herbs is the definition to me of middle class!

swimming pool

Does the cannibis in the Yurt count as growing my own herbs?