To P&N Posters: How do you rate your financial situation?

[Atreus21]

I've been interested to see how we on this forum stack up. No need to report income or expenses, just give a general idea of your financial standing.

I'm no financial analyst, so the categories may be oversimplified. Correct me or make suggestions if I should change something, but do it before you vote.


Wealthy: Money is essentially no object.
Well-off: Have plenty of money in savings, passive income, strong investments, zero debt that couldn't be immediately paid off if you wanted, very little concern for retirement. You get the picture.
Doing pretty good: Contributing normally to savings or retirement accounts, make decent enough money to live and eat well from either active or passive income. Manageable debt levels.
Getting by: Just beyond living paycheck to paycheck. Ends meet. Unable to make strong contributions to savings or retirement. Debt levels are burdensome but not bank-breaking.
Struggling: Paycheck to paycheck, and still coming up short. Zero contributions to savings or retirement. Debt levels overly burdensome. Having to borrow money from friends/family or take advantage of some other government or charity program.
Impoverished: We all know what impoverished is.

 

[dank69]

Doing pretty good, but I'd rate myself somewhere between that and well off. The only thing that doesn't qualify me for your definition of well off is I can't just pay off my mortgage. Paying much more than minimum payment though and zero other debt between my wife and I.

EDIT: We don't really have passive income or strong investments either, now that I think about it. :hmm:

 

[Atreus21]

Doing pretty good, but I'd rate myself somewhere between that and well off. The only thing that doesn't qualify me for your definition of well off is I can't just pay off my mortgage. Paying much more than minimum payment though and zero other debt between my wife and I.

What do you do, incidentally?

 

[dank69]

What do you do, incidentally?

Specialized software admin in the power industry. Wife is mechanical engineer.

 

[Uhtrinity]

Getting by, mainly due to being a single parent 9 years and running. Not quite well off due to the fact that my 401k isn't growing as fast as I would like, so retirement still is in that iffy category.

 

[Todd33]

I'm doing good, but wife decided to be stay at home mom after getting laid off from start up. Now we are living on one income with three kids.

 

[zsdersw]

I'm doing pretty good. I'll have all my debt paid off in 4 years and my pension and other investments are in very good shape.

 

[BoberFett]

Getting by, but only because I pay child support. Thanks to government and their boneheaded child support rules, after taxes and support I only take home about 40% of my gross. In about 5 years I'll be living large.

 

[DrPizza]

I couldn't pay off my mortgage immediately, if I wanted to, therefore your descriptions disqualify my from well-off. But, within the past year, we became empty-nesters. No more insurance payments for two sons, lower utility bills, no more $100-$200 each weekend for motocross racing, no more filling up 4 gas tanks each week, no more allowances, and we've finished paying off a few things. That leaves quite a bit left over each month. November is a 5 paycheck month; 1 1/2 paychecks covers all of our bills, mortgage, etc., except for food. I do spend a lot on food - we eat out a couple times a week, and I certainly don't eat ramen noodles or krapp macaroni & cheese. (Last two dinners were filet mignon with a portabella mushroom & wine sauce, fresh broccoli (steamed) with a cheese sauce); and an Italian pasta (cavatelle) with shrimp & asiago cheese, with fresh homemade garlic bread. Tonight - either porterhouse steaks, else t-bones.

 

[Thump553]

Your definitions assume the receipt of paychecks. A lot of us in the new economy are self employed and/or consultants.

 

[lotus503]

Doing pretty good, although I'm probably well off on paper.

 

[jackstar7]

Between Getting By and Pretty Good by your specifics, but I feel pretty good, so I went with that.

 

[dank69]

WTF zeze didn't you just spend like 10 grand on a ring?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Doing pretty good. Income is decent, but I have incurred expenses which need to be paid. Since I can meet them I can't complain, but I work for a living doing what I do out of need not choice. Pretty much like most people in that regard.

 

[soulcougher73]

Doing pretty good. Our household income is about $95k. Got 2 car payments and a personal loan i pay on. 3 more years and those 3 will be gone..cant wait. Other than that and rent/utilities we dont have any other debt. I save 6% and matched 3% in my 401k. Put $400/m away into savings accounts. Eat out when we want to.

We are going through a minimalist/non-consumer phase at the moment trying to downsize out lives to essentials in order to have more money for travelling which is our big passion.

 

[highland145]

House/cars paid for, no debt at all but not much in retirement. Everything went into the loan office. Then I blew my nice cushion of cash on the damn money pit, aka daycare, which still isn't supporting itself. Screwed myself pretty good on this one. It'll take me, at least, 2 years to get back where I was....assuming that it does start paying for itself.

 

[nextJin]

I made the mistake of voting well off, our home brings in around 175k a year. I have a large 30k dental bill to pay off along with 2 car payments of around 2k avg a month. Plus mortgage of 2300 a month and 500 on VC bills, but we save 500 a month and 20 percent of my pay goes into my TSP.

We have around 2k a month spending money and 300 each for personal play money every payday.

Once the major bills are paid in 2-3 years we will have around 9k a month to do whatever with.

 

[SheHateMe]

This might not mean much because I don't have "Big Kid" responsibilities just yet.

But, Im between "Doing pretty good" and "well off".

I don't have a mortgage, 401k or any of that other stuff yet.

I just have my student loan debt and my credit card to pay off and I will be able to keep more money in my pocket..that is, until I have been out of college for a while and I get a job in the corporate world somewhere.

 

[Moonbeam]

I have a fabulous caravan of wealth on its way to me and a cornucopia of endless bounty.

Once in my travels I met a dervish standing by the road as the king came riding by? The advanced guard came first shouting cursed at him to clear the path. 'That is why' i heard him say, as he said several more times when the royal guard road by telling him to get back, and finally the king who saluted him. 'That is why', I wondered to myself. What could that possibly mean, so I asked the dervish and he said, 'That is why each is what he is.'

I salute you whoever you are because you are me. You have a fabulous caravan of wealth on its way to you too, do you see?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Well-off. Software developer working steadily since '94. Geezer.

 

[ShawnD1]

Getting by: Just beyond living paycheck to paycheck. Ends meet. Unable to make strong contributions to savings or retirement. Debt levels are burdensome but not bank-breaking.

That's me. Just got my first mortgage a few months ago, everything works fine with 1.5 incomes. If something breaks, there is enough money to replace it, but I have no intentions of buying more things. Investment portfolio is extremely small because all spare money goes toward the mortgage.

 

[Blackjack200]

DPG. I got my first investment property about six months ago, and I rented out one of the rooms in my house about 4 months ago; it's all been quite profitable so far. I want to get one more investment property before the end of the year, after that and I pay off my car and consumer debt I would probably change my answer to Well-Off.

My goal is to make the "Wealthy" level in 5-10 years. We'll see.

 

[piasabird]

I just answered subjectively. This is because a lot of people are still saving for retirement because their employer set up a system to do this where people can not access the funds. This is probably a good thing.

 

[Exterous]

I was doing pretty well until I read the thread. Unfortunately now I know that something like 8 kittens have been killed by the atrocious use of 'good'

 

[JEDIYoda]

I salute you whoever you are because you are me. You have a fabulous caravan of wealth on its way to you too, do you see?

I see said the blind man!!