What if money were no object?

[squishy]

When he asks " how would I like to spend my life if money were no object" does he mean I've inherited millions or that I follow my dreams & desires, using other peoples money, hoping that one day I may earn a living from it. ?..................... & if everyone was sky diving or bimbling through the daisy fields, who's going to do all the boring stuff like running a country ?......................maybe he's just addressing the elite..

My thoughts exactly. People who say money doesnt make you happy are generally (though not always) the ones who have it, or the ones who are happy to let other people pay for them. Following dreams and desires is all well and good if you have the means to do it in the first place. I'm constantly told to stop making everything about money and to stop stressing.. but try telling that to British Gas, or Yorkshire Water etc

 

[santaman2000]

My thoughts exactly. People who say money doesnt make you happy are generally (though not always) the ones who have it, or the ones who are happy to let other people pay for them.....

They're the ones who've never been to Cherry Patch ranch in Nevada.

 

[squishy]

They're the ones who've never been to Cherry Patch ranch in Nevada.

sounds like a nice place

 

[plastic-ninja]

My thoughts exactly. People who say money doesnt make you happy are generally (though not always) the ones who have it, or the ones who are happy to let other people pay for them. Following dreams and desires is all well and good if you have the means to do it in the first place. I'm constantly told to stop making everything about money and to stop stressing.. but try telling that to British Gas, or Yorkshire Water etc

The sad fact is that if you never follow the dream you will never know if it would have been possible to make it work.
My own dream has been rocky in places but the bills did get paid , I made some money and lost it when the dream slipped a little but now back on course and still living it.I'm not going to replace Bill Gates on the rich list anytime soon but I never let other people pay for me and I didn't have the means to do it in the first place.
If you wait for the right time it will never come.
Simon

 

[squishy]

The sad fact is that if you never follow the dream you will never know if it would have been possible to make it work.
My own dream has been rocky in places but the bills did get paid , I made some money and lost it when the dream slipped a little but now back on course and still living it.I'm not going to replace Bill Gates on the rich list anytime soon but I never let other people pay for me and I didn't have the means to do it in the first place.Everything is not about money so stop stressing...but you know this already or you wouldn't be so resentful of those who have the courage/insanity to follow their dream.If you can't do it yourself you should applaud those who do ; not smirk behind your hand and secretly hope that they fail so that you can feel justified in not even trying.
Simon

Who said anything about being resentful or hoping people fail? Good on those who can do what they want and not have to worry about bills etc. HillBill on here is my fiance, he's a self employed knife maker.. doing his own thing that makes him happy My point was that not everyone can do that, or at least can't do it straight away. Its all well and good saying just do what you want to do but if you can't afford it you afford it, simple as. I didn't say it can't be done, its just not always as simple as some people make out. I also didn't actually say that I think money is everything, just that its what I constantly get told by people who don't seem to understand that although money is not everything, it does help a lot. Whether we like to admit it or not, most things these days cost money so you can't really help but make it about that if you want/need something and can't afford it As I said above, I'd love to hear someone tell British Gas/Yorkshire Water etc to stop stressing about money when they're ringing you up every day asking for the payment you've missed again

I make jewellery in my spare time and am working towards setting myself up in business.. but I can't just quit my job and start doing that as I simply just don't have the money to do it right now, it doesn't mean I will never do it, but it does mean I have to stay in a job I hate for the time being until its practical to quit and do my own thing. I don't see it as making everything about money, I see it as just trying to ensure I have enough to get by and eventually be able to do what does make me happy.

 

[cbr6fs]

As with everything in life it comes down to compromises.

If your willing to compromise say financial security to chase some whimsical theory of a dream then good on them.
Others are not willing to compromise either their own financial stability or that of their family on some romantic notion of a dream, good on them as well.

Human nature being what it is, the grass is always greener.

To me the knack is, work hard, look after your money that you've worked hard earning, then when your mortgage is paid off and your debt free you can start to compromise less.

As it is though most folk just get deeper into debt each year simply because they're consuming and buying newer crap cause they've convinced themselves they NEED to latest and greatest, phone, tablet, PC, TV, car, knife, sleeping bag, stove, tent, tarp, hammock etc etc etc.

I think the trick is to be ambitious enough to succeed in your chosen field, but logical enough to know when you've reached your limit.

I'd also say,
1/ NEVER meet your idols as most the time your disappointed
2/ NEVER start a business with friends or family members
3/ Never start working at something you enjoy, as most the time it'll quickly suck the enjoyment out of it

Lastly, who knows what you'll enjoy.
I would have though working outdoors would be my dream job, but when you HAVE to go out when you don't really want to it's not that much fun anymore day in day out.
Plus i wouldn't have thought for a second my current job would be enjoyable, as it is though i absolutely love it.
A big part of that is the people i work with though, NOT the job itself.

So it's easy to cast wide dispersions and generalisations, in the real world though things are always a damn site more complicated and intricate.

 

[midge_fodder]

When is the poorest Man richer than the richest One? When the richest Man concedes that the poorest is happier than Himself, as you cannot estimate the value of the Morning Sky, or the joy that it brings. Food for thought.

 

[Expat]

Well, I've read through some cobblers in this thread, but that last one takes the biscuit....
Whoever wrote that obviously has no idea of what it is to be the poorest - when you don't
know when you will have food in your stomach again, you really don't give a monkey's what
the sky looks like at any time of day..... Believe me - I've met people that poor.

 

[midge_fodder]

It's metaphorical, speaking from your point of view I understand - I've met some pretty poor people in my time too. I'm sorry for offending your beliefs, and I will leave philosophical thinking out of my future posts.

 

[OurJud]

I've seen this thread title popping up on the main forum from time to time and always presumed it was related to bushcraft/wild camping, i.e, what kit would you buy if money were no object. I'd have a field day buying the ultimate in top range, lightweight gear, although I'd have to do some research regarding what that consisted of exactly. I'm not sure simply buying the most expensive works in practice, does it?

 

[spandit]

I was talking about winning the lottery with my neighbour and said how nice it would be to be rich. He replied:

"When I get paid every month, I have enough money to pay my mortgage and bills with enough left over for an occasional take-away if I want one. I am a rich man"

It's always stuck with me as a great philosophy

 

[Keith_Beef]

As with everything in life it comes down to compromises.

...

To me the knack is, work hard, look after your money that you've worked hard earning, then when your mortgage is paid off and your debt free you can start to compromise less.

As it is though most folk just get deeper into debt each year simply because they're consuming and buying newer crap cause they've convinced themselves they NEED to latest and greatest, phone, tablet, PC, TV, car, knife, sleeping bag, stove, tent, tarp, hammock etc etc etc.

I think the trick is to be ambitious enough to succeed in your chosen field, but logical enough to know when you've reached your limit.

I'd also say,
1/ NEVER meet your idols as most the time your disappointed
2/ NEVER start a business with friends or family members
3/ Never start working at something you enjoy, as most the time it'll quickly suck the enjoyment out of it

Lastly, who knows what you'll enjoy.
I would have though working outdoors would be my dream job, but when you HAVE to go out when you don't really want to it's not that much fun anymore day in day out.
Plus i wouldn't have thought for a second my current job would be enjoyable, as it is though i absolutely love it.
A big part of that is the people i work with though, NOT the job itself.

So it's easy to cast wide dispersions and generalisations, in the real world though things are always a damn site more complicated and intricate.

Good advice.

My parents always said "neither a borrower nor a lender be", and I've always tried to live by that. They took out a mortgage to buy their house in the mid 1970s, when rates were really high (I think they reached almost 20%), and as rates dropped they kept the monthly repayments the same and even increased them when my brother was old enough and my mum went back to work. Their friends were reducing their repayments to have spare cash for beer and skittles. My parents' 25 year mortgage was paid off around 10 years early. Some of their friends were still making payments a couple of years after retirement!

SWMBO and I took a loan about seven years ago to buy a flat, we'll sell that soon and change the loan to buy a house, but other than that nothing on credit and no loans. No long-term telephone contracts, no cable or satellite TV. I had a credit card in the US because so many places would not accept debit cards or cash, and I could also rack up points on the card and get cashback to the order of around $500 per year.

I live in the real world, too. I think that the money economy is a fantastic system. When we moved from barter to currency it made trade so much more efficient. The invention and acceptance of credit increased that efficiency still more. But money and credit are just tools that need to be used carefully. Just like fire, they are good servants but cruel masters.

I try to live by three very simple rules:

1. I won't ask you to do for me what I would refuse to do for myself.
2. If you can do something better (quality/price/time) than I can, I'll ask you to do it.
3. I won't make a bet with money I can't afford to lose.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

The rich say that money doesn't bring you happiness & the good looking say that beauty isn't everything......................so in the next life I want to be poor & ugly, just to see what I've been missing.

 

[santaman2000]

The rich say that money doesn't bring you happiness & the good looking say that beauty isn't everything......................so in the next life I want to be poor & ugly, just to see what I've been missing.

Generally I'm pretty happy with my life. But sometimes; just sometimes; I wish I had been born rich instead of so damned handsome!

 

[santaman2000]

I've seen this thread title popping up on the main forum from time to time and always presumed it was related to bushcraft/wild camping, i.e, what kit would you buy if money were no object. I'd have a field day buying the ultimate in top range, lightweight gear, although I'd have to do some research regarding what that consisted of exactly. I'm not sure simply buying the most expensive works in practice, does it?

I agree. I've often heard others talking about how they'd by a more comfortable (and expensive) backpack. I think rather than buying a more expensive backpack, a better approach if I were wealthy, would be to simply hire bearers to carry my gear and set up camp.

 

[greensurfingbear]

A simple life is all I'm after.... Shame stuff gets in the way like rent etc lol


Orric

 

[Minotaur]

This guy isnt very realistic.

I live a pretty responsibility free life, but I have had to give up so much for that.

No relationships, no children, (I have had few pets in my life, much as I have loved having the ones I did.)

I spent what little money I do have on a house. (and lets face it, being secure is a great thing.)

Which means I have missed out on a lot of things you take for granted. (No fancy holidays, for example, and most of my things, both essentials and toys are secondhand.)

I would be like to be freer of possestions. (The house is a big bind; will be even more so when I go to Uni)

Know of a bloke who hit retirement and flogged the house for a caravan. Now he tours the country, and more importantly from our point of view has massivly cut his bills. No council tax, water rates etc.

Any money you bang in the pension now or use to pay off the morgage will come back to you tenfold. Have some friends who are morgage free and their lifestyle is so much better.

I did my time on the dole, and can tell you my idea of paradise, having twenty quid in my pocket, and being able to spend it on anything.

Read a Darren Hayes book called the Compound Effect if you want to change your life, and lifestyle. It not rocket science, change today a little, and then make it a habit. Very interesting reading.

 

[santaman2000]

Know of a bloke who hit retirement and flogged the house for a caravan. Now he tours the country, and more importantly from our point of view has massivly cut his bills. No council tax, water rates etc.....

I've thought of doing this. It's actually very common over here. However it ain't cheap. The RVs designed to live in are much more expensive than the recreational ones (in fact the cost of many is very close to that of a true house) Then there's the insurance. And the parking fees (around $30-$60 per day on most sites. Then there's also the fact that you have to have at least one site where you park it at least 50% of the time so you'll legally have a "permanent address" to be able to legally get the driver's license and register to vote.

 

[Minotaur]

I've thought of doing this. It's actually very common over here. However it ain't cheap. The RVs designed to live in are much more expensive than the recreational ones (in fact the cost of many is very close to that of a true house) Then there's the insurance. And the parking fees (around $30-$60 per day on most sites. Then there's also the fact that you have to have at least one site where you park it at least 50% of the time so you'll legally have a "permanent address" to be able to legally get the driver's license and register to vote.

A caravan which can be towed by a normal car is not much more expensive than the car, if anything a lot less. Our caravans are like bigger tear drop trailers. I have heard about people doing this with RVs but think that sort of misses the point. I want less hassle in my life lets get a big truck to drive round. If you wanted to do this sort of thing think van and make your own discreet RV. As little as possible to make it stand out as an RV, and then park it anywhere.

We have to avoid being on a site for a certain amount of time or you have to pay council tax. I do wonder if you could buy three small bits of land and move between them.

I do wonder how they get round the permanent address thing but then again maybe they just use their kids house or something. Could you use your lawyers address as your legal address? There must be a way round it because of working abroad and in the service.

I also think you are missing one big point, how much space do you need?

More importantly, you live in the states, you can live a tax free life now there are books etc. Our tax system sucks compared to yours.

 

[santaman2000]

....I do wonder how they get round the permanent address thing but then again maybe they just use their kids house or something. Could you use your lawyers address as your legal address? There must be a way round it because of working abroad and in the service.

I also think you are missing one big point, how much space do you need?

More importantly, you live in the states, you can live a tax free life now there are books etc. Our tax system sucks compared to yours.

Living abroad in service is different. Your permanent address is your "home of record." Usually the place where you resided when you entered service. I voted absentee then. and my drivers' license never expired until 30 days after my return (not just to the country but until my return to the state where it was issued)

No I realize the point about space. But that isn't the only issue. Unless they're specifically designed to actually live in full time then they aren't solid enough to last over a year tops. Then you go through the whole expense again. But as a minimun (if you're serious about actually living in one) then you need enough space for a separate bathroom, sleeping area, and cooking/eating area. Otherwise you're going to feel EXTREMELY confined when you run into 3 or more weeks of poor weather that keeps you inside.

I can live tax free!? News to me. My income tax and Social Security payments total around 26% (and as I live in Florida, that's just the Federal tax cause Florida is one of only six stares that doesn't add state tax on top of that) But the tax I was referring to is the state tax on the vehicle registration itself.