24 and makin 0 dollars and owning my Z outright... here come the feds!


No seriously I was from 21-24 I went from 30k to 50k ... saved my money made some smart choices, now I have a Z, and I'm back in school and not working I should go apply for a job at Taco Bell or something... hahahahha get me some carwash money...

 

Make over $120K+. I have Roadster and SC430.

Fixing up both cars are puting holes in my pocket and even wtih over $120K in income, its not enough.

Thanks to UNCLE SAM!

I don't pay tax, UNCLE SAM takes tax.

 

I'm in the same boat.....I once disclosed my annual income on this forum and people wondered why I'm driving "only a Z". I make damn good money but man it goes fast. After state and federal taxes, medicare, SS, 39% of my income is gone. Add to that paying for and maintaining my nice house, private school for kids, saving for their college, a nice vacation or two every year, and the funds aren't as high as they would seem. Still, I can't complain. I do have enough for my ZR, any mods that I would want to do, and two other more practicle vehicles in the household.

 

Let me get philosophical for a moment: I've always found it doesn't matter how much you make. Somehow you find a way to live up to that income, even when you consider the bite that taxes take. The houses get bigger, the cars get better and the diversions just get more expensive. I'm not complaining, but it's amazing the things you can convince yourself you need. I remember when we lived in a one-bedroom apartment, had two older cars and little money in the bank. But I think we were happy. Ten years later, it's a 4,000-square-foot, 112-year-old colonial on two acres with four cars, three of them bought within the last year, plus a condo in Florida that's larger than that first apartment. To be honest, I don't know that we're any happier.

 

26yrs. old and in the 46k-65K range

 

19 years old, around 80k this last year. Z is paid off. Bein a salesman is payin off til i finish my degree

 

I've thought about this stuff A LOT, as I have come to the point in my life where I have really accomplished most of the goals I had envisioned when I was younger.

I remember being in medical school and being so excited about the used Acura Integra that I had bought. It was just as much of a thrill back then as dumping $20k in mods into my ZR is now.

While I agree that I am no happier, I also think that if I was still driving a used Acura Integra at age 40, I would be disappointed in where I was in life.
So....in order to maintain the same level of happiness I had back then, I think I do need more now. I know the whole bit about money not buying happiness, and it is certainly true. If you are having a personal crisis, health problems, etc., high level material goods become trivial, but I do think that there comes a point in life, where if you haven't acheived your goals, financial and otherwise, disappointment can set in.

When you are younger, you have HOPE for the future, and that hope gets you a long way. As you age a little, the reality of where your life is and how much time you really have left to make a difference, begin to factor in to your happiness.

 

Well said, I also make what others here would call "good money", however for my family's financial security I tend to focus more on our actual Net Worth. One can have loads of 'things' and toys, yet some may be buried deep in debt as a result, so a much better measure of how you are Really doing (for those that care) is your own net worth, rather then how many pesos you may make. To me, it's not what you make anyway, it's what you keep, and what you are able to (to choose to) do with it. For me, I love my Z much more then any other $Toys I've had, and I could buy much more expensive toys in cash if I wanted to, but as you get older you learn to share your good fortune with others, and frankly the best 3 things in my life right now were all completly free. My Three Grandkids are the only 'things' that put a larger smile on my face then my ZR!

 

nope pa is per anum, I manage a real estate company

 

I find that to be so very true. I was just as happy making half what I do now, but I don't think I could go back to that lifestyle easily.. Strange huh..

 

Funny - I have about the same disposable income now at $70k as I did when I made <$30k. Difference? Wife, stepdaughter, house, two car payments, etc. Now, I'm just broke in a different tax bracket....

-djb

 

My assets pay for my Z......Each and every one of you need to go out and buy a book called "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I can make 50K a year and spend 20K, or I can make 140K a year and spend 20K. Financial discipline is taught at home...not in big colleges.

 

Agree. Read this book also, right before i started investing in real estate. really good book.

 

I DO own a home (and now the Z) and and married (and the wife lives the Z) and I make 50.5k currently

 

not to come off as a jerk, but i make more than you guys... and i dont have crap to show for it! all i have is an apartment and a ZR...

then again, i do live in LA and less than a mile from the beach, but dang...

it would be nice to be able to afford a house and support a wife and a kid...

i just find it mind blowing...

oh wait, i do have 50k debt from usc hanging over me too now that i think about it...

 

I flip burgers jus to pay off my 40k+ ZR.

 

a mile from the beach and in cali, yeah. that sounds about right for not having enough scratch. lol.. friend of mine out in walnut creek makes over $120k+ and barely afforded his apartment.. bought a house finally, and it's a bit better... I don't have 40k in school loans, but i do have 18k, plus all the house expenses/bills, etc.. just gotta cut where I can, and it just means i can't buy other crap anymore, that's all

 

That the problem with LA area. Its very expensive to live here.

I live in Orange County which is about 30 miles south of LA and even here housing is very expensive.

I have 1 bedroom condo which is going for about $400K. Most houses in this area are at leaset $700K and up.

Anything halfway decent (4 bed and over 3000 sqft) is going for over a million here

Maybe that why I am alway short of money too.

 

yeah, ive realized that if i want to live here comfortably, i need to make a career change and try to make well over six figures.

time to start studying for the gmats....

BUT i must say, the weather almost makes it completely worth it. nothing like dropping the top down during a lunch break in the middle of january.

 

heh, middle of Jan, and it was 65 again here in st louis, mo..

put the top down over lunch myself and went for a drive... love it