How much money is "enough"?

[Mlarsen]

I would like to be comfortable so, 250+. If there is one thing I hate stressing about, it's money. Especially if I'm responsible for my families income.

[Turf1600]

All you guys saying 250....what do you net now?

[blunttech]

I could do with a lot less than what i have. Its amazing how fast a human can adapt. Ive never been what I consider "rich" but Ive been flat broke and pretty comfortable and everything in between and I have always been ok with whatever Ive had. You just adjust

[mrsleeve]

Much depends on where you live. While in many many cases it can be done on much less than your minimum option

[TurboJake]

50K can feed a family of four, and provide basic necessities, and transportation, and a roof with change to spare. A good chunk of it too.

Family of two here, living on 17k a year. No handouts. No welfare. No food stamps. No unemployment. Just doing what we do. Also, no debt. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. No credit card. No loans. Nothing.
I wouldn't know what to do with 50k a year.

With my current lifestyle and obligations to the landlord, power company, internet, and cell phone. I can survive off of 203 dollars a week to pay my bills, provide gas, and food.

I'm going to edit this after consideration.
Those of you in california. You should be exempt from this. Your costs and costs of living are so rediculously high.
And I'm also going to state. I do not live in a trailer. I rent my place.
I have a 2 car garage to work on my cars, and tear them down to sell the parts, to live.
And I pay 445 a month for this place. No utilities. It's nothing special. It's nothing terrible. I'm very comfortable in it.

[J3M93]

I voted($175K) on the basis that living comfortably meant that you have no major debt excl mortgage and minor credit cards, e.g. no cars on loan/lease and enjoyed an above middle class lifestyle

[Kershaw]

i'd say about $150k/year to really live comfortably. like, not worry about money at all. except, "do i want the henna m3 or the schwarz m3? hmmm... better get em both." lol. all that AND being able to appropriately provide for the family.

$250k is still middle class here in the DC area.

[TurboJake]

IF I made 250k I couuld buy an m3 monthly...
A perfect example every month and a half. One week would pay my bills for just under 6 months...

[Kershaw]

yeah, i have to give you props on living on $203 a week. hell, for just knowing that your expenses are $203 down to the dollar. pretty impressive.

i have no idea what my mandatory monthly expenses are. but i always end up spending somewhere between $2500-3000 a month.

[pureaudio]

A family of four could very easily live comfortably and eventually retire on a steady 75k a year. If you think 250k a year is needed to be comfortable then I suggest getting a little perspective in your life.

I've done it on that and less and I could do it again no problem.

[Rsully70sev]

ATLEAST a 100K combined income in California. Texas may be different, yall have some ballin ass houses.

[MR 325]

I see no "Rob" option in this poll.

[imsotyerred]

Sorry, but what the hell else would I be talking about? Monthly? Decade?

Yes, pre tax annual household income.

hey man, you never specified. It was a fair question and I was about to ask the same.

to lead the comfortable lives that we all should be to live and save for 2 kids to go to school I'd say right around 100k/year...shit's expensive, man

[Chrisv006]

I agree with a lot of the other posters...if you think you need $250k a year to just be comfortable, you need to step back and think about life.....I vote ~$75k to be comfortable (in most places). You should be able to afford a decent house, food, and have enough discretionary income at that point to satisfy your random cravings for crap.

I provide for my 2 year old and wife (shes finishing up her PhD in mechanical engineering) and at over $100k, some of my biggest annoyances are my inability to move to a better house (cant sell, cant buy) and having hold my self back from paying cash for a 1M....these are not real problems......

[nando]

you'd be amazed at how fast money goes with a wife and 2 kids

if you're single, $50k is pretty damn nice. with a family? saving for college? buying food? housing? healthcare? transportation? Have fun with that. median income here is $49k for a family - but people in this area are generally poor (a few make a ton of money, a lot are living in poverty). sure you could do it, but you'd just be scraping by.

$75k isn't really *that* much but it does depend on where you live. I'm always sort of amazed by what our combined income is, and it's still fairly tight.