Oklahoma Nesties
drillerswife
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
I must stop lurking on MM
because I just read a post where the OP has $32k in savings and now I feel like a LOSER. <insert crying emoticon>
Re: I must stop lurking on MM
But I bet you have cable TV, a cell phone, and all sorts of other personal luxuries that none of them seem to have.
my bookshelf!
Bloggy
Um, you know, it made me feel like a loser at first too but - everyone's situations are different. One girl was going on and on about having $100k saved before the age of 30 - but she lives with her parents. Well, hell, I could have saved $100k if I lived with my parents my entire 20s as well. And really? Is that something worth bragging about?
Those that have a ton in savings usually graduated college between the ages of 22 - 23 and got married right away. The dual income factor is huge. My BFF and her hubby have a ton of savings - they got married at 22 and graduated college at 21. I, on the other hand, had a single income until I was 30 years old - but I bought my first house at 22. Its all relative.
At the same time, a lot of those girls over there are in their mid to early 30s.
But also, according to multiple posts last week, they all carry $2k bags.
Yep, MM makes me feel like a loser, too.
I recently quit lurking a lot of boards. MM was making me feel broke. D&R was making me feel like my house was in need of decorating. F&B was making me feel like I needed to go on a huge shopping spree. The only board I lurk now is H&F, and only because it makes me feel like eating healthier and exercising, which are a lot cheaper lol.
Kaylee & Cole 06.14.08
8/6/11 First 5k! OG&E Expo Run 34:47
9/3/11 Brookhaven Run 5k 34:18
9/17/11 Healthy Sooners Fun Run 5k 33:38
10/15/11 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 33:31
10/29/11 Monster Dash 5k 32:06 PR!
11/11/11 Veteran's Day Run 11k in Dallas 1:13:15 Instant PR!
1/28/12 Texas Half Marathon 2:38:03 Instant PR!
3/25/12 Earlywine Dash
Also, when you consider the ages of the peeps on the board, also consider the income levels - I think 80% of them have incomes above $250k.
Maybe I just justify myself too much but - I try to think about the stuff I DO have - when our house is completed (by next summer!) we will have paid CASH for nearly six figures of renovations and have our dream home - not to mention - because the real estate market here is so awesome - we will be waaaaaay in the money on our house (most on MM are out of the money on their homes) and most importantly WE HAVE A LIFE. I am not going to cut coupons to eat Hamburger Helper every night and god damn it, I am taking four vacations a year. Period. There's no guarantee that you will live to enjoy that 80% of retirement savings. Everyone needs to find what makes them happy and I am super happy so be it.
You seem super happy too so....go home and eat expensive cheese and drink way expensive wine. Your heart and tummy will thank you.
It makes a HUGE difference - and an even bigger difference if you supported someone in school on one income. That, btw, is something else I am extremely proud of.
As far as D&R some of the stuff on there I am like WTF. A lot of the befores are definitely better than the afters. Yikes!
I think a lot of the people on the MM pad some things to make it seem like they're doing better than they really are. There are some that make excellent money and probably aren't exaggerating their cash, but my guess is that most don't actually have as much as they say they do.
I agree with Puppy...there has to be a happy medium when it comes to saving and living life. If all you're doing is sacrificing and you die tomorrow--what good is all of that cash that you've stashed? Sometimes enjoying life (within reason, of course) is much more advantageous than having $XX in the bank.
As long as you can handle minor emergencies and don't have to run to mommy and daddy for money, you're doing great!
Bahahaha! This is so true Kaylee. I feel the same way!
Hahaha! I felt exactly the same way!!
Yes, they are all about cutting cable and cell phones.
My favorite MM post EVER was a girl that posted about how many direct tv satellites she saw when she drove by Section 8 housing. People were all over her about that - "Poor people need to watch t.v. too" crap like that. Yet EVERY TIME someone posts their budget, the first thing those girls criticize are cable and cell phone expenses. I found that post horrifyingly ironic.
Yes! I cannot look over there some days. We got married young, but we've never been dual income due to DH always being in school. Our financial status looks a lot different than my friends who graduated at 22, got married, and started working right away. We've been living off one teacher's salary for nearly four years.
I figure we'll catch up sometime in our mid to late 30's.
I don't actually read the financial posts on MM, just the off-topic ones. Evidently they all hate everybody else's shoes.
Expensive cheese and $12 wine---I do have to be MM after all...and by the time we crack open that second bottle we usually don't know the difference
I think it's one of my weird self-competitive things. Finances are something we could ALWAYS do better at, especially since we didn't both have "real" jobs until we were 29 for DH and 30 for me, so I will always want to do better. Of course, I also want to live in a certain neighborhood and travel and eat whatever I want, too, so something has to give
Money isn't anything if you aren't enjoying it and have a purpose for it. I have always been a big money saver and H has gotten me to spend it more and enjoy things. I still get anxious about spending money.
Some people on MM are older or live in HCOL areas.
ET: the correct dollar amount in the OP
Something else to consider - a lot of those girls on MM have worked at the same place for most of their careers - and include their 401k match (which is most likely pretty substantial) when they discuss their savings.
I have yet to benefit from a 401k match and given my career path, I probably never will and DH doesn't even have a 401k offered to him. We just suck all around.