Don't work yourself into a corner - Enjoy your life instead

I do see your point in all of these threads you have started. But why so many threads to convey the same point?

And I could not agree more with you, by the way. I refuse to work myself to death just for those few extra miles.
I take my time driving, and I take decent breaks so I can relax.

So many people say how stressful this job is. But it is only as stressful as you make it, or let it be.

 

The more you make the more you spend. It's amazing how many people end up in that same situation. Lord knows I've been guilty of it. Someday they will learn. There's only so much crap a person really needs.

 

Many people will do that.

I left Maryland because the area has gotten to keep up with the Jones and it was easier to go trucking. Watching how the utilities, rent food oil and so on got higher and higher every year there. Here in the south when I came to Arkansas they did not need very much. I had a ranch house on a few acres that was bought at 34000 give or take a little bit, gas, water and electric was 100 a month taxes all in 150 a year. Very easy. Anyone could do this. (Add in insurance for escrow mortgage etc 300, other thoughts and other obligations and so on you are up to a thousand a month with gasoline for commute etc)

We actually slowed down our earnings after we got debt free with everything paid off. Repairs took much of the rest to keep up the property that needed work or other issues that came up. You will not get that money back but the home was in good strong condition when we sold it. Part of the reason we sold was to pay off the close to 30,000 in federal student loans, down from 46000. One of us had a worthless 4 year degree (First in her family line) but 10,000 other people have the same thing. Plus a two year etc. I had made progress towards a IT 2 year, but Arkansas brought in Worker Visas for interns and others to be part of IT in the area from India. I cut my losses and got out of school. This was in the 2000's Never mind being over twice the age of the highschool class trying to learn college for their future. And a percentage of us left to go to war around 2003. Empty seats. You think of them now and then.

We'll see how it goes. I can say that if no one has done any traveling at all in life, they can feel trapped. But when you have run as I have you get to know good places and worse places than where you are now. So it's not as troublesome.

 

From what I'm reading the problem isn't working too much it's getting married. Marriage today offers men nothing.

 

When poverty moves in, the romance moves out.

 

Meanwhile, we're about to downsize significantly so we can be debt free in 36 months and off the treadmill. All I hear from friends is we're crazy and how they would never give up the big fancy home or two new cars etc etc.

We just see it as having our life/freedom/choices back while we are able to enjoy it. Going from 2800sqft to 700 is a big shock at first, but every box of stuff I sell or donate has literally been freeing. I don't miss a single thing we've tossed out.

It's amazing how much our stuff controls us.

 

i always worked long hours, since i was a teen.

i always have bought brand new cars or trucks over used, cuz the financing rates on used is much higher than new, especially when many new vehicles can be bought with 0 interest. plus in most cases, several years of trouble free driving/ownership, over a used vehicle, especially when you really do not know, how it was driven.

i have worked and bought the things we needed, like a house. furniture, clothing, food, and paid all taxes on everything, especially yearly taxes..

we do not live beyond our means. seems to me, your "friend" lived well above and past his...seems to me also, he was trying to satisfy his spouse's loneliness, when he was at work.

he got caught up in his lifestyle. just because he did, does not mean we all do, and to even to suggest that he/we cut back on what we spend our money on is ludacris..

it was HIS BUSINESS, NOT YOURS in how they lived thier lives.

you don;t like what you saw..??

then YOU MAKE adjustments to YOUR lifestyle, and not preach to anyone else.

 

Aren't you preaching to him to not preach on others? Didn't take what OP said as preaching, just simply showcasing in words an example of thousands of daily occurrences.

Tune in on Dave Ramsey's show, you'll hear many cases like what OP said.

I've got friends carrying on Credit card debt because they've been told that making payments is better for credit... I've tried to show them otherwise but they don't get it. Everyone much rather beLIEve the LIEs than to hear the Truth.

Keep on keeping on.

 

in many cases its just men spending money to please women, which is funny, it should be the other way around, if your gonna spend money on a woman shouldnt she be there to please you, kinda like a hooker, these women have it figured out, they have men spending money on sirloin when the same money could buy filet mignon lol