comfortable salary

Hamish said:
I wouldn't say that having a skiing holiday, a summer holiday and a winter break somewhere was particularly extravagant for someone on a comfortable salary...
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Haha. That is very extravagant. The only people I know who manages that are doctors and partners with law firms.
 
kgi said:
Comfortable -for me- in London is over 150k p.a at least

Btw, comfortable is a very individual state of mind. For me to be comfortable I'd need a house, you know a proper 3 or 4bed house with a very big back garden at a nice area, detached or at the very worst semi. None of that terraced 19th century crap.

Comfortable for me means a nice car, something that I enjoy driving and is luxurious to provide all sorts of comforts when I'm in it, not a bucket that takes me from A->B.

Comfortable is not needing to take public transport because a taxi is too expensive.

Comfortable for me is eating out at least twice a week, at a nice restaurant with a couple of good bottles of wine, not the local chippy with a diet coke or a pizzaexpress or other budget establishment.

Comfortable is to be able to afford 2-3 vacations a year wherever I like, including activities like skiing, scuba diving or whatnot. Experiences is all that we have after all and I want to enjoy the exotic things this world has to offer.

Comfortable for me is also buying the occasional gadget without having to wait for next months paycheck and planning it around my monthly bills. Yes, I'd like to be able to upgrade my computer, buy a tablet, a new smartphone or any other gadget on a whim because that's what I like and enjoy doing. Not upgrading my pc waiting for that second hand bargain or staying with a crappy phone because it does what I need.

Of course that's just me and that's how I'd like to live. That is comfortable for me, it's not well off or rich (that would be multiple properties, multiple cars, yauchts and not having to worry about working).

As for living within ones means, well of course you will live within your means whether you make 20k or 100k a year, what is that supposed to mean? You will always adapt to your earnings if you are sensible and you will always try to make the most out of life but that doesn't mean that you are getting what you wanted.

Of course all this will have to include the needs and wants of my wife and any children I may ever have.

As for the whole 'happy is having a roof over your head, pay your bills and food on your table' brigade, well excuse me for having aspirations and wanting to live the one life I got exactly the way I want it and not compromise. I live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, in one of the biggest and most lucrative job markets with all sorts of opportunities and I don't intend to live my life like those who live at the poorest and have no better choice.

Of course each to his own and all that but this is what would make me materially happy.
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What you are describing is luxury, not comfort.
 
englishpremier said:
I find this really odd that most people here have mentioned buying a house, getting on the property ladder etc..

It's only in the uk that people are obsessed with buying houses for some reason.
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As someone who has experienced both sides of the coin (renting and buying in Germany and buying in the UK) I would say I can't see why people abroad are so obsessed with renting. There are so many limitations and in Germany pretty much every rental property is white walls and wooden floors. Sure you can paint them but you'd better make damn sure when you move there is no trace of anything but white again, a huge extra hassle and expense to add to a move. Then you have the issue of being kicked out if the landlord wants to do something else with the place. Also rental doesn't decrease, it increases. The montly cost of buying decreases until you are paying nothing at all and then you are sitting on a few hundred thousands worth of house.

Buying = a home, renting = somewhere to stay.
 
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Trifid said:
But one can be comfortable outside of luxury. You don't need luxury to be comfortable.

This thread is about the minimum you need to be comfortable.
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vonhelmet said:
Yes, but you'd have to be illiterate to fail to understand that being comfortable comes below luxury on the scale of... um... comfort.
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Relative, though. His 'luxury' might make him barely comfortable.

Right now, I'm jealous of the guy in my office with hole-less trainers....
 
englishpremier said:
Buying means you are then stuck in that house, country. Maybe fine when you are older but younger people want the freedom to live anywhere, up and leave whenever and not be tied down.
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That's not true at all, many of my British colleagues in Germany kept their UK properties and rented them out and actually made money from it. I don't know if I will stay in the UK long term either, I'm not tied down at all. Also I owned an apartment in Germany but that didn't stop me moving back to the UK (I then sold the apartment to buy something here with my missus) so I'm afraid your comments hold no water to me. :)

In fact thanks to me and the other half buying I could now move to a lot of countries and be mortgage free on a nice house so wouldn't even need to worry about rent or a mortgage. :)
 
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vonhelmet said:
Yes, but you'd have to be illiterate to fail to understand that being comfortable comes below luxury on the scale of... um... comfort.
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If that is luxury then what is the living style of those who earn millions? For me luxury is when you reach a point where you don't need to work and still have whatever you want (without being too extravagant such as owing properties worth millions or attending fundraisers at 10k a pop) without thinking of cost.

As long as I have to work to maintain my lifestyle I'd say I'm only comfortable. It's only if I could maintain the same lifestyle without working that I'd say I'm moving into the luxury territory.

Eitherway it's subjective. What may be luxurious for you might be comfortable for me and vice versa. I'm sure a roof over your head is comfort but for a homeless person is a luxury so it's swings and roundabouts.
 
One couldn't be comfortable without ones luxury yacht to carry out at least 3 months sailing around the world a year.

One couldn't be comfortable if one had to serve their own food due to Jeeves being unavailable.

One couldn't be comfortable if one couldn't spend the winter months in ones log cabin in Whistler and then spending the summer in ones Monaco penthouse.

What, what, what.
 
The notion that it would seem most of the UK are not comfortable because they live in a semi detached house, only go on one foreign holiday a year and own a 4 year old Ford Focus is frankly completely pathetic and reflects quite badly on those with such opinions.

150k to be comfortable, just lol.
 
DAIR said:
Around the well off mark imo.
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Agreed.

krooton said:
Aye!

Comfortable = Being able to afford most of what you want with some planning.

Well off = Being able to afford almost everything you want without worry.

Rich/loaded/megabucks = Being able to afford anything you want (within reason).
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This is bang on.

I think some people are confusing being 'comfortable' with being 'satisfied'.

My life right now is very comfortable, I have no debt, (other than student loans) I live at home, I can save 50% of my salary, still go out, buy myself gadgets/clothes as and when (with a little planning) and don't really have to think too much about what I'm spending as I don't often 'waste' money. Would I be satisfied if my life were like this forever (living at home, same job etc)? No. I'd like to move out and have some investments on the go. However I am still comfortable.

To be able to live, which is where we all have different definitions, without worry financially is to be comfortable. If you can't enjoy life without a holiday every month and a new car each year then I think you have things a bit twisted.
 
[TW]Fox;18309575 said:
The notion that it would seem most of the UK are not comfortable because they live in a semi detached house, only go on one foreign holiday a year and own a 4 year old Ford Focus is frankly completely pathetic and reflects quite badly on those with such opinions.

150k to be comfortable, just lol.
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Well comfortable would be something that you are fine to stay like that for the rest of your life. Better would be good but the same would be just fine, since it's comfortable.

If you think a 4member family would be happy living in a 2bed semi in London driving an old banger and going once a year to spain on a budget holiday good for you and you will be much less miserable than me (no sarcasm here). I would think that is uncomfortable though and would never want to live under such circumstances. Would I be classed as pathetic for having such an outlook, may be so but I can't change what I feel like and what I want just because of the way others would see me, I'd rather mingle with like minded people instead.
 
kgi said:
Well comfortable would be something that you are fine to stay like that for the rest of your life. Better would be good but the same would be just fine, since it's comfortable.

If you think a 4member family would be happy living in a 2bed semi in London driving an old banger and going once a year to spain on a budget holiday good for you and you will be much less miserable than me (no sarcasm here). I would think that is uncomfortable though and would never want to live under such circumstances. Would I be classed as pathetic for having such an outlook, may be so but I can't change what I feel like and what I want just because of the way others would see me, I'd rather mingle with like minded people instead.
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For someone with such high spending habits, you certainly have a mediocre (read: UNCOMFORTABLE) computer.

:p
 
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