Why do people think this is a taboo subject? One of LAMoneyGuy’s most controversial and popular posts was about this subject. Even Blunt Money writes about what to do when friends aren’t supportive about financial efforts.
Dinner last week was great. We totally talked about money. My friends know I blog and it turned into this really great conversation about a great many personal finance topics. One of my friends recently quit a hateful job, which stressed her out to no end. We talked about emergency funds and what we’d do if we were 100% truly down and out. We had a discussion of Virtual Bank vs Net Bank vs ING Direct. (On various stuff, interest rates, features, ease of use, etc.)
At one point I paused the conversation to tell them how great it was to be able to talk freely about money. We’ve always been this way. One reason why the whole subject came up was that one of us had gone to B-school and watched classmates go full tilt into consumerism. All of us agreed that’s no way to sustain one’s self and feed the soul. In the end, none of us are materialists, but we are realistic about why we need or want money. But large screen plasma TVs? None of us need that.
Money doesn’t really drive any of us. And none of us feels like we need to spend a lot of money for a good meal. All of us prefer places that sink money into the food, not the decor. (But everyone did like my suggestion of Bangkok54, one of the DC area’s best Thai restaurants. Pretty decor and delicious food!) Hearing about the $200K+ salaries people are pulling down and their crazy consuming lifestyles, it didn’t seem like a life any of us wanted to have. Having all those consumerist possessions feels like entrapment.
Is it that I seek out like minded folks like me? I suppose it is. Do your friends effect how you spend money? Or how you save it? These friends live pretty darn well, but none of us throws it around like it’s nothing. We all save and are doing just fine. I guess I feel good that we’re all in a good places in our lives headspace and finance-wise.
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Uh, word. I totally just wrote my version of this post a couple of days ago. Synchronicity!
My close friends and I know each others’ income for the next couple of years because the type of jobs we’re going into tend to have fairly similar compensation for entry-level positions. But after that I don’t forsee us talking much more about income. In many ways, it just feels too personal a thing to talk about when you become an “adult.”
Since your friends know you blog, how do you feel about them knowing your networth? Do you ever feel the need to keep up with what your friends are making and or saving?
I wrote about this topic a few months ago when I told a friend I was moving to SF. She wanted to know how I was going to afford it and then asked how much I make. I was pretty honest about how I manage my finances and stressed that I bring my lunch literally every single day and I don’t eat out much and only buy clothes when necessary. Right after I revealed all those things, I kinda felt cheated into saying so much yet my friend wouldn’t say how much she made. It wouldn’t bother me if she made more … she works in advertising at a big agency and has a year or two of experience …