Rich or Poor?

The quote:

I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and rich is better.

That’s been attributed to, variously, Fanny Brice (the original Funny Girl) and Mae West, to mention 2. I have no idea who it actually was that came up with that saying.

I saw this graphic today that expresses my feelings about wealth and possessions.

Not to be to New Age, but there is something true about this.

We live in a country where even our poorest people have access to food, water, and a roof over their head (although their personal demons may keep them from taking advantage of that). For the average American, their soul-sucking concerns are more often about relationships, uncertainty about the future of this country, and other facets of their life they cannot control, such at their, or a loved one’s, health.

We need to remember to express our gratitude daily. Even as our country goes into the crapper, for most of us (so far), it means inconvenience and the need to prep for the worst. And, we generally have the ability to handle our preps without having to sell a body part or a minor child.

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

But, whoever it was, was right.

I was reading this Substack, and the writer details the differences between being well-off and broke. He really nailed the difference, and most of it was that sudden expenses were annoying, not devastating.

Now, I’m not Richy-Rich. But, between myself and my husband, with investments, pensions, Social Security, and income from working, we’re just a smidge into the top 20%.

Which, I’m gonna tell you, is not bad.

Now, we do have expenses:

• We have, at present, 2 cars. I don’t see that changing for at least another 10 years. At that point, vision or other health issues may have us sharing a car. If it looks like a permanent thing, we’ll probably sell one of them outright. As both cars were purchased within the last year, we have car payments (we’ve talked about using some of that cashed in equity to pay down 1 or more of the cars - we haven’t decided yet).

• Our house in Lorain needs some upgrades/improvements. We are planning on them, and will likely NOT finance them (unless it’s a no-interest, one or two year loan). Other than the chair lift, which we may pay over an extended time - and that only if there is no interest charged.

But, yeah, we can, after a long time of scrimping, pretty much afford the things we want without stressing the budget.

Things we didn’t spend our money on over the length of our marriage:

• Expensive housing - we generally spent WELL under the going rate for houses. We’d generally take the amount the real estate agents said we were pre-qualified for, and cut that number in half. The one time we didn’t, we had no money to fix up the house.

• Cars - only ONE time we spent money on a leased car. It was a purchase to help out a family member, and we spent WAY too much for the car. We also tended to keep our cars longer than the average person. My average length of ownership is 10-12 years. That helped a lot. In the early days, we had to buy used. Those cars cost us a lot in repairs. As soon as we could, we started buying new, inexpensive cars.

• Vacations - only one vacation that was pricey - to Orlando, FL. On the way down, we had some money stolen, and spent most of that vacay hanging around, waiting for the travelers checks to get replaced. We ate the loss of the cash. Now, most of the family has cruised or otherwise taken more expensive vacations. Ours tended to be ones that were able to be taken off our taxes - such as trips for conventions and educational opportunities.

How do you save money for things you want?