What would you do if you earned $10,000 per month?

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  • messymutt
    messymutt Posts: 24
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    Yes, cost of living does have an affect.

    I, the original poster, would live well off this money. I've also trained myself to live off of less.

    For example, I do have a mortgage. Mine is $550 per month. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars. However, the trade off for such a small mortgage is a small house (700 sq. ft) in a somewhat ghetto neighborhood.

    So, yes, for some of you $10K isn't a lot.

    For others, like myself, it is.

    For those of you say you could never live off of "such little" money. You need a reality check. Life will throw you curveballs.

    I also suggest being grateful for what you have.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Yes, cost of living does have an affect.

    I, the original poster, would live well off this money. I've also trained myself to live off of less.

    For example, I do have a mortgage. Mine is $550 per month. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars. However, the trade off for such a small mortgage is a small house (700 sq. ft) in a somewhat ghetto neighborhood.

    So, yes, for some of you $10K isn't a lot.

    For others, like myself, it is.

    For those of you say you could never live off of "such little" money. You need a reality check. Life will throw you curveballs.

    I also suggest being grateful for what you have.
    I'm sure some here have worked their way up to such a high wage, but it does irk me slightly that some people have no idea what it's like living nowhere near the top with nowhere left to fall. $10k a month is more than I can ever hope for.
  • PhenomeNae
    PhenomeNae Posts: 130 Member
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    so many things...

    first, become finally debt free
    help some family, not all of it, though, i have too much >.<
    make sure my mom was taken care of, nice house, her own yard, and a maid
    education for my son and i
    investments!
    a bigger car, not luxury necessarily, but nice
    travel... oh man i want to see Europe!
    maybe a gym membership to help my journey

    despite all this, i would never ever want to forget where i came from... i hate snobby people.
  • crimsontech
    crimsontech Posts: 234 Member
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    If you count pre-taxes, then I'm already at this level. But, I know it's not going to last forever, so I have used the windfall to pay off debt from a failed business, and now I'm tackling the last of my credit card debt and building up a nest egg. And, of course, I'm enjoying a bit of it, too... buying new clothes for my shrinking sizes, eating out, and spa weekends. And, of course, workout clothes and gadgets to track my fitness.

    For a while it seemed like I was still living paycheck to paycheck but after looking over my budget, I realized that it was the huge payments I was making to pay down my business debts that were taking the biggest chunk out. Now that those are paid off, I am actually getting ahead.

    I do like seeing how many people are donating to charities. I want to do that, but I am very mindful of the waste that goes with it. If I donate $100, how much actually goes to helping? I would rather use the money to benefit someone directly, like those people who paid off people's layaways, or buying a tank of gas for a family in need.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    2k for a tiny nothing in a part of manhattan you wouldnt want to live in.. try 3k just for a nicer area for i dunno 500sqft?
    yeah--I was looking at manhattan apartments....yowsa...2k is nothing for a teeny shack.

    my point exactly.
  • starcatcher1975
    starcatcher1975 Posts: 292 Member
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    OK, so I have to ask for the people saying they could not live off that little or they would have to take a pay cut to get to that level...WTF do you live/work?! Maybe because I'm a full time student living on a GA stipend and student loans 10k/month sounds like a freaking fortune...even after taxes. Hell, I'd happily pay the taxes if I made that much :laugh:

    I have 2 degrees, working on my MAcc right now and I'm worried I won't even be able to get an entry level job making 1/4 of that a month. Maybe it's just this area, jobs are hard to find, or because I don't know many people here, but because my kids are in school here and this has been "home" for the past 6 years I'd like to stay here until it's just not possible. I want them to grow up around people they know and provide them with a stable environment...not moving around every year like I did when they were younger. But they both realize when I'm done with school (next May) if I can't find a job here then moving may be the only option. I have too much in student loan debt to work at McD's or Wally-world.

    But having said that, any income is better than none at all, so if that is the only job I can get I'll be asking "would you like fries with that" with a smile on my face. As long as it keeps a roof over my kids heads and food in their belly I'll take what I can get.
  • ChrisStoney
    ChrisStoney Posts: 479 Member
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    Yes, cost of living does have an affect.

    I, the original poster, would live well off this money. I've also trained myself to live off of less.

    For example, I do have a mortgage. Mine is $550 per month. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars. However, the trade off for such a small mortgage is a small house (700 sq. ft) in a somewhat ghetto neighborhood.

    So, yes, for some of you $10K isn't a lot.

    For others, like myself, it is.

    For those of you say you could never live off of "such little" money. You need a reality check. Life will throw you curveballs.

    I also suggest being grateful for what you have.
    I'm sure some here have worked their way up to such a high wage, but it does irk me slightly that some people have no idea what it's like living nowhere near the top with nowhere left to fall. $10k a month is more than I can ever hope for.

    well if that is what you make yourself believe then , no you will never make that much! If you really want something you will go out and get it! Making over 100,000 per year is possible in many professions.
  • directorj
    directorj Posts: 537 Member
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    Stack up money and move to another country. Should be able to survive for a long time without working, then you'd probably want to open up a business. Well that's what I would do.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    OK, so I have to ask for the people saying they could not live off that little or they would have to take a pay cut to get to that level...WTF do you live/work?! Maybe because I'm a full time student living on a GA stipend and student loans 10k/month sounds like a freaking fortune...even after taxes. Hell, I'd happily pay the taxes if I made that much :laugh:
    My husband is an IT contractor and I'm an account manager. We live in Massachusetts. We are doing pretty well, I admit, but $120,000 a year doesn't make you a millionaire like most of this thread seems to think. Although if I lived in Alabama (where I'm from originally) and made this much, I'd be loaded...
  • elmarko123
    elmarko123 Posts: 89
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    Yes, cost of living does have an affect.

    I, the original poster, would live well off this money. I've also trained myself to live off of less.

    For example, I do have a mortgage. Mine is $550 per month. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars. However, the trade off for such a small mortgage is a small house (700 sq. ft) in a somewhat ghetto neighborhood.

    So, yes, for some of you $10K isn't a lot.

    For others, like myself, it is.

    For those of you say you could never live off of "such little" money. You need a reality check. Life will throw you curveballs.

    I also suggest being grateful for what you have.
    I'm sure some here have worked their way up to such a high wage, but it does irk me slightly that some people have no idea what it's like living nowhere near the top with nowhere left to fall. $10k a month is more than I can ever hope for.

    well if that is what you make yourself believe then , no you will never make that much! If you really want something you will go out and get it! Making over 100,000 per year is possible in many professions.
    Not everybody can go out & get it.

    Only a finite amount of jobs exist which pay that well, once they are all taken - a person cant' - that's the cold truth of the matter.

    In the UK wages are a bit off, our cost of living is so high than $80,000 PA isn't that much here - when you look at the house prices.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Yes, cost of living does have an affect.

    I, the original poster, would live well off this money. I've also trained myself to live off of less.

    For example, I do have a mortgage. Mine is $550 per month. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars. However, the trade off for such a small mortgage is a small house (700 sq. ft) in a somewhat ghetto neighborhood.

    So, yes, for some of you $10K isn't a lot.

    For others, like myself, it is.

    For those of you say you could never live off of "such little" money. You need a reality check. Life will throw you curveballs.

    I also suggest being grateful for what you have.
    I'm sure some here have worked their way up to such a high wage, but it does irk me slightly that some people have no idea what it's like living nowhere near the top with nowhere left to fall. $10k a month is more than I can ever hope for.

    well if that is what you make yourself believe then , no you will never make that much! If you really want something you will go out and get it! Making over 100,000 per year is possible in many professions.
    It's not what I believe at all, or at least not what I used to believe. Approaching 2 years unemployed despite top 1% percentile grades in school, a diploma and a multitude of professional qualifications and a plethora of different job experiences and being turned down for 300+ entry level jobs on the basis of either there being too many straight white males without a criminal record or disability (as in the case of the Prison and Fire services - when I actually wanted the jobs to help the community) or because there simply aren't enough jobs for the University graduates as it is, without people like myself flooding the market, tends to put a downer on your faith.
  • elmarko123
    elmarko123 Posts: 89
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    It's not what I believe at all, or at least not what I used to believe. Approaching 2 years unemployed despite top 1% percentile grades in school, a diploma and a multitude of professional qualifications and a plethora of different job experiences and being turned down for 300+ entry level jobs on the basis of either there being too many straight white males without a criminal record or disability (as in the case of the Prison and Fire services - when I actually wanted the jobs to help the community) or because there simply aren't enough jobs for the University graduates as it is, without people like myself flooding the market, tends to put a downer on your faith.
    Exacty my point above ^, not everybody can be on a high wage - that's not how the system works.

    Even if everybody was a determined & skilled - a majority of jobs will be paying below the average.
  • indy_jh
    indy_jh Posts: 20
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    As others have already stated, I think $10k/month could be a lot or not much at all relative to your local cost of living. ($10k/month is decent in my line of work, but it's not exorbitant.)

    But, if I can rephrase it a bit: What would I do with a LOT of money each month -- assuming it would be steady for the rest of my life?

    Travel. I'd go all over the world.

    Buy a small farm in Northern Cal or Southern Oregon and have some animals and a kick-*kitten* out-door grill where I'd have friends and family over for some great barbecues.

    Get more education -- but stuff I WANT to learn rather than what I NEED to learn, like oil or water-color painting and wood-working.

    I'd remodel a little house (or build one), and I'd have a killer garden.

    (Hell, I might just do all that anyway...)

    Oh, and one other thing: I would have my OWN GYM -- as a business, of course. (I've always wanted to do this...)
  • indy_jh
    indy_jh Posts: 20
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    OK, so I have to ask for the people saying they could not live off that little or they would have to take a pay cut to get to that level...WTF do you live/work?! Maybe because I'm a full time student living on a GA stipend and student loans 10k/month sounds like a freaking fortune...even after taxes. Hell, I'd happily pay the taxes if I made that much :laugh:

    I have 2 degrees, working on my MAcc right now and I'm worried I won't even be able to get an entry level job making 1/4 of that a month. Maybe it's just this area, jobs are hard to find, or because I don't know many people here, but because my kids are in school here and this has been "home" for the past 6 years I'd like to stay here until it's just not possible. I want them to grow up around people they know and provide them with a stable environment...not moving around every year like I did when they were younger. But they both realize when I'm done with school (next May) if I can't find a job here then moving may be the only option. I have too much in student loan debt to work at McD's or Wally-world.

    But having said that, any income is better than none at all, so if that is the only job I can get I'll be asking "would you like fries with that" with a smile on my face. As long as it keeps a roof over my kids heads and food in their belly I'll take what I can get.

    I know this is detracting from the meaning of the original question, but I wanted to reply to this (and others).

    The new US economy is very different. Employers are paying for skill -- not a degree. Yes, sure, the degree is a must, but if you can't provide something they NEED right away, you might struggle with finding a job.

    If I needed a job, I would focus on a skill that is in high demand. Or, I would try to get an education where the law requires certification -- like engineering, medicine, law, accounting, etc. Or, I would focus on getting some skills that are in demand right now: computer programming -- especially Java and C# or similar, welding, pipe-fitting, oil work.

    Manufacturing is started to come back to the US, but it's going to take some time. In the meantime, the only way to survive is to get the skills that are in demand.
  • buckeye86
    buckeye86 Posts: 128 Member
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    First I'd pay off my student loans... Then, I would live as if I made $3000 per month and have all of those kids I want! Crossing my fingers it will happen someday.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    I'd make my husband, who is seriously ill, quit his job and retire so he could live his life to the fullest instead of spending his time working.
  • sandiburn
    sandiburn Posts: 149
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    quit my job and flip houses. I have remodeled every house I have owned. I love it!!!!!
    :love:
  • stevewynjones
    stevewynjones Posts: 1,143 Member
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    My friend does, well euros actually, And she sees very little of it at the end of the month.....

    haveing 20 horses does that to you
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
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    OK, so I have to ask for the people saying they could not live off that little or they would have to take a pay cut to get to that level...WTF do you live/work?! Maybe because I'm a full time student living on a GA stipend and student loans 10k/month sounds like a freaking fortune...even after taxes. Hell, I'd happily pay the taxes if I made that much :laugh:
    My husband is an IT contractor and I'm an account manager. We live in Massachusetts. We are doing pretty well, I admit, but $120,000 a year doesn't make you a millionaire like most of this thread seems to think. Although if I lived in Alabama (where I'm from originally) and made this much, I'd be loaded...
    I agree, hubs and I make about $160K combined and we have a nice life but we're certainly not rich (outskirts of Northern VA). Having no debt helps though. We drive lower-end american sedans. We have a 1200 sqft apartment. We take a couple vacations a year and go out to dinner at least once a week. We give to several charities. We save a lot. We pay about $28-29K in federal and state taxes.

    So yes, it's all relative.
  • JamesOfLondon
    JamesOfLondon Posts: 60 Member
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    I would be hating the tax man

    :)

    Actually you pay a lot less, it's all company dividends, etc, so tax rates are low as hell.

    Sorry!

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