Troul 

Repointing out the disclosure of take it or leave it.

Until any of those "people" that you are trying to fathom up can change my mind, it;ll just be textbook cash grabbing theories.

indyfabz

Rich or poor, it’s nice to have money.

indyfabz

You don’t have to tell me.

I spent the first month of 2023 is a hospital and had heart surgery along with other procedures. Probably a week or more of that month was spent in the ICU. I then spent two months in a rehab facility. My relatively minimal out-of-pocket costs, while not something I was happy about paying, were no burden whatsoever, especially since I got paid full salary and benefits for the entire five months I was away from work. (I could have stayed out another month before going on long term disability, but I was bored.)

One of the major sources of comfort was knowing that my troubles were not going to materially affect my financial future.

choddo

I never want to live in this world you are describing, people who are worried about what their peers own and don’t undestand their partners. I wonder how much the media have contributed to the psychology of this hellhole. I count myself lucky that I don’t recognise it among my friends and colleagues and we are not badly paid. But anyone gobbing off about their sports car or 7 bedroom house in the country (and some own them) would be promptly ignored at best.

Trsnrtr

Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.David Lee Roth

indyfabz

I could live with that. 😀

Atlas Shrugged

"I would rather be crying in a limousine than laughing on a bicycle" - Patrizia Gucci

Camilo

I like being able to afford what I buy. And I buy quite a bit "less" than I can afford. But buy "more" than would seem to be justified for my ability.

tomato coupe

I think some posters are conflating having wealth and owning things. They aren't the same thing, and they don't have to be linked.

zandoval 

Yep... A high paying job is still just a relative status. The number of figures on your income does not reflect how rich you are. Like you I too consider myself immensely rich... Ha

PeteHski

Well we talk about what we want out of life and have been married for 22 years. We both came from poor families, her’s especially as they came from communist Bulgaria. Now we are relatively wealthy and don’t have to worry about money. She is more interested in donating to charities than buying more stuff. Leading a healthy lifestyle is the thing we talk about most. One of our wealthy neighbours recently had a triple heart bypass and now looks like a dead man walking. That sort of thing puts material things into perspective.

Fredo76

Do we have a cyclist member here who really would rather cry in a limousine than laugh on a bicycle?

Remarkable!

Being poor keeps me grounded, too. At least I think it does.

choddo

Yes and she runs one of the biggest fashion houses in the world

SoSmellyAir

That is miserable indeed.

There was momentary schadenfreude at hearing about that "bloke drive his new Range Rover into his newly rebuilt house ..." until I realized you were in the UK and did not mean that the bloke had crashed his new Range Rover into his newly rebuilt house.

choddo

Oh that would mean the same in the UK too, I just worded it clumsily :-)

SoSmellyAir

Not me! I am not wealthy but I have hoarded strategically amassed a small stock pile of spare parts and components for my bikes.

t2p

‘Anyone who says money can’t buy happiness doesn’t know where to shop’

rsbob 

One phrase that has always stuck with me is from the Stoic philosopher, Seneca, who said, “You are only as poor as your desires”. To paraphrase, “The more you desire, the more poor your spirit.” This runs directly into conflict with the ad firms on Madison Avenue constantly telling us we are not worthwhile unless we have the latest, most expensive and greatest. Am sure there are many similar phrases.

Sierra_rider

I'm of the opinion that, below a certain threshold, money does bring some happiness. When I was dirt poor and didn't even have enough money to buy tires for my $100 used road bike, I was generally unhappy. I was always worried that I'd lose my crappy job, or that my crappy car might have some major mechanical problem. I'm solidly middle class at this point, but far from what I consider "wealthy." I'm much happier that I have a sense of financial security and that I'm not having to get by on barely-serviceable junk.

I don't really care about the status symbol stuff, but I do splurge a bit into my hobbies. I've got a quiver of decently nice bikes that cover all the different disciplines that I want to ride. They're not just to look at, the memories and experiences I've had through cycling, are irreplaceable. I feel they all strike a good balance between performance and cost, I wouldn't be able to support my hobby if I only allowed myself to own "halo" bikes. I do recognize that there is probably a limit to how much happiness you can buy. At a certain point, I think our basic desires are met and anything more is just raising the threshold for our "normal."

rsbob 

I rode a Schwinn Varsity from 1970 through the early 80s and used it as my commuter bike, mostly. During that time, I sold plasma so I could eat, dug ditches by hand for a irrigation company, mucked out horse stalls, tree planted in Oregon, worked in a saw mill and as a short order cook. I have come a long way from those days, and they taught me to appreciate what I have, It’s never the best or the newest, but I have paid the stupid tax too many times, buying cheap and having it break and then having to pay more. My wife had a similar adulthood as she paid her way through college. Like Sierra-rider, I don’t for one minute take for granted and feel very fortunate.

As a small way of giving back, I volunteer at a free county health clinic for the indigent and those who work at minimum wage jobs but cannot afford medical care. I see in many of the patients, work histories similar to mine, but I was fortunate enough to get out and up. I can appreciate their struggles, their injuries and their desire just to feel whole.

SoSmellyAir

This phrase aligns closely with the Buddhist / Zen philosophy that desire causes / leads to suffering. Seneca must have been Buddhist!

Madison Avenue was only the Mad Men days. Now advertising firms are everywhere.

choddo

Including above and to the right of this post
Oh and below

Jughed

And Don Draper would never allow the crap we are now seeing in AD's.

Koyote

I re-read this post, and am wondering what the OP means by "grounded." He expresses a desire to win the lottery, and admits to having "always WANTED" the latest stuff (though maybe that impulse has passed?)

Is being "grounded" simply a state of material contentment?

rsbob 

Of course I cannot speak for the OP, but I will anyway… I believe he is using the Oxford dictionary meaning, “having a sensible and realistic attitude to life” as opposed to being confined to his room for acting up or being staked to the ground.