It’s really sad because in order to “keep up with the Jones’s”, we’ve developed this unappreciative mentality that really feeds the idea of not having the knowledge that we’ve got enough. And so it goes that in order to keep up, we work longer hours to try to make more money that will be spent so much in excess that we have even more debt, and thus have to work even harder to pay off the debt. Sadly, keeping up with the Jones’s then deprives those of spending quality time with their family and of ever enjoying the money that they made to begin with.. Not having the knowledge to have enough simply creates and maintains a vicious cycle!

It’s sad, because by keeping up with the Jones’s, people are working so hard to make more money to drive themselves deeper into debt and teaching their children an incredibly harmful lesson, and all the while, they aren’t taking the opportunity to truly what they have, be it possessions or their family and friends!

I think there are times when we get so focused on money and the drive to make more and more and more that we forget to enjoy the money that we’ve made with those we love and care about.

It is tough, they say money doesn’t make you happy, and when you really think about it, it doesn’t. However, it does help in situations, not as a status symbol, but rather when you’re faced with the unexpected, a la a child getting sick.

Billions would be great, but its not necessary. I would much rather brag about my wife and soon to be born child, or my brothers, than about how much money I have in the bank.

I’ve never met the mythical joneses, so I don’t really care about keeping up with them! If I lived worrying about what people around me have I’d be a very unhappy person. And I’m not.

I know a lot of people who have bigger houses & nicer cars and also have bigger problems. They have bigger mortgages, higher car notes, work harder, spend less time with their kids.

They buy their 16yo sons new cars & trucks, which they wreck – then they buy another one. That is not the lifestyle I aspire to. My 17yo is saving for his car and I think that’s a better plan.

Better check out the truth about the joneses and their family life before worrying about keeping up with them!

If I couldn’t be satisfied with 1 million, I can’t imagine what it would take to satisfy me.

I agree with Julie Alli about the “enough set point” going down as you get older. I could certainly use more money (retirement savings) and there are a few items I’d still like to acquire, but for the basic things I have more than enough in my life and I’m constantly paring down.

saladdin

A very thoughtful blog post. Posts like this one keep me reading your blog; you are continually evolving your readers!

When is enough? I think determining when you have enough is something you have to think about all through your life and I find that I’m constantly downgrading my “enough set point “as I get older. It’s an individual thing.

I’ve found it useful, when I’m contemplating this question, to think about people I’ve met when I was a laboratory technologist. If you can’t work in a hospital, you can always volunteer at one (try a cancer ward or a psychiatric unit) and volunteer there. I think if you meet people at the high point of a medical crisis or even participating in a prolonged, agonizing marathon of a final race for life, it is sometimes the things we haven’t done in our lives (such as write a book, birth a few more annoying boys, love more folks) that bothers them and that they say the real determinant of a quality life is having done what they wanted to do with the time of their lives. How much they have in the bank and whether these assets are enough is rarely a big thing (at least this is true, in Canada where we do still have medicare and in general, don’t have to hash about cash when we are dying).

For myself, good health is far more important than that million dollars that I used to want (since I’ll probably be working until I’m ninety).

And by the way, congratulations on being a top PFBlog. Your success is well deserved!