Tuesday, July 18

When is Enough Enough?: Part One

A few weeks ago I was talking to a good friend of mine about what motivates us to work. The issue that was stated was " Dude, I need to make more money." Now, this guy makes decent money, I know. I do not have a figure, but I know that he is not working for beans ( in my opinion ) and he also does not work for Wal+Mart at minimum wage, or a barista at Starbucks. Our discussion, which I have been giving a lot of thought to lately, started with the question of when is enough enough?

My question here does not focus on just my friend. Actually it has nothing to do with him other than he was part of the discussion. Because this is a dilemma that I have been dealing with for years internally and it quite possibly has hurt relationships and friendships, I deem it important.

We, as Americans, deserve the right to be happy. We have the freedom to make career and life choices to better our lives. We have endless opportunities to make a good living for ourselves and to provide for our families.

How much do we have to make, $$$-wise, in order to be happy? Let's say you "own" a modest 2 bedroom house. You are debt-free with the exception of a small balance on your CC, you have no car payment(s), a beautiful wife/fiance/girlfriend, and you are able to buy coffee everyday, order those occassional items from J.Crew without sweating your bank account and you don't run to the computer to check your balance in order to treat your wife/fiance/girlfriend to a nice dinner, and all the while you are maxing out your 401K, Roth IRA and saving for rainy days. This may seem like a lot, but in reality, you should be able to do this. And IF you are doing this, WHY do YOU (as an American) still need MORE?

So, in order to make more money, you need to get a "better" job, or you need to work more hours, or you need to kiss ass and get a big raise. But will that better job or raise make you enough money? If you do end up with a better job, chances are it could mean more stress. More time away from your wife/fiance/girlfriend/kids. More hours. Will this amount of $$$ be good enough? Once you have a bigger bank account, will you start spending more to make yourself feel more successful and treat yourself more? We will "need" more things, more iPods, outdoor speakers, better landscaping, nicer cars, better food, better restaurants, if we make more money? When is enough enough? I ask myself this every day.

Part Two: The other side: Coming Thursday.

1 comment:

AllBeehive said...

Um, you better hop to it ass kisser b/c we every day you say we need a 4 bedroom house.

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