I for one wish we could, life was a lot more relaxed, decent income , manageable outgoings, didn't matter if you took a bit of time out, spent more time with the wife n kids, life was good,
There's too many stresses in life today I feel compared to 10 years ago, we may be going forward economically but declining socially
Thoughts?

How much of it is our own undoing? When I build my first house, there were no curtains, not floor coverings, no fence, no driveway and no gardens. These were all things we saved for and put in as we could afford it. Friends lent each other furniture to get you set up when you first moved in and they all came around to help pour the driveway slab and paint the the interior of the house. Lots of beer and BBQ's with the mates in the back yard after each days project. And we all did the same for each other. Going out for a meal was only on special occasions, air conditioning in a house was not a standard item and neither were swimming pools. We had a burner in the back yard for the rubbish instead of feeding it to the fish or exporting it to Asia. We turned the lights off when we left a room and didn't have ****loads in the garden just to make the place look pretty.

We (not me) buy our kids their first car and can't understand why they have no respect for it. We have them stay at home so they can save for a house, but they never save. Life is so easy for them that some have no incentive to work or find work or even get out of bed.

And we now believe the answer to our problems has to be solved by someone else.

It's like a drowning man asking someone to pass him a brick (and then another).

Much happier now than ten years ago as back then we were going without, working hard and saving to get where we are now. What Caruso says is spot on, if you burn your youth without being constructive or a least doing something you want in the future then things can sometimes look like there not panning out. And working hard for the future may not be about making money.

I dunno. I feel like im doing ok.

whether or not im having a better time of it than my parents were, i reckon im probably more relaxed than they were at this stage.

I also think happinessand stress are subjective, it is to a degree your own choice how much stress you create for yourself, what you stress about and how you remedy that stress.

we have this younger guy at work, never does overtime, and each friday tells us about how he's already figured out what he's spending mondays pay cheque on (new gaming console etc). He has minimal living expenses, always share houses and keeps himself detached as possible from responsibilty. Recently he's been bragging about how he's moving into his girlfriends new house to leech off her. He's not planning on moving in to make a life together, its just a convenient situation that will allow him to keep his lifestyle. Its infuriating.

then there's another guy where i work who has a family, lives in a rental and lives pay cheque to pay cheque. He earns more than the younger guy, but has chosen a path that means he has a great amount of responsibility to carry. He wants to get a house, but he's on struggle street to get there.

I admire the 2nd guy a lot more, but i can't help feeling the younger guy has more of an idea on how to live in the brave new world. We hassle him quite a bit about how he regards his girlfriend though. It seems to be a relationship of convenience for him.

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Subsonic said..
I dunno. I feel like im doing ok.

whether or not im having a better time of it than my parents were, i reckon im probably more relaxed than they were at this stage.

I also think happinessand stress are subjective, it is to a degree your own choice how much stress you create for yourself, what you stress about and how you remedy that stress.

we have this younger guy at work, never does overtime, and each friday tells us about how he's already figured out what he's spending mondays pay cheque on (new gaming console etc). He has minimal living expenses, always share houses and keeps himself detached as possible from responsibilty. Recently he's been bragging about how he's moving into his girlfriends new house to leech off her. He's not planning on moving in to make a life together, its just a convenient situation that will allow him to keep his lifestyle. Its infuriating.

then there's another guy where i work who has a family, lives in a rental and lives pay cheque to pay cheque. He earns more than the younger guy, but has chosen a path that means he has a great amount of responsibility to carry. He wants to get a house, but he's on struggle street to get there.

I admire the 2nd guy a lot more, but i can't help feeling the younger guy has more of an idea on how to live in the brave new world. We hassle him quite a bit about how he regards his girlfriend though. It seems to be a relationship of convenience for him.

I reckon guy 2 was just like guy 1 until he knocked his missus up and now is doing the "right thing".
If guy 1 squirreled away or invested a bit instead or pouring money on games and piss drinking he might not end up like guy 2 in 10 years.

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Stuthepirate said..

Subsonic said..
I dunno. I feel like im doing ok.

whether or not im having a better time of it than my parents were, i reckon im probably more relaxed than they were at this stage.

I also think happinessand stress are subjective, it is to a degree your own choice how much stress you create for yourself, what you stress about and how you remedy that stress.

we have this younger guy at work, never does overtime, and each friday tells us about how he's already figured out what he's spending mondays pay cheque on (new gaming console etc). He has minimal living expenses, always share houses and keeps himself detached as possible from responsibilty. Recently he's been bragging about how he's moving into his girlfriends new house to leech off her. He's not planning on moving in to make a life together, its just a convenient situation that will allow him to keep his lifestyle. Its infuriating.

then there's another guy where i work who has a family, lives in a rental and lives pay cheque to pay cheque. He earns more than the younger guy, but has chosen a path that means he has a great amount of responsibility to carry. He wants to get a house, but he's on struggle street to get there.

I admire the 2nd guy a lot more, but i can't help feeling the younger guy has more of an idea on how to live in the brave new world. We hassle him quite a bit about how he regards his girlfriend though. It seems to be a relationship of convenience for him.

I reckon guy 2 was just like guy 1 until he knocked his missus up and now is doing the "right thing".
If guy 1 squirreled away or invested a bit instead or pouring money on games and piss drinking he might not end up like guy 2 in 10 years.

Yeah, its a fair point Stu.

Guy 1 has at age 27 had a vasectomy though. As soon as his girlfriend started talking about kids oddly enough.

if i had the foresight (and guy 2 as well) at guy 1s' age or even earlier, i would've bought a place early on.

hindsights a wonderful thing.