Is money everything?

Yeah EWWW the rubbish guys here are pretty dorky and ick looking too, sadly. The rubbish is collected every day and they are lovely blokes who wave and call out HI to Callum, but hot? NOT AT ALL. Bummer.

I haven't even seen our rubbish collectors - I'm always at work. If I'm ever home on a Monday, I'm going to pay attention

ETA that I was quoted. I feel special. Thanks kiwisj

Edited by Hopes

Enough money to cover the bills and to be able to enjoy the odd meal out or flight back home would be just dandy!

I don't believe looks are everything, I was more attracted to my husband lovely personality - looks and money is all a bonus!

Happiness and love is more important xxx

Money certainly wasn't what attracted me to DH (it was his hot bod) but I've often joked that if he dies first I'll marry for money.

I want to make a sweeping statement like Money doesnt matter when you have it but I know that really isnt true, plenty of people have gone from having loads to not much and been happier for it but at the end of the day lack of money often causes stress which in turn affects your quality of life and hence your happiness so it makes me say yes that money does matter.

But I think the caveat on that is how much is enough depends on the person, to be able to pay the bills comfortably and not go into a blind panic at Christmas time (even if you have to save a little each month over the year) would give most relationships a good platform to work from without arguments and stress over money.

DH came from what appeared to be well off family, which to me coming from a family where Dad was unemployed for a few years when I was young and has always had money hanging over our heads, it was rather exciting. Buuuuuut the reality was his parents lived beyond their means and now in their early 60's have had to sell their house and go renting to get on top their finances and stop paying on a huge mortgage from business ventures / boats etc. And my parents have a tiny mortgage and a very nice property by the beach in Papamoa now.

The bigger thing to me is is that person responsible with the money the do have, I just cant stand it when people 'waste' money they dont really have on gambling and other bad habits (smoking / drinking etc) when their family suffers for it.

But at the same time, Hopes, money or the things it buys doesn't matter to children - children from poorer families often have the best memories of childhood (as long as their parents can keep their money worries from them), where as part of the reason my parents had a messy divorce was that dad was putting in long hours at a job he didn't like, but which paid well, and coming home to work on our farm and renovate our rambling old house - and he was looking for an 'out'.

Most people have said that money isn't everything, but I'd like to point out that to some people it is really important. My friend's mother went to Dunedin to study purely to nab a doctor, and she did - and I guess that's worked out well for her, she now has four children and a beautiful house with a swimming pool and a tennis court, a holiday home, and expensive hobbies like skiing, jetboating etc, regular trips to Europe and Whistler (jealous yet?) ... but I hope that our generation would put that energy into making money ourselves, rather than finding a man who will make it for us... I can't think of another example amongst my friends, but most of my friends have chosen well-paying career fields like law and finance, where as I've always been attracted to creative occupations like journalism and design where the pay sucks but the work is fun.

Money may not be everything, but I'd rather have it than go without. Children to do know the difference between having and not having, it was easy to see the kids who had everything when I was at school.
I know my mum spent a fortune on fancy school shoes so I could have the same as the others, and that's with school uniform. We usually got what we wanted we just had to wait for it.
I'd much rather be comfortable than poor.

Money isn't everything, but it is important. When we got together I was a poor student and DH was earning the big bucks in comparison, 10 years later I'm earning the equivalent or more than him. To me, having money equals freedom and less stress - life is stressful enough without having to worry about how you're going to pay the rent/mortage next week or how to feed your family. I also see it as an equality thing - if anything happened to DH, I know that I would be able to support my family.

I will say though, you do learn to live within your means, and the more money you make, the more you tend to spend...

Money? No
Ambition and driving force? YES.