/biz/ - Business & Finance

> I was really under the impression that getting a engineering degree was all I needed to live comfortably.

I was an intern at IBM when i saw something that stuck with me. My mentor was this high level technical lead/architect. He probably made $150k easy, and being there 20 years he should have had an insane payout from stock options over the years. He drove an Audi TT and I thought one day i'd be as rich as him.

So, one day this guy gets a call from his wife. Apparently their washing machine broke. He panics "..bbb.but.. we cant afford a new washing machine right now" (he said it quietly, but i heard him). He tells his wife maybe they can put it on the credit card or something. I realized then how much wealthy people could fuck themselves into being poor.

It's about four years later, i have a job now. I work at a decent tech company making decent money. I've got about $250k saved up, plus I've got a house. I have some friends though who are working making $130k that can barely make their car payments. You see the same thing with ballers who make $10million and get foreclosed on. Just because you make a lot of money does not mean you wont go broke.

Recently i read a book called "the millionaire next door". It pretty much confirmed all this shit i've been seeing. I suggest you read it, it's a quick read. Like others have said, it pretty much boils down to two things:

1. have a good income
2. dont buy stupid shit

good luck.

>learn to live frugally so that i can have nice things in the long run
>be so successful at changing my attitude that i don't even desire the nice things any more once I can afford them
>buying stuff i don't need feels bad now and is almost always a disappointment

Anyone else here accidentally turned himself into a full blown miser?

I walk.