Confession: Do you envy people who make more than you?

[Anonymous]

I would say my "envy' kicks in when people make good money AND have great flexible work hours. I wouldn't trade money for "life".

But I do at times envy houses that are nicer than mine. I'd love a kitchen bigger than a shoebox.

[Anonymous]

I would agree with some of the pp's - I don't envy the people making more, I envy their houses. I would LOVE to have enough extra cash to make my house into my dream house (and it's a pretty modest dream house, so it can be frustrating not to be able to do it).

[Anonymous]

This ties into the materialistic thread, it seems. "No, I don't want/need more money, but I want/need certain thing/s that go along with it." HOW much sense does that make? Because, as we all know (but won't admit), HOW much is enough?!?!?

OP has an honest question, but I have yet to see any honest answers. I see people every day who "need" (want) X or Y because (insert lame excuse here). They're never happy.

In addition, they constantly speculate about people who they PERCIEVE to have more than them; and it almosst always results in gossip, gossip, gossip. What a sad life that would be!

How does one know for a fact when one makes more than them? Are you signing their paychecks? Similarly, how does one know for absolute certain where one got their money? If not, back off. Simple.

Don't think people are telling you everything, because i GUARANTEE you'll be the last to know.

The only thing you can count on for sure is that it involved blood, sweat and tears that you have never known.

If it sounds like I have a problem with OP's question, I have more of a problem with those who speculate, when they should be paying more attention to their own business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This ties into the materialistic thread, it seems. "No, I don't want/need more money, but I want/need certain thing/s that go along with it." HOW much sense does that make? Because, as we all know (but won't admit), HOW much is enough?!?!?

OP has an honest question, but I have yet to see any honest answers. I see people every day who "need" (want) X or Y because (insert lame excuse here). They're never happy.

In addition, they constantly speculate about people who they PERCIEVE to have more than them; and it almosst always results in gossip, gossip, gossip. What a sad life that would be!

How does one know for a fact when one makes more than them? Are you signing their paychecks? Similarly, how does one know for absolute certain where one got their money? If not, back off. Simple.

Don't think people are telling you everything, because i GUARANTEE you'll be the last to know.

The only thing you can count on for sure is that it involved blood, sweat and tears that you have never known.

If it sounds like I have a problem with OP's question, I have more of a problem with those who speculate, when they should be paying more attention to their own business.

Um, OK. Prozac, anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The only thing you can count on for sure is that it involved blood, sweat and tears that you have never known.

Beg to differ. I have an ex-brother-in-law who inherited a gazillion dollars. I don't think he broke a sweat doing it.
Also there are people who work very very hard but in jobs that pay little. I think they "know" blood, sweat, and tears pretty damn well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really - sure, more money would be great, but we're comfortable now and work hours that are reasonable and allow us to have lives outside of work. Most people I see who are making more money than we do are working long hours and have travel commitments that I don't envy at all, and for now at least the time I have with my family is more valuable to me.

Yeah - I feel so lucky that we have both have really reasonable, flexible jobs that we actually like. We are actually both home today because I don't work Fridays and he has "summer Fridays" at work which means he gets every other Friday off in July and August. We also both leave and get home at the same really reasonable hour every night.

We have a healthy child so far, and a relatively happy marriage. We live in a nice neighborhood and have good commutes. We have really wonderful, supportive families and my parents live relatively close by. So I think we are really lucky.

I envy people:
-who have those big, wide open kitchens I long to have
-who know how to wear their hair more than two ways (down, or back in a pony tail)
-who can get by on 6 hours of sleep
-who can cook well and love to cook
-who have great decorating skills
-who can get through the day without having a stain on their clothes
-who do not feel the need to get a drink from Starbucks almost every day
-who had the discipline and intelligence to make it through medical school
-who are really good at yoga

But not for making tons of money, though I would definitely not complain if I had MORE money (so long as we didn't have to put in more hours to get it).

I like this response.

[Anonymous]

15:25 again. A friend of mine is a security guard who works seven days a week just so he can pay for his $240,000 condo. I'd put up his "blood, sweat, and tears" against anyone else's any day.

[Anonymous]

How much is enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This ties into the materialistic thread, it seems. "No, I don't want/need more money, but I want/need certain thing/s that go along with it." HOW much sense does that make? Because, as we all know (but won't admit), HOW much is enough?!?!?

OP has an honest question, but I have yet to see any honest answers. I see people every day who "need" (want) X or Y because (insert lame excuse here). They're never happy.

In addition, they constantly speculate about people who they PERCIEVE to have more than them; and it almosst always results in gossip, gossip, gossip. What a sad life that would be!

How does one know for a fact when one makes more than them? Are you signing their paychecks? Similarly, how does one know for absolute certain where one got their money? If not, back off. Simple.

Don't think people are telling you everything, because i GUARANTEE you'll be the last to know.

The only thing you can count on for sure is that it involved blood, sweat and tears that you have never known.

If it sounds like I have a problem with OP's question, I have more of a problem with those who speculate, when they should be paying more attention to their own business.

I disagree with you. I saw a lot of honest answers including my own. I was one of the first posters with a list of things I feel lucky to have and a list of things I envy others for.

What I see is that it would be cool to have more, but not at the expense of giving up time, etc. So that to me is honest. I don't envy the folks who make $500k but work 70 hours a week.

Further, what I left out of my post is that I have a little bit of family money. You would never know it because we don't use it. It is there for college tuitions later on, and private high school should we decide to go that route, we probably won't. It is nice to know if one of us loses our job, we have a bit of a fall back. I feel lucky to have that. I would envy people with money because security is nice, but because we have a little security, I don't really envy them.

This could have been a fun thread. Please don't tell others to mind their own business on an anonymous board when people are voluntarily offering information. You are really not protecting anyone. It is just not that serious of a situation.

[Anonymous]

"-who had the discipline and intelligence to make it through medical school"

Just one example of sweat, for sure!

[Anonymous]

I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sooo rich that I envy myself.

I have it even harder I would bet. I am so beautiful no one takes me seriously. I am also one of the nicest, and most humble, people you will ever meet.

[Anonymous]

oh sh*t, what is this. has this thread turned into comedy central?

[Anonymous]

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Oh wait, this is D.C.!