How much money do you need for your ideal lifestyle?

[Dimond]

I love that there are many with the same ideals as me. I also believe in a minimalist lifestyle and need very little. Any extra money would end up going towards helping others, so otherwise I don't need it.

I don't like depending on others at all. I don't like cleaning, yet tried a cleaning service and actually liked that even less. So I'm just working on ways to be more efficient in doing it myself. The raw diet actually allows me to keep things very simple in many areas. So does using natural products. I doubt I will be 100% self reliant because there are many things I don't know how to do & don't want to waste my time learning. Though I try to stick with people I know versus hiring others. This is where some type of barter system is good.

I believe in:
*Narrowing down everything into minimal, purposeful activities, relationships, & material possessions, yet without deprivation.
*Focusing on quality versus quantity & letting go of anything unnecessary or toxic as they’re burdens.
*Finding the most productive goods, services & techniques.
*Using time efficiently in all areas.
*Experiencing the freedom of a life more rich & meaningful by focusing on only what is important.

[Andrew Brunelle]

My ideal lifestyle would probably have me earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, possibly millions, but it wouldn't be the money that motivated me. It would be driving towards my passion, and working on it every day until I am one of the top in my field.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Scipio

How much money would you need to earn (per month or per year) to have the lifestyle you want? Maybe not your completely ideal lifestyle, but a lifestyle where money would probably be the last of your worries and you'd really want to work on the other areas of your life for a long time before increasing your income.

Interested!

Psychologists and economists are finding that once people earn about $40,000 per year, that earning more than that doesn't really make people happy. Maybe a little more for a family or if you live in a high cost area, but not much more.

Once you get beyond $40,000 per year, money and the things it can buy will not add much to your happiness. Relationships with others, spirituality, etc become more important to a person's happiness at that point.

Most people think that a 20% increase in income will solve all their financial problems. It does for a while....until they get used to living at that higher income level.....which most do...and then the cycle repeats itself.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by ssandra

For me that would be a minimum of 10.000 Euros per month.

Yes, I like luxury...

I would have spa treatments, go on holidays, go to the luxury gyms, stay in nice hotels, buy lots and lots of gifts for everybody, have diner in great restaurants, have people to cook and clean etc.

That sounds nice....and indeed it would be for about 6 months. After that, you just take it for granted as "normal". It just becomes part of your lifestyle but doesn't really make you any happier.

Economists call this phenomenon the "hedonic treadmill".

[The Big D]

Originally Posted by Scipio

How much money would you need to earn (per month or per year) to have the lifestyle you want? Maybe not your completely ideal lifestyle, but a lifestyle where money would probably be the last of your worries and you'd really want to work on the other areas of your life for a long time before increasing your income.

Interested!

I think I know the answer, but I'm not sure. I think about 10k USD post taxes etc. would do just fine. But that said, I've never really looked at a lot of "luxury" goods. It might be that a $200k car would just be a maintenance PITA, but they might be really nice too. I've never found out because I can't currently afford one, but if I had a higher income I would investigate. Ditto multi-million houses, vacation houses, pools, expensive pure breed dogs, high end computers, butlers, Caribbean yachting vacations and a hundred other luxury goods and services that aren't on the radar right now.

Depending on how many of those things turned out to be winners, that $10k number could be way too low.

[The Big D]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

That sounds nice....and indeed it would be for about 6 months. After that, you just take it for granted as "normal". It just becomes part of your lifestyle but doesn't really make you any happier.

Economists call this phenomenon the "hedonic treadmill".

This may in fact be the case, but needs justification IMO. For example, if I hire a maid to clean my house for me (something that's probably just outside 40k/year) I get back a few hours a week of my time. If I can't use that time to make myself happier by doing something I enjoy, that suggests some deep spiritual malaise.

[Susanna77]

Good thread.

I'd need 2,000euros a month-

[marinik]

8.000 Euro minimum a month.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by The Big D

This may in fact be the case, but needs justification IMO. For example, if I hire a maid to clean my house for me (something that's probably just outside 40k/year) I get back a few hours a week of my time. If I can't use that time to make myself happier by doing something I enjoy, that suggests some deep spiritual malaise.

It's all well and good to use your time wisely in ways to make yourself happier. It's just that most of us aren't very good at doing it. Psychologists are actually finding this out...that people are actually not good at predicting what will make them happy. Doing things we're passionate about and serving others is what makes people happy, but those are things most of us resist, at least a little bit.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

That sounds nice....and indeed it would be for about 6 months. After that, you just take it for granted as "normal". It just becomes part of your lifestyle but doesn't really make you any happier.

Economists call this phenomenon the "hedonic treadmill".

I actually think it would be nice for a lot longer than just 6 months... there are too many places on earth that I have not seen yet

All the parties I am going to give... Nice!

And just as a side note, the question was not how much I money I need to be happy. I do not need money to be happy (just enough food, shelter etc). After that happiness becomes a choice.
It would be my ideal lifestyle. It would be traveling all over the world. It would be indulging in giving so much to so many people. It would be meeting new people, everywhere. It would be giving to my parents and brother what they want to have.

It would be buying houses in the city centre, fixing them up and renting them for a reasonable price.

Starting new businesses and giving yougn and motivated people the chance to learn while doing.

Always nice to be daydreaming

[Sam988]

I always wanted a grand lifestyle, so U$50,000 a month will be fine for me. More than this and i'm afraid the things i'd get wouldn't be of much value to me. But i do know what to do and how to spend 50k a month, and it'd all be important and just enough.

[PipHunn]

At the moment, $AU400 a month will do me fine. I love very cheaply, eat lots of home-cooked food, and exercise in the parks around my house.

That figure will go up when I have kids, though, so $5,000AU a month is a perfectly comfortable income for me. That's food, payments on another, kid-friendly house, occasional holidays and tickets to shows and enough spare to donate significantly to some worthwhile charities...

[Marth]

To support everyone around me $3000/mnth would be a major step for me. Awesome thread

[Scipio]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

That sounds nice....and indeed it would be for about 6 months. After that, you just take it for granted as "normal". It just becomes part of your lifestyle but doesn't really make you any happier.

Economists call this phenomenon the "hedonic treadmill".

I think this is due to the fact that economists take averages of the population at large, not conscious people.

You certainly have the ability to spend or reinvest money where it objectively benefits you more. For example, I would spend a lot of my money on time-saving devices and good food for my health, so that I could focus on enjoying some of the relationships I have, and my purpose in life (career) more. I hate cleaning, for example, so I'd have a cheap maid come by more often (actually I did this living overseas without needing much money).

I think the trap a lot of non-conscious people get into is that they have never explored their purpose, are only doing a job for money and are consequently dissatisfied, so any extra effort in their career isn't adding any happiness. They figure that if they just add a bit more money, or savings for retirement, then they can finally just do nothing at 50 when they retire early. Then they discover doing nothing isn't the answer either. So when you take an average of the population, that's the answer you will get.