Quote:
Originally Posted by Litos
odds are he hasn't even started saving money for his kid's college....
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Well, I think you'd need to have a reasonable emergency fund first. I can't see how the OP can have enough of an emergency fund on his income, but to each his own.
OP, I think you are lucky that you have a loving family and kids which is not something everyone is able to achieve. That being said, I think people are picking on you because to almost everyone on the board, you are in desperate need of financial advice. If I were you, I'd focus more on making money instead of looking for ways to spend it. I'll paint a picture of my background so you can see where I'm coming from...
For me, I killed myself in my twenties to give myself a financial cushion that I have now in my 30s. I'm not rich but have enough financial freedom to work on the things I want to work on. If you are intent on reading other people's stories, then at 21 I was still in university. I graduated from my program at 23 with about $30k in the bank despite paying my own way through school (tuition, housing, everything). I did this by aggressively pursuing great summer jobs and being frugal while at school, which was easy because most students are also poor and being frugal is just a way of life. Upon graduation, I managed to get a well-paying job. After a couple years of making over $100+k, I bought felt financially comfortable enough to buy a .... a Golf GTI. Some people would have bought a more expensive car, but housing where I live is expensive and most people buy with a down payment > 25% so I wanted to save-up to buy a house before spending too much on a car. I also had a philosophy that because a car was a luxury and thus expense (not a asset), then I had to be comfortable with writing off the car without causing myself undue financial hardship. I don't want to give the impression that I didn't spend money and enjoy life - I did - it was just measured against the amount of savings I had at the time and where I wanted to be financially at retirement.
Good luck.