1.) Not really “happy”, I’d describe it more as “okay”. I miss having a relationship and that would push me from okay to pretty darned happy, IMHO (and from what I recall having been in a good relationship in my not too recent past).
2.) I do all right. I have a decent paying job, very low debt (except the condo, which is really a home and an investment). And I enjoy my job a great deal as well as it paying fairly well.
Yes, very happy. Noticeably happy. People-commenting-on-it-regularly happy. I am making buckets o’ money at my dream job. So yes, it is, in part, finanial. Specifically, I’d gotten into some ugly debt, which I’m in the process of paying off.
Wouldn’t mind getting laid a bit more regularly, but other than that I’m good.
Eh. There are multiple things pretty much out of my control that I’m waiting to be resolved in the near future. If they turn out positively, I’ll probably be happy. At the moment “indecisive” is my overriding emotion.
Work is one of the major things from #1. I could be worse off, but I work for a non-profit, so I’m not raking it in by any means. The fact that I’m seven years out of college and still owe $20,000 in loans is a little disheartening. I have no other debt at all, though.
Happy?
Yes. I’m not bouncing off the walls with overwhelming joy or anything, but I’m pretty okay with how things are. I have great friends, an exciting new boyfriend that I’m falling for more and more every day, and a career that isn’t perfect but is mostly fulfilling and challenging where I’m pretty successful. I also have great hobbies that provide me with a lot of activity and sense of accomplishment. I feel pretty good right now.
Finances?
Pretty good. I’m not rolling in money and it’s not like I never have to make sacrifices or budget, but I can afford my hobbies, I don’t worry about being able to make it day to day, and I’ve got quite a bit put aside for retirement and emergencies. If I need to make an emergency trip to see my aging parents, I can do so without wondering how on earth I’ll pay for it. I can afford to take a great vacation each year. I *think * about money (budgeting, planning how I’ll work the vacation into that budget, deciding whether I should replace the furniture this year or wait a while, etc.), but I don’t worry about it.
Am I happy? Yes, almost always.
Why?
A) good relationships…great husband, three adorable (and adoring) little boys, a wonderful set of parents, a wonderful set of in-laws, 2 great brothers w/ 2 great wives, several really truly good friends
B)good mind habits…a positive thinker if you will. After a dangerous bout of depression in my late teens and early twenties I dug myself out of the hole with cognitive therapy techniques that have stood me in good stead though some pretty shitty stuff
Financial sitch…
could be better, could be worse. Lots of debt, homeowner but home in disrepair, all furniture and clothes second-hand, plenty of hope for improving. I suppose that although I am happy I would be happier still if I had a completely satisfactory financial situation.
On the other hand, I was happy, cheerful and perky when my husband and I had both been unemployed for a year and we were living with our two sons in one room of my in-laws’ basement. Having a good mood didn’t keep me from seeing that our situation totally sucked or working to get us out of it.
I’m not happy. This doesn’t mean that I’m not extremely grateful for all of the good things I have i.e. my health, my huge family, a job that I enjoy and the area I live in among many other things. The thing is I got my heart broken early this year. I’m beginning to despair that I’ll find anyone to share my life with and start a family. Life is lonely.
I do well. About 6 years ago I was lucky enough to have signed on with a startup that succeeded. While not rich, I have quite a bit saved and almost no debt. I could stand to make more salary but am generally happy with my finances.
No. I’m lonely, but not for lack of friends. Frankly, I really don’t want any. I was lucky enough to fall in with the greatest group of friends in my fraternity and that made me no less lonely. Now that I’m away from that weird vortex of fantasticness, I’ve found such people very, very rare, and I figure that if they come my way, they’ll come my way. My problem is that women scare the ever-loving snot out of me, and they always have. So, I’m lonely like that. For a misanthrope, I really do get on famously with people, and it’s the romance bit that is killing me.
On other fronts, I’m really, really hating my job right now. Local government, which means dealing with a lot of half-witted, logic-impaired, selfish, self-absorbed fucktards, and the frustration they foist on me paralyzes me from doing shit that really matters. Which makes it worse, because what little satisfaction I could get, I’m too pissed to concentrate on. Plus, it’s boring as fuck. (Not “boring as fucking,” because my limited experience has found that to be not at all boring.)
I’m also totally irresponsible in nearly every possible way.
Right now, the only thing I have to look forward to is NaNoWriMo and the fact that, since I’m not going anywhere, I’m using my vacation for that. So, in November I’ll get to do my NaNo and take two weeks off.
It should be good, but I’m, as noted above, totally irresponsible in nearly every possible way. Hence, it sucks, but not because I don’t earn enough income, but because I waste it on nothing.
1. Are you happy? Why?
Overall, yes. Definitely. Despite a recent promotion and raise my job/career situation is a little stressful at the moment, and sure, it would be nice to be getting laid a little more often ( ::high-fives twickster:: ), but I have great friends, I like where I live, I’m doing well in grad school, and I feel that I have options regarding the stuff that I wish were better in my life. I’ve always been a generally upbeat person, and I don’t think that I’ve been seriously unhappy in well over a year.
2. How would you describe your financial situation?
Eh, probably about average. Not enough savings, more debt than I’d like, etc., but I have excellent credit, I pay into my 401(k), and I can afford to go out with friends, buy little things that catch my eye, and play poker every week.
I’m not unhappy. I don’t think I’m the type to be estatic about things so this is probably a good baseline state.
I make decent but not insanely money. I have a small amount of debt and some savings that should be more considering my age. I also don’t own any property which is probably something I should look at.
Overall, I’m happy. I only encounter a few minor frustrations in my life. I had a really fun summer after graduating college in May with an engineering degree and I am about to embark on a professional career. For now, I still work part-time as an assistant and draftsman for a crazy architect. After several recent job interviews for engineering positions, I am hoping to move on to next step soon. I am happily single now but hope to change that later after settling into a career and a most likely new location. My guitar and sitar playing has really progressed in the past couple years and I can finally compose music that I think is tolerable. Also, I have absolutely stellar friends IRL and the SDMB online to keep me informed and entertained.
I am at a crossroads in life right now at the age of 24 with few assets and a little bit of student loan debt. I anticipate having a salary of $45K-$55K per year starting out in the near future which is decent.
I wouldn’t call myself happy right now. I am sort of depressed. I have no “real” friends down here at school, they all live two hours away at home. I hate my job but it was the only one I could find. I’ve been really stressed with school and I’ve had trouble sleeping/relaxing. I am pretty much always bored or lonely. I am going home for the weekend and I will be in the best mood all weekend and probably crash right back down the second I get in my car to leave. Because of my crap job, I can’t come home as much as I’d like. This will be the first time in 2 months I’ve been home.
My parents are awesome and cover tuition, rent, food, car insurance, cell phone etc. So I have zero bills. All the money I make is mine. I wish I had more because everything I want requires quite a bit of saving, and I also want to go all out for Christmas this year. But I have zero money problems.
Yes, I’m happy because I have groups I belong to, I have nice neighbors, nice social group members, nice service group members, nice friends. I also have a nice job, a nice car, and a nice significant other.
I am in a huge amount of debt due to buying a condo last year and still paying on my car, but it is manageable. I can afford to do what I want, mostly, but I do have to consider the financial impact of my hobbies and choose wisely. I should be paying into a 403(b), but that will have to wait a little longer. I only stress about money every once in a while and not for very long.
Happy, but tired. Good marriage, 2-month-old son, relatively good health, good finacial situation (see below), and generally no feeling that there’s somthing I need but can’t have. My day job takes up too much of my time, though, and I’d like to switch to something that lets me come home at a decent hour.
Very good. I have a well-paying day job, as well as a weekend fun job that I’ve managed to do very well for myself in. The house is paid for and I have no debts. Lots of savings, full health insurance, and generally the feeling that a) anything I want or need is available when i desire (though I usually don’t buy much) and b) the financial impact of any disastrous event will be at most a pain in the butt rather than a complete catastrophe.
Yes, life is good. I like my job and the people I work with. My personal life is drama free and mostly boring, apparently that’s the way I like it 
My only debt is my condo and car. The condo will be paid for in 8 years. I could be doing better but I’m happy where I am
I am fairly happy, my life is pretty good, I have a wonderful wife, 2 great kids and a nice house in a very nice town. I am very close to my family and get along with my in-laws. I have some very good friends and plenty of casual friends. My job could be better, but it could be a lot worse. I have problems but nothing too bad. My Yankees are close to winning game 1 of the playoffs.
Financially we are fairly well off. We only owe on the house, it is worth 3 times what we owe, so no worries there. We buy our inexpensive cars for cash and run them into the ground. We have money for almost anything we want as we do not have expensive needs. Each year we can make major improvements to the house and we save over 15% of our salaries to help toward a good and early retirement.
Jim
1. Are you happy? Why?
Usually. I’m generally a pretty happy person, and it takes very little to turn a good day into a great one. My job is sometimes stressful, but I like the people I work with and I mostly like what I do. I have good friends and a great family and I love where I live. So, yeah, I’m happy.
2. How would you describe your financial situation?
Good. My job pays well, and while I still have some student loans to pay off and I’d like to have more socked away for retirement, I have some good investments and the flexibility to indulge myself once in a while.
I should point out, however, that when my income was significantly lower – less than a quarter of what it is now – I was still pretty happy.
Yes, I’m happy.
I am now economically comfortable but for two decades I lived very meagerly on a very small income.
Satisfying relationships, work that is meaningful to me, and opportunities to be creative make the most difference in my underlyig mood.
I’m not happy, nor am I generally unhappy.
My financial situation depends on how you want to look at it. I earn very little cash, but I have no “real/regular” bills (rent, insurance, etc.). I do have a bit of debt, but it’s less than $1000. I have zero savings. I would say… in the real world, I’m bad-off. In my little (rather insulated) corner, I’m fine. It is definitely within my power to improve my financial situation. I have no desire to reprioritize and/or sell another chunk of my soul to another uncaring, unloving company. I hate my job, too. I do realize I will have to do something at some point; I’m just trying to delay that point until I find better opportunities than I have at this moment.
I know spending money doesn’t make me any happier in the long run. I had a nice little windfall once. I spent most of it on stupid, stupid stuff. I have nothing to show for it. While I had a good time with it, that was a temporary high. OTOH, even though memories amount to nothing when it comes time to put food on the table, I’d spend it all again in a heartbeat. That aspect was fun, being able to drop large (for me) amounts on whatever struck my fancy. Good times, but not enough to make me happier-than-usual today.
Upon preview, I realize how badly I’m coming off as a slacker. Oh, wait. Coming off as? I mean, showing my true self. Heh.