A friend of mine at work has been through some tough times for the last year. Her husband has been unemployed and one of her sons have been in some trouble which has been giving her some real problems and I really feel sorry for her. BUT, her husband got a job in May, her son switched school and that situation seems to have worked out aswell.
She and her family did one smart thing, they sold their way to big house to downsize now in august. She said that they don't want to live that close to bancrupcy again and I understand her, it was a great move since their house was quite large. The deal went through and they made a good profit that equals about 2-3 times her annual NET pay. They settled in the new house, made some minor renovations, hur husband made them so I think they didn't pay to much, so far everything is smart IMHO when she says this... We are so excited, we bought a new SUV whithout financing! For the first time in our lives we could pay cash for the car.
ME: Didn't you buy a car not that long ago?
HER:Well, that was actually 2 years ago and that car starts to get old know. Since my husband don't know how to fix anything about cars we don't want the risk of me getting stranded out on the road somewhere.
ME: Do you think that a 2012 car will break down? ( I tried not to be too harsh on her her but was truly flabbergasted )
HER: It might do, it was a KIA and it doesn't seems to be of very good quality, I could her some squeaks and sounds from somewhere under the car and was just waiting for it to break down.
ME: Doesn't KIA have a 7 year warranty?
HER: I don't know about that stuff, but this new car is GREAT! Its so lovely and we can afford it.
CO-Worker3-->ME : It looks like someone is jealous... Don't you have any plans to change your old car? (I drive a paid of -06 Volvo)
ME: No, why should I? Cars don't give me satisfaction, they are just a mean of transportation for me.
CO-Worker3: sure...
The conversation ended there but I got to talk to my friend/coworkeer later and she added that it feels so nice to have money now, they are booking a 3 week trip to Florida during Christmas and New Year just to avoid having to decide wich of their parents they need to visit...
She also said that her and her husband takes a hotelroom sometimes in their own town when they have been out on the movies or at a restaurant EVEN if there are no children at home since they have been sleeping over at relatives. She specificly says that they could never afford that OR the trip before they sold the house so I understand that there is what the money comes from.
I asked her if she had planned on investing the money since it was quite a large amount they made in profit and she said yes, in a banking account, the stock market is to risky...
We are quite close and she confides all sorts of things to me, but with this I get the impression that they behave like if they won the lottery or something regarding the house profits. I haven't asked her if she is aware that she will need to pay tax on the profits, but I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't thought about it.
Stangely enough she is working with money at work and is very good at handling the economis there.