How much money would be life changing for you right now?

So I was wondering what is the true value of money ?
I would like to know from my fellow ozbargainers what amount of money given to you right now, today, would warrant a life changing amount? Has to be the absolute minimum amount because obviously $1million is life changing for most of us, if not, definitely for me it is.

Poll Options

  • 5
    $1000
  • 2
    $5000
  • 24
    $10000
  • 144
    $50000

Comments

  • +43

    My minimum would be at least a million.

    I respect that $50,000 is a lot of money, but I wouldn't view it as life changing.

    I think it depends on what you define as life changing…

    • -1

      a million is about right. you live of it work with smartly

  • +30

    The highest amount you have is $50000 and these days it isn't a lot of money it would only just buy a dual cab ute or would only take off not even 20% off the average home loan. A life changing amount these days really would need to be minimum $250000

  • +17

    It wouldn't need to be quite a million dollars - just enough to make the wretched next-door neighbours an offer on their house that they couldn't refuse.

    Why move - yourself - when you can have the bloody problem leave instead…

    Now, THAT'S life-changing!

    • +2

      I'm surprised no one suggested bikie gangs yet. LoL

    • i pop dream home own block of land around pick people who live next door.

  • +4

    FIVE debt free Investment Properties in Affluent suburb across MEL, SYD, BRI and PERTH is all I needed !!!

    5 extra passive income stream will enough to change my life !!

    • -1

      +1

  • +7

    While $50k would 'change my life' that change would be pretty limited.
    In order for there to be a lasting change I think we'd need to talk about $3m or so.

    • this is along the lines as what i was getting at

      • +1

        The $50k part or the $3mil part?

    • +2

      Yeah, it would need to be in this vicinity. $50 would knock about 10% off my mortgage so wouldn't change much at all! $3m would pay off the mortgage and allow me to make a few investments that could bring in the same level of income my household has now, meaning we could retire @ 30! Would be nice.

  • -4

    $1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

    • +2

      Greed is a curse!

      • +19

        So is a broken 0 key.

        • +1

          Good thing he doesn't use that key to write cheques.

  • +28

    $50k because that's all I would need to make $2k of passive income per month! :D

    • was waiting for this

    • OP approves this message.

    • Put it all on red.

  • +4

    $19 billion… but you ended up working for Facebook so life change for the worse. Oh well.

  • +17

    I'm a uni student so $10 would probably change my life right now.

    • +17

      Really? If you are happy to write how it would be life changing I'd be happy to contribute to ur life changing experience.

      • +6

        ^If he sends you $10, I'll send you $5.

      • +4

        Probably because that can buy 2 pots during happy hour.

  • Depends on what you mean by "life changing". Any of the amounts in the poll would change my life at different scales.

    $50000 would allow me to buy a new car which I'd say is quite a drastic change to my life, whereas $1000 although not much can still buy myself a few good experiences at some nice restaurants.

    • -2

      Not meaning to criticise you personally, but why is it when people think about getting money, so many want to blow it. Instead of a new $50,000 car (that will be worth $4000 in 10 years), buy a $1000 car. Do zero maintenance. When it doesn't pass rego next year, sell on ebay for $200 and buy another. You can do that at least 50 times. That's 50 years of cars. By the time the $50,000 runs out, you would have saved a second $50,000 in repairs.

      • +1

        Yeah I've done this a few years, not really happy with the strategy.

        Life is lived once. Sure you can get away with this technique, but is that all you want to do with life? Barely make it?

        I suggest you take this slogan up - "Live Life King Size"

        That doesnt mean you need to go into debt… On the contrary, you need to optimize your expenses and increase your throughput.

        • You're assuming that your potential for increasing your throughput is unlimited. It's not for most people.

      • +3

        Yes buy a cheap car and have it blow up while you're on holiday with 3 kids in the middle of nowhere :) Then you buy a new car with a five year warranty.

      • +2

        Now tell that same story after you have a serious accident. Do you want to be driving that $1000 bomb or a nice new car with 20 airbags, fancy brakes and automated stopping etc.

        We just bought a brand new $45k car (paid cash, don't need a high rate loan for a depreciating asset thanks) and for the safety features I think its wonderful. What price do you put on you and your families safety given how dangerous driving is? You can't even say 'well I'm a good driver' (most everyone is terrible in reality) because someone else can always crash into you.

        • -4

          why are people so afraid of death?
          take it like a man!
          even your money veil on wheels can crash and kill your whole family in an accident. nothing is certain.

      • +3

        You're going to get a car with a year's rego for 1k that will need zero maintenance for 12 months? Good luck with that.

      • +1

        Depending on how many times you broke down in the under harbour tunnel / airport tunnel, that could work. It's terrifying thing to have happen.

  • -2

    None. Got everything I need along with some fat stacks. A free trip to the local whorehouse would be nice though.

  • $50 000 would not change my life significantly right now. That isn't to say that I wouldn't appreciate $50 000 or use it to to build some amazing memories but to me "life changing" means being able to buy a house, paying for some kind of unaffordable but necessary medical treatment, paying off a debt, retiring, not having to work so much etc.

    $50 000 wouldn't do any of that for me right now, partly because I'm in a pretty lucky situation and have no debt, reasonable savings and great health.

  • -1

    Well not exactly a life-changing event but a $1,000 would come in handy to buy my son some driving lessons. Would certainly take some of the stress off me. He is not that bad of a learner driver but what other drivers do (apart from tail-gating a obvious L plater) leaves me feeling rather stressed at the end of a drive. Giving way at roundabouts means giving way to L platers too people! A bit more "moulah" than that and he can buy his own car too and leave me (almost) totally at peace :o}

    • +1

      if every driver was nice to Learners it would be a fictional representation of what the roads are really like.

      • -1

        Too right. We start being kind to learners, we have to be kind to everyone on the road. That means less car accidents are going to happen, which means less patients for hospitals. Without the revenue from there care, job cuts would have to be made, which in this economy is very bad.

    • There's a time and place for everything.

      Doing 80 clicks in a 100 zone on a double lined, single lane road isn't the brightest idea/increase the likelihood of getting tailgated.

      Or hogged the right lane when you're slow.

      People don't go out of their way to tailgate, there has to be reason.

      Actually, if people are tailgating, why don't you ask your son to pull over, let everyone pass then get on with it? It might inconvenient yourself slightly but that's reduce the likelihood of getting yourself into a situation where a serious road rage incident might occur?

  • My wife & kids & I don't have a home anymore, cos I just lost $500k. That's the figure for me that's been permanently life-changing. Oh wait, you mean… for the better?

    • +7

      Wow. Ok.
      Sorry, but you may need to clarify - otherwise OzBargainers will just assume that you did the perfectly reasonable thing of selling your house to buy more Eneloops.
      So?

      Gambling?
      Fire and uninsured?
      'Breaking Bad' related activity gone awry?
      Bikie proceeds of crime crackdown 'victim'?
      General wrong end of court proceedings/judgement?
      International roaming fees on your phone bill shock?
      Apple in-app purchases?

      Other?

      • I'd hazard dodgy investment. Which is covered by gambling, I guess.

        • Yes - intended as an umbrella term.

          Selling your house to fund Eneloop purchase, is, of course, a sound investment.

          Other than when related to some DS click-and-collect deals, absolutely no gambling involved.

        • +2

          Bitcoin / Magic The Gathering Online eXchange collapse?

    • I'd like to know what happened. Not because I'm a busybody, but because I don't want it to happen to me!

  • Enough to retire with as that age is looming far too fast. Although we have saved for years to plan for this end of work life there still isn't enough to sustain for the rest of our lives. Also, of course, a multi million lotto win would help considerably !! ( Oh well, we'll just dream on )

  • +3

    We received a $150,000 windfall from a deceased estate last year. Whilst i'm grateful for the money,and even more so thankful that the horrendous family conflict that accompanied it has now finished, the sum of money has not changed our lives. Straight into the mortgage, it's not anywhere near enough to clear debt but it does reduce it. Otherwise life is still the same in terms of what we do day in, day out. Although my husband's boss did tell him that he had noticed a change in in overall attitude, happiness, motivation etc (for the better!) so maybe there's a subconscious change that we have just not been aware of. I'm looking for a multimillion dollar lotto win too.

  • +6

    About $2000 would be enough for me to buy a decent car and a cheap suit.

    • Why not simply buy a really good suit? My standout memory of Paul Keating is his impeccable tailoring.

  • How much money is needed to travel around the world for a whole year? Not backpacking but not luxurious either.

    • A lot

      • Best time to do this is while you are living at home, otherwise you'd want to pack your stuff into storage and rent your place out/end your lease before leaving. Paying 20-30k in rent/mortgage on top of travel expenses makes it really pricey.

  • +5

    So I was wondering what is the true value of money ?

    some smart old dude once wrote

    He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature.

    • +1

      Someone smarter (me) said: He who is resigned to poverty, makes up proverbs to make themselves feel better. ;-p

  • +2

    Minimum $1 million would be life changing. Anything less would still be nice but $1 mil would be enough that I could comfortably stop work which would change my life.

  • Money for a car would be life changing. My family has trouble getting ANYWHERE, and have trouble finding work without transportation. $5000 would be crazy.

    • I don't own a car. I just ride my bicycle.

  • Just give me $1000 hard cash…I will say iy life changing.

    • Why, what would you do with it.

  • +1

    900K would be nice.

  • 10k is probably enough for me to do stuff with. I would basically have double my wage in a year instead of 10k spread over the year. It would be enough as well for me to logically be flexable with what I need to do stuff instead of "yeah 1K is life changing, but what can I really do with it".

  • +3

    your age, life circumstances(such as health), what value you place in things and what your definition of 'life changing' would be my guess, personally i think a life changing event is something that changes you as a person so replacing your old car or phone or laptop with a new one, although nice to have, won't do it, those are just creature comforts, you did ok before without them, so buying them is not going to change your life a great deal, so what do i consider things that are life changing? some possible examples;
    -if your family origins are from overseas, going on a holiday and meeting your long lost relatives, in getting to know them you also learn more about yourself(traveling can also do that), cost lets say 20k-30k

    -a young couple in love but can't afford to get married(without going overboard), i think most here would agree that getting married is a life changing event, cost maybe 30-50k

    -having a baby is life changing, cost $?????(even after you pay the bill you still have to put your hand in your wallet!)

    -you or a relative has a serious health issue and you have to go overseas to have special(i.e expensive) surgery to fix it, health is a no brainer when it comes to life changing, going from bad health to good health improves your quality of life big time so it counts in my book, cost anywhere from 5-500k

    etc etc so you can see the original question is rather open ended. in my case i would say if i got enough money to buy a house, that would count for me.

    • +4

      "Can't afford to get married."
      "30-50k"

      Our wedding cost ~$300. Most of that went on my wife's dress and shoes.

      • ok, that was just an example, but let me ask you this, go back in time to just before you got married, if your fiance was offered a gift of $30K to splurge on the wedding instead of $300, which would she take? in a lot of weddings these days $300 wouldn't pay for the flowers on the tables! and there is something else, some people feel bad about not having their 'dream' wedding the first time so they have another wedding down the track, V2.0, the bigger better more expensive one!

        • +1

          If they spent $300 on a wedding, chances are they will take the $30k and put it to better use rather than a lavish wedding. Once in a lifetime vs a head start for lifetime together.

          I'd rather start with $30k in the bank as couple together than $0 in the bank.

  • Yep 1 million

  • +3

    For most people, I imagine it would simply just be enough money to pay off the mortgage or own their owner/occupied property outright.

    The ability to live without rent or a mortgage over your head put's you in an incredibly advantageous financial position.

  • I think you need to add more options than that.

  • +1

    http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1138272-about-70-percent-o…

    Much better to learn how to make money than to win it or be given it.

  • $20. because $20 can be exchanged for peanuts

    • Explain how.

      • +3

        photonaturally is a hitman just starting out. his preferred method is killing nut allergic targets via anaphylactic shock.

      • +3

        Money can be exchanged for goods and services

        • +1

          Woohoo!

  • Im currently facing redundancy with approx. $40,000 payout but thats life changing in a negative way. Id prefer to keep my job anyday. In the current climate I will be lucky to get another one. Id take the $50,000 but would have to say 1 mil would mean I could retire and not have the stress of work anymore. Im sure my health would improve too which would be priceless ;)

    • I'm in a somewhat similar situation but mine would be voluntary redundancy and about $100k. I could also get another job fairly easily that likely pays more but we would have to move and our quality of life would also likely suffer.

      Do you take the money and run? or ride out the bumpy times for the easier and more enjoyable lifestyle? It's a tough choice as the other life has so much potential…but might just end up being more tiring.

      To answer the original question I think it would take about $1M to be truly life changing in the being ale to stop work sense. Probably clearing the mortgage would be life changing but only by making me richer not meaning I could leave work. And about $20-25k would clear our external debts besides the mortgage. Got some interest free loans floating around that we have the money for but it's better value in my offset account at the moment so we leave it there.

  • +1
    • +1

      Now that's just being selfish.

  • 1 million + , and I 'm still here on OZB,

  • +1

    I voted 50000 so that I would finally be able to afford Foxtel.

  • Enough money to be able to buy a nice house, car etc and still have about half left. So probably around $2mil

  • I'll be glad with 1 billion dollars thanks. \lol

  • $50, I'd put it on the 6 dog at dapto. Would give me beer money for the night, which would boost my skills with the ladies, which would lead me to chatting, sexing and eventually marrying a millionaire and hence, my live had now changed.

  • Probably between $35,000 - $50,000 to buy a Delorean.
    http://carsales.mobi/car/DELOREAN
    With a few mods I would travel to the future,buy an Almanac,
    Comeback place a few bet$ :)

    Heck might go back in time and say hey to good ol T-Rex.

  • Interesting question.
    The answer is, enough to pay off my mortgage.

  • +2

    'Life changing' money for people with a mortgage would be enough money to pay the whole debt off. Many people are paying $1000 to $2000 in interest per month just to have a basic place to live. Think about that for a moment. At least an extra thousand dollars to spend per month with absolutely no effort when the mortgage is paid off. After tax. Paying off the mortgage is life changing money.

  • No matter the number, I'd still visit OzBargain daily ;)

  • +1

    with $50000 you can get your own blackjack and ho*kers, now that's life changing for sure..

  • +1

    All I need is OzBargain.

  • +1

    not me personally, but enough to buy australian citizenship, so one can live in the best country on earth permanently

    • A lot of people do not know the value of that Peter. If you are one who is going through the process of achieving that they I hope it happens. Welcome to the team m8 :-)

    • I think you would need $5,000,000 for that. See:

      http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/188.aspx

      Significant Investor stream

      You must make a complying investment of at least AUD5 million in any of the following options, in any proportion, and hold that investment continuously for at least four years:

  • Enough to pay out my mortgage and HECS. That would mean I can save the difference and put aside for our pending baby and other life's little things. That would be life changing.

  • I'd be happy w' 2m to buy my kid a flat in the area to which she wishes to become accustomed in SYD. Then I could stop worrying about where she might be living.

    I am reminded of knowin the price of everything and the value of nothing looking at some comments.

  • I'd consider anything over $100K life-changing for us. It would get our mortgage down to a point where we could more rapidly pay it off by keeping the repayments the same. After paying it off we'd then be able to start investing the money each week that we didn't have to pay on the mortgage. Depending on a number of other factors, it could result in us retiring earlier, having the funds to do something different etc.

    More than $100K would be nice, but I'd say $100K would be the amount that would permanently alter our financial situation in the long term to a noticeable degree.

  • +1

    A million dollars I reckon…
    I could pay off some of my credit card and have a good night out…

    Honestly though… coming from an old codger… to be happy and healthy over wealth.. so many in this world are not.
    Never loose sight of how fortunate we are and how valuable having good friends is (and being one as well).
    The wealthiest person is the one who survives to the oldest age and dies with a smile.

    Life is funny… when we are young we struggle with rent/mortgages/kids/everyday costs of living.. it is a real battle. When we are older (and have done the right thing) we have more money than we know what to do with… It all seems to be back to front…

  • 6.4 trillion dollars, the amount of money collectively of the 1645 billionaires or, just the average of 4.5 billion dollars

    http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/microsofts-bill-gates-r…

  • Life changing is when we make do with none of the current FIAT currencies.

    Watch The Biggest Scam In The History Of Mankind - Hidden Secrets of Money Ep 4 - Mike Maloney
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0

    You will get a better understanding of how money is currenty created in this monetary system.
    First we need to understand the current DEBT-SLAVE system in order to free ourselves from it.

    So at the end of the day, the real MON-EY (one eye) is Knowledge.

  • $1 million (after taxes)- to make a sea change and live close to the beach.

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