Yesterday, I went to the beach with a few colleagues and we talked about work and our own life aspirations. It was amazing how different we all were even though we all graduated with the same Business and Marketing degrees.

The gal is living at home and wants to buy a house in a few years and rent a room out to her parents. She got a corporation job right out of college and she is very unhappy with how she is being treated and paid. But I see she buys all of these expensive items like: Couch purse, Yves Saint Laurent sun glasses and Lactose polos.

The guy is living in a nice yuppie apartment community with another one of our college friends. He worked his way up to this corporation job and is not happy with his management or the way the business treats his division. Since he doesn’t have to pay off college loans he has a lot of disposable income that he just seems to spend on gadgets and seasonal outdoor equipment.

Me, on the on the other hand, rents a small condo right across the street from my work and rents the second bedroom to a fun chick. I work in a small start up business and I really enjoy my work and the culture there. I am very easily discouraged by all of the loans I have to pay off while I’m getting paid the least, but I still manage to save up some money for traveling.

With this small comparison, I would like to think that I am better off because I am happy with my job. Since that is 1/3rd of my life, shouldn’t that be worth more than the amount of money I make or the stuff that I buy? What do you think? I am obviously a bit biased but I’d like to hear what you think.

-Jess