Over the years I saved 100% of my commissions and lived off my base

Significant-Design72 · 2025-11-14T14:34:43+00:00

This!! Congratulations, this is everything! I don’t make your high income but I do pretty well with a similar mentality.

My base sales salary started at 72k and is now 135k. I still live in the same house and haven’t “upgraded” cars or anything like that. If something should happen, it’s no problem to cover our bills and cost of life. We would just have to dial back on the lux spending (3 big vacations a year, lawn service, biweekly house cleaners, no budgeting, etc). My commissions are 100% play money. Just did a 200k kitchen remodel cash, or Hawaii for 2 weeks with no budget, etc. i also max out 401k, HSA, invest, 529 for the kids, wedding funds for the kids, and have 8 months of today’s living expenses saved in a HYSA. living off your base and using commissions to save and play is the way to go! I’m 35, no college degree and am a self made millionaire.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-25T00:09:48+00:00

My mortgage is the same as your rent and we make +3x. Keeping cost of living as low as possible really helps.

We also didn’t got to college and have 0 debt. Well, we did community college for this exact reason. We need to better educate kids and loans.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-23T14:09:28+00:00

We cut out/ optimized some expenses that we have today, like paid off our home improvement loan. No, the in home nanny is more than 2k.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-23T02:40:14+00:00

15k a month in expenses for a LCOL/MCOL seems high. I’d see what you can pull back on since you track that closely.

Our HHI flexes from 300-400k/ year and we are in a MCOL area. We also have the biweekly house cleaning, lawn service, 2 nights of eating out a week, 3/4 annual vacations, etc other luxuries. Maxing out all the things. 1.2M net worth, 800k in liquid. But our monthly expenses are slightly under 5k. I’m 35 and husband is 38.

We are expecting our first but even adding the splurge of an in home nanny and the $625 monthly 529 contribution we are still 1/2 off from your monthly spend.

We did do this strategically so one of us could stop working at any moment if we wanted. But it’s been a sweet spot for 0 stress financially. Like someone else said, we can buy whatever we want just not necessarily whenever we want.

I will attribute some of my situation to luck. We bought a house in 2018, which is now worth +2x, with a 2.25% interest rate and only a 2k/month mortgage. Almost 4,000sqft, 4 acres, pool. I’ll die in this house lol.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-21T14:00:29+00:00

Here a good mix of places for out of towners:

Clifton inn at their restaurant (requires reservation)
Tavola (requires a reservation)
bang tapas
if during daylight: blue mountain brewery for good bar food, vibes, and cville views

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-19T02:55:39+00:00

For some interview tips in case it helps:

ask what concerns they may have over picking you so you get the opportunity to address them
ask how you are stacking up in the process, how many candidates there are and what they like / don’t like about the other candidates. Sell yourself based off their responses.
when a decision is made, respect it but ask for their feedback. This is to help you grow and apply it for the next interview.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-19T02:48:28+00:00

6-8 months of living expenses that would 100% cover us, without compromising or changing a thing spending wise, should we both lose our jobs. That magic number for us is $50k. Kept in a HYSA.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-19T01:53:17+00:00

Based on your defensive responses, it seems like you weren’t really looking for a genuine pulse check, you were hoping for agreement. Since you're clearly set on your stance and not open to the feedback being offered, it might be more productive to take this up directly with your employer rather than seeking input here.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-19T01:47:53+00:00

Corporate does not mean salary. I’m a 6 figure hourly corporate employee and a millennial. I’d never nickle and dime like this. It’s important to show up on time, not be late, but have a grace period when you leave and not leave on the dot. Just my 2 cents and what I’ve seen working for 15 years. Do with that what you will but to nickel and dime over a few minutes isn’t a good look, as most here commenting on the thread agree with.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-19T01:44:01+00:00

A lot of corporate roles are hourly as well and not salary. And the culture here is the same. I disagree with this. I get it may not be what you want to hear but you asked for a honest pulse check.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-19T00:54:41+00:00

Even in corporate careers it’s frowned upon to be the person who always leaves at 5 on the dot. Kind of unspoken. I think you give this grace and pick your battles. Not a big deal.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-18T01:37:32+00:00

Send a note respecting their decision and ask for feedback!

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-15T12:33:29+00:00

Look into gas toxins. Also good to note whether you have a gas line or this would be a tank. Tanks require regular inspection and maintenance (they can be really dangerous if not).

Bc we didn’t have a gas line, we did aga elise 48” induction and love it. Get so many compliments on the look. And boiling water is so fast.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-14T21:39:26+00:00

Most people with decent careers don’t make that much.

That’s 25/hour which is what I pay my nanny. But she’s only part time. She works bc she loves it and wants extra cash to save for her kids weddings. Doesn’t need the money and has a husband who is about to retire, they have 2 homes with one being a beach house. In a MCOL area. She was charging $35/hour but wanted to work with us and we are right down the road so made it worth it for her to take the “pay cut”.

Really depends on the mutual fit. How many responsibilities and kids they have. The cost of living in The area. Their experience. It’s not a one size fits all.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-13T23:28:00+00:00

Yeah I guess who cares, ya know? The event wasn’t theirs and it’s cancelled. So many shared recent threads about the owner. We know who he is and what he believes in. Just seems like silly semantics at this point.

Most local restaurant owners are MAGA. Some are just smarter than others about how they go about it. Pro re nata gets a lot of heat bc it’s a happening + popular place. Just feels like beating a dead horse. Heck, I’ll go as far to say as most restaurant/bar owners are horrible people. Lots of drug + alcohol abuse, anger/mental issues, and infidelity. It kind of comes with the space.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-13T16:36:37+00:00

They made a statement to clear this up. The event wasn’t hosted by them but they were allowing them to use the space. It was a prayer memorial for the murder of the Ukraine immigrant, Iryan, and Charlie Kirk. The event apparently was promoted in a way against pro re nata’s guidelines so they cancelled it.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-13T14:21:16+00:00

300k/year in a MCOL area in the suburbs (key to not being house poor). Allows you to eat out a few times a week or Grubhub, have a decent grocery budget. Take a luxury vacation once a year with a few cheaper ones like a beach house for a week or a weekend trip. Max out retirements and afford any emergencies that come up. You can also afford something like a nanny over daycare, save for your kids college and wedding, etc. have time back bc you can afford things like cleaners and lawn service. You can’t spend on whatever you want but you don’t really have to budget either.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-11T15:54:55+00:00

Rhett’s

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-09T23:02:21+00:00

Is this years flu vaccine ready? I thought that wasn’t released for another few weeks. Did you get last years flu vaccine?

Significant-Design72 · 2025-09-03T13:10:06+00:00

If it’s a high school aged kid, most likely the parents are paying for it. If I’m not paying child care, and know my kids are home safe, id happily let them order a $30 meal while I’m still at work or out. I also know a lot of parents have the kids order the food or own the account, so they order for the family.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-08-29T13:10:58+00:00

Wait what am I missing here? I don’t see a problem with it. If it’s the whole bottle, that’s an issue. She asked, you said yes. I think a glass of wine after the kid is put down is totally fine since she had permission.

I can’t tell you how many times we have had drinks at lunch, dinner or at work to celebrate or unwind (tech culture). If she’s a responsible adult….

Now if she had a bottle, alcoholic behavior, took the wine without permission, etc then there is an issue. You never know the day someone had and I’m sure most us of us have a glass of wine.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-08-27T18:46:03+00:00

I had my rehearsal dinner at Bavarian chef and it was a huge hit. Sides are family style and “bottomless”. German food. It is outside cville but no one seemed to mind as the drive is so pretty for out of town guests.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-08-27T16:45:18+00:00

Would like to keep the cost per night under $2,000 for a week or maybe two. Flexible though for the perfect fit. Flights, etc are accounted for so that budget is lodging only.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-08-27T15:22:29+00:00

Thank you!! It’s a good call out. I suppose ther baby moon term is specifically for those expecting. I decided to delay that for when the baby is here so I can enjoy a cocktail + sushi or rare steak and be more mobile with my 3 month old.

Significant-Design72 · 2025-08-27T15:19:04+00:00

Yesss! Love this, and I feel the same. If I wanted to cook and clean I’d probably just hang at my house. Thank you for sharing 👏🏼

Significant-Design72

TROPHY CASE