What do you do?

[Xislandgirl]

Lysa- I think a big differentiator in personal wealth is what people inherit
Cheers-

I inherited my mother's sense of humor, I sure wish that would get me a plane ticket

[Bug]

Nothing inherited here either!!

I am an Office Manager for a Chemical company and my hubby manages a Heavy Equipment Rental Store. We, like X, could live in a bigger house and have more "stuff" but instead opt for STJ vacations!!

XOXO
Bug

[Kathyzhere]

Okay I'm another that lives for travel and adventure and not material things. Love my new on the smallish side home and my '98 Camry but I LOVE even more to see the "places"!!
Oh and I am the business office mgr of an endoscopy center-amb surgery and my honey works for Toyota-parts mgr.
Now if we ever win the lottery we ARE buying on STJ...1st thing!

Kathy

[ccasebolt]

Just a couple of geeky engineers here. Given that, we have a definite need to shed the pocket protectors and cut loose - these trips do it for us

No, we don't really wear pocket protectors, but you get my drift...

[sea-nile]

My husband is an engineer. No pocket protectors, but a little anal (OK, a lot anal).
I already told everyone that I am a dietitian.
We aren't rich and there is no inheritance either.
Between his car habit and my STJ habit and college coming up, I hope we don't go broke.

I may be posting threads in the future titled,
"Can I stow away in your luggage?"
"How can I get to STJ in the cheap?"
"Does anyone want to share a cheap villa?"
"What is the cheapest villa on STJ?"
"Does anyone need a babysitter, cook, drink carrier, etc. on their STJ vacation?"

[LysaC]

Wow- it's great to hear from everyone!

I can't say I'm surprised at any of the responses cuz I didn't really have any expectations. But there does seem to be a lot of engineers!

Hubby and I make a decent amout of money but we are by no means rich.

No inheritance here- we both work and put away. No kids but 3dogs+cat keep the checkbook busy. They also earn our housesitter a decent check when we go away!

As one poster mentioned, we have a 70's kitchen and a 50's bathroom dying to be upgraded (luckily the previous owners took very good care of them). Unfortunately, we'd rather spend $ on a good yearly vacation than on our brick patterned orange/green/yellow kitchen floor! It must drive my mom-in-law nuts!

[waterguy]

I'm an manager at the local water utility.
Engineer by trade the job pays for my trips. Used to work all the time when I was in the private sector so now I can play when I want to.

[PA Girl]

The 70's kitchens make me smile because growing up, my parents never would have considered new furniture or cars but we always travelled.

I am very much the same way now.

I forgot to add in my first post of this thread - I am a controller at a construction company.

[chrisn]

I've worked for the same mortgage software company for 12 years now. I love my job and my boss is a generous heart. I have great benefits and just my X-mas bonus alone is almost enough to pay for a trip to STJ every year! I'm not going anywhere!

Honey is a general construction contractor. He works hard and gives us a nice life. We do own a rental home which is 100% cash flow so that has been a good financial boost as well.

[linne]

What about an engineer more? My husband is sales manager, but has a degree in Electric Engineering (like sherban). I myself have been working in the bank sector for many years in different and great jobs. But after some fusions and more and more work, I felt stressed and unhappy, I didn’t have the time to do the job, as I wanted. So I took a big decision, stopped working and started to “realize myself”. That meant that I started to go to school, took a special education as a grown up teacher, ( I like to teach, which for some years was a part of my job in the bank), had some free lance work for a new started firm, had some hours every week teaching refugees, took a high school/college degree, went to fitness 3 times a week etc.. Now we have grandchildren, and I have minimized my doings, I want to have the time to take care of them too. About the economy I must admit that we for about 3 years ago modernised our house totally with new kitchen, new bathroom etc., our furniture is nice, our cars are nice, although mine is 10 years old, and we don’t miss anything. Still we can afford to go on vacation, when we like. How? First, we are not young people anymore, we have lived in the same house for many years, we only have one child, he is MBA, but his education hasn’t cost us anything (in DK the students got money from the government and can supply with very cheap loans). Next, in our daily life we don’t use much money, and our vacations are normally not very expensive. Perhaps we stay a few days in luxury,, but we prefer a simple cottage on the beach and the life as backpackers. It was necessary for us, to do it in that way when we were young, and now we still think it gives us great experiences, experiences we wouldn’t have had on a luxury hotel. Our USVI vacation was different, it was the most expensive we have had ever. Everything was booked from home, so no possibility to find a good offer.

This reply became nearly my life story!

Linne

[canucknyc]

Heh heh - two more engineers here! My husband and I are both civil engineers - him in transportation and me in construction consulting. We've only been to STJ twice so far, but definitely plan more trips!

[Nic in KC]

I am a Renal Social Worker and hubby is a corrections officer (who is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree). No inheritance here. I tell people, if we can figure out a way to afford St. John, so can they. We don't have kids yet so that helps. I'm certain that most of our friends/family just think we charge our travel, but if we use a credit card to book, it's paid off that same month. I am desperately wanting a career change though!

[Chet]

We're both IT types, me with AARP and Mrs Random on contract with HUD. The Capitol Hill basement is rented and the shack in Rehoboth Beach is rented for the summer. We both have the same birthday in October, so we use the rent money to treat each other with a trip to STJ.

[Teddy Salad]

I am also an IT guy (software development and database design/administration). Wife is a dental hygienist. We have no kids, but a dog (that's her in the Avatar) and 3 cats. We drive old cars (a '92 and a '93 that both run great) and our house is scheduled to be paid off in May of '09, so maybe then we'll be able to afford Caneel.

[b-as-u-r]

I'm a legal assistant and handle the real estate sales, purchases and mortgages in the law office. (Although I love my job, I've been thinking it might be time for a career/job change; just something different). My husband is an IT V.P. at an insurance company. We have 2 kids, twins (almost eighteen), two dogs (collies) and one cat. (Oh, and I'm stealing Teddy Salad's dog so make that 3 dogs.) We're in the midst of building a new house, so that's pretty exciting. We have no trust funds, no inheritances and we're planning on doing the same for our children (lol). Ali~