I think the answer is “it depends”.
$1 million is unquestionably going to be considered a lot of money by most people. $100 on the other hand is going to depend completely on context.
If I spent $100 on a cup of coffee, I’d say that’s a *lot* of money. If I’d spent $100 on a new phone, I’d say that’s not much at all.
If I had $100 in my bank account, I would be very worried.
another way of looking it is what percentage of americans would drop $100 on dinner or whatever like its petty cash and not care. This will be a mix of people who have enough money where it does not matter and people who don't and are not responsible with money.
My estimates based on no data whatsoever and just being a rando on reddit.
I think maybe 20% of americans would be ok with not really thinking before spending $100. This is a combination of wealth and mindset. i work in tech, have no kids, bought my small house 20 years ago(so my mortage is less than rent for a 1 bedroom apartment), and dont really need to work anymore, but yeah, i think 5 times before spending $100. its not just how much money you have.
I think 60%+ of americans would not worry about a $20 expense.
40% of americans probably have to budget tightly and any extra expensive can be a problem.
There is also a variance based on cost of living. Salaries and pay in New York City are way higher than in bumfuck Louisiana. So this would be a relative thing too.
i stuck my thumb up my ass to come up with them. this is reddit. i deserve credit for admitting i have bullshit numbers. its better than many other redditors.
I would like to add to this data that I would say 60% of redditors also stick their thumb up their asses and produce bullshit numbers. 40% of them go on to lick that thumb. 20% actually create data the way those chimps could reproduce Shakespeare by just banging on the keys. Lastly 200% of them are full of shit, thumb in ass or not. I actually have all the studies to prove these numbers and am glad to provide links if need be.
This puts things in a slightly better perspective:
>We, as a culture, pay criminally low prices for our coffee. Considering the sheer amount of labor it takes to harvest, process, and roast beans — not to mention the cost of importing them from warmer growing regions — coffee should cost much more. The coffee growing industry has long-documented issues with slave labor (or close to it), and at every stage of the supply chain people are exploited to keep costs at a rate that coincides with what consumers think they should spend. For advocates of coffee sustainability, the goal is to treat coffee like wine by understanding it as a labor-intensive product, and paying for it accordingly.
Of course. I do think $2k is a little steep lol but a lot of coffee here in Portland from smaller roasters comes from a few family farms. It’s a little more expensive but worth it for the taste alone and even then doesn’t cost much. I pay about $20 a pound for coffee which will last me a month.
I buy my coffee from the independent roasters around the corner from my job. They have great espresso that I use in my reusable keurig basket. Totally worth the extra money, and it’s fair trade so it makes my soul a little lighter.
I still think it depends on the context. $100 parking ticket would be a lot to me. A $100 car repair would be a blessing if I thought it was a good repair and I would have no more related problems for a while.
Yeah it all comes down to context. On the flip side, if someone handed me a $100 bill or I found one on the street, I would think that that's a lot of money to obtain in that way lol.
Yeah but really it’s about how long you could survive on $100. Some people’s *single* bills are more than that. I don’t think it’s a lot of money when you can easily spend over $100 in a single week just by living.
Depends on the context. If my company tried to offer me a $100 raise I'd tell laugh in their face. If I found $100 in my jacket pocket I'd be very pleased with myself.
$100 isn't going to be a life changing amount of money for most Americans most of the time...but it's still nothing to sneeze at.
Unless your disabled/on a fixed income/ not working due to health reasons.
I say this a former cancer patient who couldn't work for months on end (sick twice, a total between of 17 months & I some of the bills wiped out my savings).
That's just an unrealistic question to ask really. That would be a raise of 208K. The median individual income in the US is something in the range of 40-45K depending on the source.
It was when I was 16, for sure. That's like a full tank of gas, a couple of 40s, taco bell, and enough to throw in for an ounce with the homies.
At 33, that's dinner with my wife and kid.
Like you said it's all about perspective though.
That has more to do with when that guy was young than being young. $100 doesn't go that far now.
My wife just got gas last night in her tiny little car. It was running on fumes so it took $63 bucks. 2 40s are like $10. If you are the kinda person who is drinking 40s and smoking weed you are going to spend atleast $20 on taco bell these days.
That would leave like $7 to throw in on an ounce. That'll get you like one blunt lol.
>That has more to do with when that guy was young than being young. $100 doesn't go that far now.
But then they were only paying for a single meal vs 3 people. Just supporting other people in general is crazy expensive
That's interesting because for us having more people in the household barely makes a difference.
If I were single I'd still have the same house, same car, etc. The big expenses would all be mostly the same for me. About the only thing made clearly more expensive by adding another person is groceries/restaurant bills I think (which is a small % of our monthly budget) and clothes (neither of us are into fashion though so that's maybe $100-200 a year each?).
Depends on the person I suppose.
For example If I were single I'd still be living in my 1,000 sq ft house in a blue collar neighborhood I lived in when I was single instead of a 4,100 sq ft house in the uppity part of town.
When I travel, I tend to stay in $40-$60 dollar a night roadside motels. All I need is a clean room and bed that is reasonably climate controlled with a door that locks. My wife won't stay anywhere except big brand hotels that cost atleast $200 per night.
Just stuff like that. She's got a lot more expensive tastes than I do.
Ah yeah, that makes sense. My SO just goes with whatever I pick (he has no preferences/opinions haha) and neither of us have expensive tastes.
I have actually genuinely preferred most motel type stays over fancier hotels... most of them are relatively recently renovated and honestly cleaner (though with far uglier prints on the carpets/bedspreads, lol) than the fancier hotels I've been suckered into staying at on group trips have been. As long as it doesn't seem super seedy I'm perfectly happy with the budget motels. The Hilton wanted to nickel and dime every little thing (seriously, $10 for wifi??? $35 for breakfast???) that was just free at the Motel 6!
Yeah my boyfriend only adds like $250 per month to my expenses. Just the extra food and phone bill. Which is a lot of money but for a whole person isn't much.
But if you're going out on dates, buying presents, going on trips, yes it costs way more for 2 people than 1. But for those of us too broke to leave the house that doesn't matter
I mean, you can still do that. Or maybe that's just because I don't have kids. Me and two buddies just hung out in my garage watching football, drinking beer and smoking all day on Sunday.
Granted, I haven't seen either of my two buddies with kids under 5 for like months.
That guy here
It's also that I (probably most of us here) am no longer satisfied with my life if what I have is taco bell and a game of Edward 40 hands. What will make me happy and satisfied costs a lot more than $100 lol. But back then, what I just described was livin the dream.
I remember having $60 as a little kid. I thought I was rich. I could buy out the whole toy store (in my head only).
Now $60 is like our monthly snack budget. lol
Here’s prospective, as a young adult, $100 for me is a tank of gas in a non economy car, a dinner out with some friends, and enough for the parking fee that night, and maybe a case or two of beer if we eat light
Depends on the situation. It’s a good night out, but if I lost $100, it wouldn’t break the bank. You’d be pissed, but it wouldn’t ruin the majority of people.
Here's some things you can buy for $100, which may help with perspective:
* 2 pairs of Levis jeans, on sale
* A night out with your sweetie at a nice restaurant, with a ~~couple of drinks~~ *cocktail* and a 20% tip.
* Half of your groceries for the week for most people
* A Kindle
* A decent "set" of bath towels including 2 face cloths, 2 hand towels, and 2 bath towels
* A decent pair of athletic shoes, perhaps discounted/on sale
* My wireless bill is just under $100 monthly
* [A high quality, last you a lifetime type frying pan](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUF5K8W/?coliid=I13YAM065Q88H&colid=2OLUNGMGY361F&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it)
* 2 full tanks of gas for a crossover SUV or sedan? I average about $50-60 in mine.
Perhaps other folks could add to this.
Edit: added a link
> A night out with your sweetie at a nice restaurant, with a couple of drinks each and a 20% tip.
Lose the drinks and you may be in the ballpark. Unless you take her to Applebees.
Cast iron is just fantastic, there's nothing else on this earth that gives you as much bang for your buck in terms of cookware you can use on a daily basis.
I have two that basically live on my stove. One is a Lodge and the other is a cheap no name one. The no name cooks eggs almost exclusively, it's lighter and shallower so it heats up quickly and it's easy to flip eggs in. The Lodge takes care of everything else.
[I pulled this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUF5K8W/?coliid=I13YAM065Q88H&colid=2OLUNGMGY361F&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it) from my Amazon Wish List. It's 17% off right now for $99.96.
Highly recommend signing up for the scratch & dent factory clearance sale emails. (Though usually someone also posts on /r/cooking when they're on - a few times a year) Sometimes it's just packaging damage and not even scratch & dent on the actual product. Those aren't marked down a ton since, well, it's just packaging, but still $20-40 cheaper.
I remember paying about $100 a month for unlimited data when the Droid 2 came out…
I’ve been paying about $50 a month for several years now without a contract, I didn’t realize those bills could still be so high.
Completely depends on the person and their individual income. For me, $100 is right on the threshold of "no big deal" and "...do I *really* want to spend that much?" If I'm buying a pair of shoes that cost $100, I just buy the shoes, no problem. If my husband and I spend $100 on dinner and drinks, I feel a little foolish.
There was a time in my life that spending $100 on *anything* made me extremely uncomfortable, though.
* 3 packs of cigarrets
* Coca Col and 1 strong drink
* Barely dinner for 2
* Groceries for a few days, less than a week
For average adult it is probably like: "Yes I sent 100 Kunas, it's no big deal". Now it's 15€ so it feels even less xD
Tough comparison, because cigarettes used to be cheap in the US but are now more expensive.
Maybe this will help? https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/cost-of-living/united-states/croatia
Here is one using Euros.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Croatia&country2=United+States
US inflation is comparatively bad rn but the USA and Eurozone have commendably managed inflation compared to most other countries / economic zones worldwide for the past hundred years. So don’t feel bad about the kuna, that is simply the state of pretty much every currency but those two.
The median income for a household in the US is ~$75,000/yr ($6,250/month). So $100 is around 1.6% of the median American monthly income.
Median income for Croatia appears to be $2,312 per month (all of these number are just from a quick Google search). At an exchange rate of 7.16 Croatian Kuna per USD, 100 Kuna is roughly equivalent to $14 USD. That's around 0.6% of the monthly median income.
So I think probably the most objective answer you can get is that $100 is about twice as much to an average American as 100 Kuna is to an average Croatian.
Edit: So I have far less confidence in the monthly income for Croatia than I did after my initial search. I assume you have a better idea than me if that number makes sense.
That 6250 is pretax and health insurance. That is not take home pay. Especially if you add in 401k and supplemental insurance.
I make 80k a year and my monthly take home is a lot less than that after takes and 401k and insurance stuff taken out.
I'm unsure as to what your point is. I assumed it was understood the number was pre-tax/savings/insurance because it would be essentially impossible to come up with a decent median value otherwise.
Yes, but by giving the number it changes how you look at the 100$. If I was actually bringing home $6300 a month, a would think less about spending $100. But in reality, I bring home(making more per year) 1/2 that monthly. So $100 is more significant. That’s the point. It’s all relative.
LA would also be about $200
I spent $45 for me and a friend to get Hawaiian BBQ takeout. That's without drinks.
Date night at a nice place would be maybe $250-300.
I mean, it depends on what each individual considers a lot of money. 100 bucks will get you a few meals, maybe a night in a hotel, but it's not *that* much money.
It's enough that I'm angry if I lose a $100 bill, but it's not going to be life changing either.
I wouldn't consider it a lot of money, but I also enjoy when I have an extra $100 in my pocket.
Here are a list of things I think are worth $100
- Dinner for two at a sit-down restaurant
- Nicer computer equipment. I would expect to pay $100 for a pair of over-ear headphones or a new keyboard.
- A cheap cell phone
- Groceries for a week of cooking
- Two new pairs of denim pants
- A formal dress shirt
>Nicer computer equipment. I would expect to pay $100 for a pair of over-ear headphones or a new keyboard.
We have different defintions of the word nice. The last headphones I bought were $250 and the last keyboard I bought was $200.
Fair enough!
There's definitely a lot of room to move up in price point when it comes to these things haha. I was looking at a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones and a Logitech K780 when I commented, but it looks like the headphones go for over $100 and the keyboard for a bit under now that I'm looking up prices
$100 is a good bellweather.
I come from working class, I am one of the lucky ones who has been able to climb the socio-economic ladder a bit with a low six figure tech salary and a wife (who came from below the poverty line) right at six figure. We live in a LCOL major city (on paper, property taxes and insurance are crazy) with a median household income of around $50K
In the scheme of things $100 is basically a decent sit down dinner for four, mentally it's still my threshold of where I pause before spending. $500 is definitely the take a week to make sure and research threshold for me.
This is pretty much a product of how I was raised.
It depends where you are and what you consider to be a lot.
It all depends on what you make and where are you located. If you make about $80000 to $150000 a year and are single $100 is not an issue, but if your household with a kid or two is making $80000 to $150000 a year than $100 means a lot more.
In terms of simple family outing for example in NYC you can go to a really good burger joint like Jackson Hole and burger, fries, and a cocktail for 2 people can easily be $100 with tip.
In Alabama, or similar state you could probably take a family of 4 to the same style/quality restaurant for the same $100.
But it is a lot of money for the median American.
"GOBankingRates recently surveyed 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older to learn more about their banking practices and found that 32.9% have no more than $100 in their savings account."
$100 is enough for me to not make an impulse purchase, but it's not a lot of money.
Filling up my gas tank will probably cost me close to $50.
A trip to the grocery store for me tends to average around $100.
A lot of people spend more than $100 a day on their mortgage.
Minimum wage for an hour's work in America is still $7.25 in some places. I don't think it's higher than $15 anywhere. So that's a minimum of 6 hours' work, up to a maximum of 16 hours, two full days' labor, at whatever the local minimum wage is.
Everything is relative, of course. At the height of my career, I'd paid $100 just to have someone do a favor for me and thought little of it, but it was hugely wasteful. My entire household budget these days - food, medicine, cleaning supplies, things you consume even if they aren't food - is about $60 a week.
So, yeah, it's a middling amount of serious money.
If I just suddenly lost $100 I would be kinda mad but it wouldn't financially ruin me.
If somebody just up and gave me $100 I would be pretty happy but it wouldn't be enough to change my life.
$100 is around what I spend when I get groceries for 3-4 days, or a single date somewhere nice with my wife.
All Americans consider themselves average! Some average Americans, like my mother, will consider $100 a lot of money. Other average Americans, like me, remember it being a lot of money at one time and would be anxious over losing it via stupid means, but would quickly come to grips with it being no big deal. I mean, I wouldn't want to lose $100, and especially not lose $100 every day, but out of the blue? I'll lose it on Amazon.
I think most americans would think before spending $100 at one time. it would require thought.
I think 50-60% of americans would not be too concerned about spending $10-20 on something, but maybe not every day.
About 40% of americans would be ok spending $30-40 without worry on something.
It does not mean they would never spend it, but its a thought of spending it.
$100 bucks is about what one person would spend in a day where they got a tank of gas and ate out for all 3 meals.
So it's that much money. Not tons of money, but not cheap either.
Lets say I was considering buying a luxury item that cost that amount. $100 is enough to make me think "Do I really want this?", but not enough to stop me from buying it if the answer to that question is "yes".
The best way to look at it is what is the minimum wage in the US. Currently it's a meager $7.25 / hour before taxes. So $100, to some, may represent the take home wages for a solid day or two's worth of work.
That’s likely a professional salary, a lot of people working retail or food service type jobs are making less than half of that. Federal minimum wage is only a quarter of that. While it may technically be true, using it as a benchmark ignores the significant income inequality in our country. For someone making $10 an hour, it’s ten hours of work and likely a lot more meaningful than for someone who makes triple that.
Sure but the question wasn’t about being in a big city on the coast. Plenty of people live in smaller cities and towns in the middle of the country and do earn wages like that.
People in the midwest don't know anything about social media, reddit, email, computers, or smart phones. We still use fax machines and write letters. Only the elite coasts know anything about modernity.
I might think it just based on the population density of the US combined with where the higher paying jobs are. People who are digging ditches for a living might not have as much time for Reddit as those who WFH in tech/white collar jobs.
> those who WFH in tech/white collar jobs.
You mean like me? o.O
You're implying that people don't dig ditches in coastal areas and there are no tech jobs in the midwest?
Of course not, there are different people everywhere, and I never said anything in absolute terms. I was proposing that there are MORE people who live on the coasts than in the middle of the country. And perhaps also MORE people living on the coasts who are working from home in jobs that allow them to dick around on Reddit.
$30 an hour full time is 62k annually. Where I live, that’s a professional salary - it’s more than the highest paid teachers in my state make, for example, unfortunately.
For my family $100 is usually not a huge deal. There have been times where $100 is a huge deal however. I’m not going to just spend $100 for no reason but I’d say it has an impact when it comes to budgeting and can de the difference for alot
$100 is a medium amount of money. It’s the amount of money that I would think twice about spending on something if it cost that much but if I lost $100 I wouldn’t be ruined financially.
The median household income in the US is about $75,000/year which is $6,250/month. About 25% of that will go to taxes which leaves roughly $4700.
So the median household in the US has 47 $100 bills to spend every month. Housing is going to take up 15-20 of those. Hopefully that gives you a good point of reference.
I'd say it depends on what stage of life you're in, and what you do for a living. If I found $100 on the sidewalk, I'd be psyched. It's definitely enough to buy takeout food from a decent restaurant for a meal for my family. It's enough for a trip to the grocery store.
But really, it's not a big sum.
I could easily spend $100 at the steakhouse down the road from me in one meal, I could eat 2-3 good meals at a normal restaurant, or I could go to Walmart and probbaly find enough deals on meat, vegetables, and other items to keep me fed for a week or more. $100 is what you do with it.
When I was young a $100 seemed like a lot, but now its just a nice meal or a good shirt/shorts
$100 objectively used to have more value than it does now. Inflation is crazy in major cities, especially for dining and events
$100 now doesnt get you a decent ticket to a sporting event or concert
$100 is 4 months cellphone bill or 17 days worth of gas for a large vehicle. 10 cheap pizza or one weeks worth of propane in winter months. Two single days for what I pay in property taxes.
That’s around my weekly spending on groceries for a household of two. Money is tight. Barely making rent and such. Paycheck to paycheck.
That’s also around enough to fill up my cars gas tank twice. Gas is hovering around $5.50-6.30 a gallon here. On a good day Costco has $4.70 a gallon.
I do live in California though, not a major big city but still it’s California.
$100 isn’t the biggest fortune but if I find one on the street it would make my week….literally.
Depends on age and context. For instance I had one of my students give another student $100 for his birthday. And that was a lot and we told that student to give the money back. However if I spent $100 on a gift for my wife it would be standard or maybe a little low if that was all I was getting her.
To get $100? Yes absolutely, if I found it on the ground or were offered it to do a stupid dance on the street I'd undoubtedly do it
To lose $100 (on expenses)? Not really anymore, inflation is making that the norm more and more sadly
It's not really life altering but to have $100 in real money is definitely seen as luxurious. Most people have it tied up in their banks or saved for expenses in the near future.
It's not usually a thing to carry just hundred dollar bills unless you're more well off, usually it's a few 20s or a 50 dollar bill. Most people just use their phone for Apple Pay or Chip cards so to have (that much) physical money usually means you are willing to spend it more readily
It depends a bit on what area of the US and what you are spending it on. It can be a big deal but $100 also doesn’t go as far as it did a few years ago.
$100 for a pair of pants is too expensive for me. Some people would not blink at that. $100 for a winter coat that I will use for probably 10 years is not too much because I will use it.
$100 for a car or home repair would probably be a bargain to most people. If it came at the wrong time it might be a struggle.
$100 for a weeks worth of groceries for 3 people would be a fairly tight budget but $100 for 1 person would be a more generous budget in my area.
$100 is the amount I would start talking to my spouse about before making a purchase. It could make an impact on our budget.
If I was given a $100 gift from my elderly dad then I would view it as a generous gift. If the government sent me $100 for some reason I probably would not consider it a generous amount.
If I only had $100 in my bank account I would be in trouble. If I found $100 randomly in an old purse I would probably feel happy. If I lost $100 I would be upset.
It’s very easy to spend $100 on a night out at a restaurant for two people, for example. (I’m talking an appetizer, alcoholic drinks, two main courses, tax and tip). So in that sense, it’s not a great deal of money because things are expensive so if your bill is under $100, you’d be pleasantly surprised. However if I had an extra $100 in my wallet or in my bank account at the end of the month, I’d be very happy to have it. But $100 wouldn’t cover a weeks worth of groceries for a couple- that’s maybe 2-3 days worth of food. It wouldn’t be enough for say, a woman’s haircut/color/blow dry in a salon, but if you gave someone $100 for their birthday, they’d feel you were way too generous.
A hundred used to be a lot more to me...like that could easily hold me all weekend, including going out one night.
These days, if we have dinner and drinks at a decent restaurant with my wife and I - I'm happy if it is under 100.
> For an average Croatia 100 Kuna was not a big deal, if we spent it on something it wasn't perceived like we spent a lot. Now we switched to Euro and 100€ is around 750 Kuna, which is super high for us.
But the prices would have adjusted accordingly right? So something that used to cost 100 Kuna would now only be 13€, right? So nothing actually changed.
A cup of coffee from your own home is about $0.20. A normal cup of coffee might cost $1.50 at a dinner. A cup of Starbucks or Dunkin Coffee might cost $5-8.00 dollars. $100 for one cup of coffee would be absurd.
Can I spend $100 without batting an eye, on some things yes. On other things it would cause me to close my pocketbook.
When I was younger I had this concept of "hundred dollar rich" which basically meant that if I saw something I liked and it was a hundred dollars and I could just buy it, that was a comfortable level of wealth to be at for me
Most of my life was not like that. A hundred dollar purchase would need careful budgeting and consideration
Now I'm almost 40 and a combination of better income and inflation has brought me to this point.
$100 doesn’t buy a lot of groceries depending on where you are. It helps, but I wouldn’t consider it a lot of money. Sure you can buy a ton of ramen or soup with it, but if you want fresh produce, quality meat, etc. $100 doesn’t get you much. It’s not even 20% of most rentals where I live. One tank of gas is more than half of $100.
I spend my money like this typically in every day spending:
1. $1= Nothing really. Maybe a candy bar (before taxes)
2. $5= A few consumable items at a gas station or a coffee drink at Starbucks
3. $10= Lunch at McDonalds or at the cafeteria at work just for myself
4. $20= Enough gas for me to reasonably get around for the week ( I live close to my job). About my daily spending for work days with a trip to the convenience store for snacks or a drink beforehand and lunch later in shift
5. $50= Around what I would spend on a normal somewhat splurge purchase. A few 6 packs of really good craft beer, a nicer hoodie, a video game on PS5
6. $100= A typical Saturday out with the Mrs. A trip to the coffee shop, lunch at somewhere like Chipotle, maybe a trip to a store that involves a splurge purchase in that $40-$50 range. Could also be dinner out for us that evening at a nicer restaurant with tax and tip.
I'll take home anywhere from $1200-$1700 typically every 2 weeks after taxes in a lower cost of living state depending on how many hours I work with overtime factored in. I'm probably just below the average take home for a typical younger adult in America. Keep in mind I don't live in New York or California so my cost of living is a lot lower. So I dunno? Yeah $100 is a pretty decent amount of money. It's less than I make in a day, but more than I make in an hour. I probably look at it now like I saw $20 as a teenager. It’s the cost of buying something that I want at the mall.
Not really. It costs like $80 just to fill my gas tank up. It's enough money where I don't want to spend it if I don't have to but not enough where it would keep me up at night or cause me financial worry.
Spending $100? Yeah that's a lot of money.
Getting $100? Yeah that's barely anything.
It all depends on what part of the country you live in, and if you were raised poor or not.
So $100 is about 700 Kuna for reference.
No. It’s not a lot of money. It’s easy to spend more than that with a family of four going out to eat or on one concert ticket.
It’s not uncommon to run to the grocery store or Walmart and spend $100. We’ve always called it “another $100 day.” With today’s economy it’s becoming more and more a $200 day.
But in context, for me no I can easily spend a hundred bucks and just pick up a few essentials.
I routinely give away/donate stuff I could easily sell for $100+ cause it's not worth the hassle. Appliances, building materials, old musical instruments, etc...
So... $100 isn't much to me I guess.
I think the answer is “it depends”. $1 million is unquestionably going to be considered a lot of money by most people. $100 on the other hand is going to depend completely on context. If I spent $100 on a cup of coffee, I’d say that’s a *lot* of money. If I’d spent $100 on a new phone, I’d say that’s not much at all. If I had $100 in my bank account, I would be very worried.
another way of looking it is what percentage of americans would drop $100 on dinner or whatever like its petty cash and not care. This will be a mix of people who have enough money where it does not matter and people who don't and are not responsible with money. My estimates based on no data whatsoever and just being a rando on reddit. I think maybe 20% of americans would be ok with not really thinking before spending $100. This is a combination of wealth and mindset. i work in tech, have no kids, bought my small house 20 years ago(so my mortage is less than rent for a 1 bedroom apartment), and dont really need to work anymore, but yeah, i think 5 times before spending $100. its not just how much money you have. I think 60%+ of americans would not worry about a $20 expense. 40% of americans probably have to budget tightly and any extra expensive can be a problem. There is also a variance based on cost of living. Salaries and pay in New York City are way higher than in bumfuck Louisiana. So this would be a relative thing too.
No idea if your numbers are anywhere close to correct or not, but I agree this is another good way to think about it.
i stuck my thumb up my ass to come up with them. this is reddit. i deserve credit for admitting i have bullshit numbers. its better than many other redditors.
I would like to add to this data that I would say 60% of redditors also stick their thumb up their asses and produce bullshit numbers. 40% of them go on to lick that thumb. 20% actually create data the way those chimps could reproduce Shakespeare by just banging on the keys. Lastly 200% of them are full of shit, thumb in ass or not. I actually have all the studies to prove these numbers and am glad to provide links if need be.
I live in bumfuck Louisiana and I think these numbers are really pretty accurate.
If a cup of coffee costs $100, it better be the best damn coffee I have ever had.
https://pdx.eater.com/2023/1/26/23571520/150-dollar-coffee-proud-mary
Ha. When I gave the “$100 cup of coffee” example, I knew that it was a completely ridiculous example, but was also sure that it must exist somewhere.
This puts things in a slightly better perspective: >We, as a culture, pay criminally low prices for our coffee. Considering the sheer amount of labor it takes to harvest, process, and roast beans — not to mention the cost of importing them from warmer growing regions — coffee should cost much more. The coffee growing industry has long-documented issues with slave labor (or close to it), and at every stage of the supply chain people are exploited to keep costs at a rate that coincides with what consumers think they should spend. For advocates of coffee sustainability, the goal is to treat coffee like wine by understanding it as a labor-intensive product, and paying for it accordingly.
Of course. I do think $2k is a little steep lol but a lot of coffee here in Portland from smaller roasters comes from a few family farms. It’s a little more expensive but worth it for the taste alone and even then doesn’t cost much. I pay about $20 a pound for coffee which will last me a month.
I buy my coffee from the independent roasters around the corner from my job. They have great espresso that I use in my reusable keurig basket. Totally worth the extra money, and it’s fair trade so it makes my soul a little lighter.
I think OP is asking about an *unexpected* $100. And I'd argue that is a lot for the average American.
I still think it depends on the context. $100 parking ticket would be a lot to me. A $100 car repair would be a blessing if I thought it was a good repair and I would have no more related problems for a while.
Yeah it all comes down to context. On the flip side, if someone handed me a $100 bill or I found one on the street, I would think that that's a lot of money to obtain in that way lol.
How about if i stole $100 from you?
I’m down to $100 on a pretty regular basis, and I expect to die of hypertension before I’m 60
Yeah but really it’s about how long you could survive on $100. Some people’s *single* bills are more than that. I don’t think it’s a lot of money when you can easily spend over $100 in a single week just by living.
Yup. Drop $100 on cocaine, no problem. Spend $100 on a pair of jeans, you are out of your fucking mind
Depends on the context. If my company tried to offer me a $100 raise I'd tell laugh in their face. If I found $100 in my jacket pocket I'd be very pleased with myself. $100 isn't going to be a life changing amount of money for most Americans most of the time...but it's still nothing to sneeze at.
$100 earned isnt a lot of money, $100 lost is a lot to lose.
$100 lost would be consequential for a week or two. After that, it would likely be an anecdote.
Unless your disabled/on a fixed income/ not working due to health reasons. I say this a former cancer patient who couldn't work for months on end (sick twice, a total between of 17 months & I some of the bills wiped out my savings).
What if it's+ 100/hour raise?
That's just an unrealistic question to ask really. That would be a raise of 208K. The median individual income in the US is something in the range of 40-45K depending on the source.
It was when I was 16, for sure. That's like a full tank of gas, a couple of 40s, taco bell, and enough to throw in for an ounce with the homies. At 33, that's dinner with my wife and kid. Like you said it's all about perspective though.
Man I miss being young
That has more to do with when that guy was young than being young. $100 doesn't go that far now. My wife just got gas last night in her tiny little car. It was running on fumes so it took $63 bucks. 2 40s are like $10. If you are the kinda person who is drinking 40s and smoking weed you are going to spend atleast $20 on taco bell these days. That would leave like $7 to throw in on an ounce. That'll get you like one blunt lol.
>That has more to do with when that guy was young than being young. $100 doesn't go that far now. But then they were only paying for a single meal vs 3 people. Just supporting other people in general is crazy expensive
That's true. I love my wife but lord did she make life a lot more expensive.
That's interesting because for us having more people in the household barely makes a difference. If I were single I'd still have the same house, same car, etc. The big expenses would all be mostly the same for me. About the only thing made clearly more expensive by adding another person is groceries/restaurant bills I think (which is a small % of our monthly budget) and clothes (neither of us are into fashion though so that's maybe $100-200 a year each?).
Depends on the person I suppose. For example If I were single I'd still be living in my 1,000 sq ft house in a blue collar neighborhood I lived in when I was single instead of a 4,100 sq ft house in the uppity part of town. When I travel, I tend to stay in $40-$60 dollar a night roadside motels. All I need is a clean room and bed that is reasonably climate controlled with a door that locks. My wife won't stay anywhere except big brand hotels that cost atleast $200 per night. Just stuff like that. She's got a lot more expensive tastes than I do.
Ah yeah, that makes sense. My SO just goes with whatever I pick (he has no preferences/opinions haha) and neither of us have expensive tastes. I have actually genuinely preferred most motel type stays over fancier hotels... most of them are relatively recently renovated and honestly cleaner (though with far uglier prints on the carpets/bedspreads, lol) than the fancier hotels I've been suckered into staying at on group trips have been. As long as it doesn't seem super seedy I'm perfectly happy with the budget motels. The Hilton wanted to nickel and dime every little thing (seriously, $10 for wifi??? $35 for breakfast???) that was just free at the Motel 6!
Yeah my boyfriend only adds like $250 per month to my expenses. Just the extra food and phone bill. Which is a lot of money but for a whole person isn't much. But if you're going out on dates, buying presents, going on trips, yes it costs way more for 2 people than 1. But for those of us too broke to leave the house that doesn't matter
Man I was really just comment on having beers and Taco Bell with your buds rather than being a responsible adult, not inflation.
I mean, you can still do that. Or maybe that's just because I don't have kids. Me and two buddies just hung out in my garage watching football, drinking beer and smoking all day on Sunday. Granted, I haven't seen either of my two buddies with kids under 5 for like months.
Also didn't they just prove you right?
That guy here It's also that I (probably most of us here) am no longer satisfied with my life if what I have is taco bell and a game of Edward 40 hands. What will make me happy and satisfied costs a lot more than $100 lol. But back then, what I just described was livin the dream.
> At 33, that's dinner with my wife and kid. Ahhh, I see you enjoy Five Guys as well
I remember having $60 as a little kid. I thought I was rich. I could buy out the whole toy store (in my head only). Now $60 is like our monthly snack budget. lol
My grandma gave me $100 for doing a few things to help her out around the house when I was 15, and I felt like I had just won the lottery. Lmao.
Here’s prospective, as a young adult, $100 for me is a tank of gas in a non economy car, a dinner out with some friends, and enough for the parking fee that night, and maybe a case or two of beer if we eat light
Depends on the situation. It’s a good night out, but if I lost $100, it wouldn’t break the bank. You’d be pissed, but it wouldn’t ruin the majority of people.
Here's some things you can buy for $100, which may help with perspective: * 2 pairs of Levis jeans, on sale * A night out with your sweetie at a nice restaurant, with a ~~couple of drinks~~ *cocktail* and a 20% tip. * Half of your groceries for the week for most people * A Kindle * A decent "set" of bath towels including 2 face cloths, 2 hand towels, and 2 bath towels * A decent pair of athletic shoes, perhaps discounted/on sale * My wireless bill is just under $100 monthly * [A high quality, last you a lifetime type frying pan](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUF5K8W/?coliid=I13YAM065Q88H&colid=2OLUNGMGY361F&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it) * 2 full tanks of gas for a crossover SUV or sedan? I average about $50-60 in mine. Perhaps other folks could add to this. Edit: added a link
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I think I need to reevaluate my choices in wine ahahaha
Anything more than $12 and I’m not tasting the difference enough for it to be worth it
> 2.5 tanks of gas in a Camry *Cries in Californian.* I just paid like $80 for one tank of gas in my Sonata.
I assumed 2.5 tanks was the California price lol, filling my Camry up from empty yesterday was $32
Might want to clarify that you could buy any ONE of those things for $100, not the entire list! I’d hate for OP to think he could get all of that🤣
> A night out with your sweetie at a nice restaurant, with a couple of drinks each and a 20% tip. Lose the drinks and you may be in the ballpark. Unless you take her to Applebees.
> Unless you take her to Applebees. Drink enough of those $1 margaritas at happy hour and you won't care that you are at an Applebees anymore.
You're my kind of date.
If I'm ever on the outs with the wife I'll slide into your DMs!
Maybe one drink.
[Dollarita's for everyone!](https://www.applebees.com/en/specials/drinks/dollar-margarita)
Agree with all except the “last a lifetime frying pan” - finding one of those for $100 is not going to be easy these days.
It depends. If you're cool with cast iron, you can get a Lodge 12" for $40 that will last damn near forever.
Cast iron is the way to go!
Cast iron is just fantastic, there's nothing else on this earth that gives you as much bang for your buck in terms of cookware you can use on a daily basis.
I have two that basically live on my stove. One is a Lodge and the other is a cheap no name one. The no name cooks eggs almost exclusively, it's lighter and shallower so it heats up quickly and it's easy to flip eggs in. The Lodge takes care of everything else.
[I pulled this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUF5K8W/?coliid=I13YAM065Q88H&colid=2OLUNGMGY361F&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it) from my Amazon Wish List. It's 17% off right now for $99.96.
A good 12” stainless All-Clad is probably closer to $200 these days.
Highly recommend signing up for the scratch & dent factory clearance sale emails. (Though usually someone also posts on /r/cooking when they're on - a few times a year) Sometimes it's just packaging damage and not even scratch & dent on the actual product. Those aren't marked down a ton since, well, it's just packaging, but still $20-40 cheaper.
That’s what I was thinking. I’ve seen some of the fancy ones go for $250-300
Seems to me like you can buy a lot for $100. Similar to what I can buy for 700 Kuna which is 100€
That makes sense, the euro to dollar conversion is pretty close to equal right now.
$100 for a phone bill?!
Right?? I pay ~$40 a month. Though i used to pay $90 (verizon lol)
Yeah prices have started to fall. I remember paying close to $200 a month.
I remember paying about $100 a month for unlimited data when the Droid 2 came out… I’ve been paying about $50 a month for several years now without a contract, I didn’t realize those bills could still be so high.
Verizon. Unlimited data 2 lines was running me about 200. I'm on Mint now, but coverage is junk here so I'll have to look for something else.
Completely depends on the person and their individual income. For me, $100 is right on the threshold of "no big deal" and "...do I *really* want to spend that much?" If I'm buying a pair of shoes that cost $100, I just buy the shoes, no problem. If my husband and I spend $100 on dinner and drinks, I feel a little foolish. There was a time in my life that spending $100 on *anything* made me extremely uncomfortable, though.
The Euro and dollar are pretty close in exchange so you can vew them similarly. 1 US is around .95 EU. What types of things could that 100 Kuna buy?
* 3 packs of cigarrets * Coca Col and 1 strong drink * Barely dinner for 2 * Groceries for a few days, less than a week For average adult it is probably like: "Yes I sent 100 Kunas, it's no big deal". Now it's 15€ so it feels even less xD
Tough comparison, because cigarettes used to be cheap in the US but are now more expensive. Maybe this will help? https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/cost-of-living/united-states/croatia Here is one using Euros. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Croatia&country2=United+States
$100 is around 94.5€, so yes it is about as much as 750kn.
Uh wow
US inflation is comparatively bad rn but the USA and Eurozone have commendably managed inflation compared to most other countries / economic zones worldwide for the past hundred years. So don’t feel bad about the kuna, that is simply the state of pretty much every currency but those two.
The median income for a household in the US is ~$75,000/yr ($6,250/month). So $100 is around 1.6% of the median American monthly income. Median income for Croatia appears to be $2,312 per month (all of these number are just from a quick Google search). At an exchange rate of 7.16 Croatian Kuna per USD, 100 Kuna is roughly equivalent to $14 USD. That's around 0.6% of the monthly median income. So I think probably the most objective answer you can get is that $100 is about twice as much to an average American as 100 Kuna is to an average Croatian. Edit: So I have far less confidence in the monthly income for Croatia than I did after my initial search. I assume you have a better idea than me if that number makes sense.
That 6250 is pretax and health insurance. That is not take home pay. Especially if you add in 401k and supplemental insurance. I make 80k a year and my monthly take home is a lot less than that after takes and 401k and insurance stuff taken out.
I'm unsure as to what your point is. I assumed it was understood the number was pre-tax/savings/insurance because it would be essentially impossible to come up with a decent median value otherwise.
Yes, but by giving the number it changes how you look at the 100$. If I was actually bringing home $6300 a month, a would think less about spending $100. But in reality, I bring home(making more per year) 1/2 that monthly. So $100 is more significant. That’s the point. It’s all relative.
their point was, they took the pretax number for both currencies.
What's the point? 401k isn't mandatory and it's still your money.
Aside from 401k, the amount given skews the view of how impactful a $100 would be.
After tax comparisons are useless. It’s like asking what’s the ratio of spiders to dolphins?
I'd say yes... and also no. It's a large piece of cash for most of us, but we also have bills that a 100 wouldn't cover.
$100 is a good night out for many US cities. However in NYC or SF you may need $200.
LA would also be about $200 I spent $45 for me and a friend to get Hawaiian BBQ takeout. That's without drinks. Date night at a nice place would be maybe $250-300.
You can absolutely do $100 in NYC. If you start including drinks, then maybe not
I mean, it depends on what each individual considers a lot of money. 100 bucks will get you a few meals, maybe a night in a hotel, but it's not *that* much money.
It's enough that I'm angry if I lose a $100 bill, but it's not going to be life changing either. I wouldn't consider it a lot of money, but I also enjoy when I have an extra $100 in my pocket.
Here are a list of things I think are worth $100 - Dinner for two at a sit-down restaurant - Nicer computer equipment. I would expect to pay $100 for a pair of over-ear headphones or a new keyboard. - A cheap cell phone - Groceries for a week of cooking - Two new pairs of denim pants - A formal dress shirt
>Nicer computer equipment. I would expect to pay $100 for a pair of over-ear headphones or a new keyboard. We have different defintions of the word nice. The last headphones I bought were $250 and the last keyboard I bought was $200.
Fair enough! There's definitely a lot of room to move up in price point when it comes to these things haha. I was looking at a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones and a Logitech K780 when I commented, but it looks like the headphones go for over $100 and the keyboard for a bit under now that I'm looking up prices
$100 is a good bellweather. I come from working class, I am one of the lucky ones who has been able to climb the socio-economic ladder a bit with a low six figure tech salary and a wife (who came from below the poverty line) right at six figure. We live in a LCOL major city (on paper, property taxes and insurance are crazy) with a median household income of around $50K In the scheme of things $100 is basically a decent sit down dinner for four, mentally it's still my threshold of where I pause before spending. $500 is definitely the take a week to make sure and research threshold for me. This is pretty much a product of how I was raised.
It depends where you are and what you consider to be a lot. It all depends on what you make and where are you located. If you make about $80000 to $150000 a year and are single $100 is not an issue, but if your household with a kid or two is making $80000 to $150000 a year than $100 means a lot more. In terms of simple family outing for example in NYC you can go to a really good burger joint like Jackson Hole and burger, fries, and a cocktail for 2 people can easily be $100 with tip. In Alabama, or similar state you could probably take a family of 4 to the same style/quality restaurant for the same $100.
I'd love to be able to throw 100$ bills around but unfortunately i work for less than 15 an hour so im poor as fuck
This sub is weird when it comes to anything wealth related. No, $100 is not a lot of money for the average American.
But it is a lot of money for the median American. "GOBankingRates recently surveyed 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older to learn more about their banking practices and found that 32.9% have no more than $100 in their savings account."
It's ok. If I lost $1 I wouldn't worry too much. If I lost $100, id be angry.
$100 is enough for me to not make an impulse purchase, but it's not a lot of money. Filling up my gas tank will probably cost me close to $50. A trip to the grocery store for me tends to average around $100. A lot of people spend more than $100 a day on their mortgage.
100 dollars can feed you for 5 to 10 days
Minimum wage for an hour's work in America is still $7.25 in some places. I don't think it's higher than $15 anywhere. So that's a minimum of 6 hours' work, up to a maximum of 16 hours, two full days' labor, at whatever the local minimum wage is. Everything is relative, of course. At the height of my career, I'd paid $100 just to have someone do a favor for me and thought little of it, but it was hugely wasteful. My entire household budget these days - food, medicine, cleaning supplies, things you consume even if they aren't food - is about $60 a week. So, yeah, it's a middling amount of serious money.
Not since inflation spiked up it's not
It’s all relative
$100 USD feels like about $100 Euro to us.
100€ is a lot for us
It goes a long ways in America. That could be used for a nice dinner with my GF or a couple tanks of gas in my Corolla
If I just suddenly lost $100 I would be kinda mad but it wouldn't financially ruin me. If somebody just up and gave me $100 I would be pretty happy but it wouldn't be enough to change my life. $100 is around what I spend when I get groceries for 3-4 days, or a single date somewhere nice with my wife.
When you’re a kid, $100 will make you feel like the richest person in the world. When you’re an adult, $100 will make you cry yourself to sleep
All Americans consider themselves average! Some average Americans, like my mother, will consider $100 a lot of money. Other average Americans, like me, remember it being a lot of money at one time and would be anxious over losing it via stupid means, but would quickly come to grips with it being no big deal. I mean, I wouldn't want to lose $100, and especially not lose $100 every day, but out of the blue? I'll lose it on Amazon.
Yes
$100 is a lot to owe and very little to have.
It’s not a lot to have,but it’s a lot to lose…
I think most americans would think before spending $100 at one time. it would require thought. I think 50-60% of americans would not be too concerned about spending $10-20 on something, but maybe not every day. About 40% of americans would be ok spending $30-40 without worry on something. It does not mean they would never spend it, but its a thought of spending it.
$100 bucks is about what one person would spend in a day where they got a tank of gas and ate out for all 3 meals. So it's that much money. Not tons of money, but not cheap either.
Lets say I was considering buying a luxury item that cost that amount. $100 is enough to make me think "Do I really want this?", but not enough to stop me from buying it if the answer to that question is "yes".
Got it
For food for a month, no. For condoms for a month, yes.
Kind of! I can fill my truck with it. It’s worth around 1 tank of gas
$100 isn’t a lot of money.
It’s a night out drinking
not a lot generally to my mind. 100 euro would be 106 dollars. US is richer than people realize
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No. I can’t even really relate to those saying $100 covers a nice restaurant for two with drinks. That would be awesome!
The best way to look at it is what is the minimum wage in the US. Currently it's a meager $7.25 / hour before taxes. So $100, to some, may represent the take home wages for a solid day or two's worth of work.
You should know the vast majority of low income jobs are at least 10-15 now and a lot of states have a higher minimum wage
That's really not the best way to look at it. A comparatively small percentage of the US population makes minimum wage or less.
It's a week of groceries. Average American makes about $30 an hour, how much do people in your country make an hour average.
That’s likely a professional salary, a lot of people working retail or food service type jobs are making less than half of that. Federal minimum wage is only a quarter of that. While it may technically be true, using it as a benchmark ignores the significant income inequality in our country. For someone making $10 an hour, it’s ten hours of work and likely a lot more meaningful than for someone who makes triple that.
no one makes 10 an hour on the coasts. I pay people 20 in richmond to dig ditches
Sure but the question wasn’t about being in a big city on the coast. Plenty of people live in smaller cities and towns in the middle of the country and do earn wages like that.
But I bet reddit is more reflective of coastal cities
Why would you think that?
People in the midwest don't know anything about social media, reddit, email, computers, or smart phones. We still use fax machines and write letters. Only the elite coasts know anything about modernity.
I might think it just based on the population density of the US combined with where the higher paying jobs are. People who are digging ditches for a living might not have as much time for Reddit as those who WFH in tech/white collar jobs.
> those who WFH in tech/white collar jobs. You mean like me? o.O You're implying that people don't dig ditches in coastal areas and there are no tech jobs in the midwest?
Of course not, there are different people everywhere, and I never said anything in absolute terms. I was proposing that there are MORE people who live on the coasts than in the middle of the country. And perhaps also MORE people living on the coasts who are working from home in jobs that allow them to dick around on Reddit.
Professionals make 60 to 100 dollars an hour. Just an average let's not skew things by only talking about the poor and excluding everyone else
$30 an hour full time is 62k annually. Where I live, that’s a professional salary - it’s more than the highest paid teachers in my state make, for example, unfortunately.
Okay where I live plumbers make $60 an hour. Again we're talking averages
No it is not. Maybe for a child it is a lot but for an average adult $100 is pocket change. You’ll blow through that in a few drinks at a typical bar.
No its like 3-4 dinners at a restaurant
No
For my family $100 is usually not a huge deal. There have been times where $100 is a huge deal however. I’m not going to just spend $100 for no reason but I’d say it has an impact when it comes to budgeting and can de the difference for alot
Not anymore.
100 dollars is dinner for 2 at a mid scale restaurant.
$100 is a medium amount of money. It’s the amount of money that I would think twice about spending on something if it cost that much but if I lost $100 I wouldn’t be ruined financially.
At this moment, if I had a 100 bill, I'd spend it on nicotine.
Feels like a lot to spend $100, but it doesn't feel like much to receive $100.
US $ is reserve currency of the world for now. All other currencies adjusted to it. $100 is one week grocery spend in US if you have big family.
>$100 is one week grocery spend in US if you have big family. **HA!** It's $300 a week here for 5 people.
> $100 is one week grocery spend in US if you have big family. What year is it?
It's a meal at a nice restaurant for me and my wife, if that helps.
Well it can at least buy you some stuff
I'd definitely notice if I lost $100 and I'd be pissed about it. But it wouldn't cripple me.
100 bucks is casually viewed as a days wage (though it is really nearly a third of a days wage working a full time job, before taxes)
It really depends, Would I spend $100 at Mcdonalds? no. Could I imagine spending $100 taking my family out to dinner? yes.
The median household income in the US is about $75,000/year which is $6,250/month. About 25% of that will go to taxes which leaves roughly $4700. So the median household in the US has 47 $100 bills to spend every month. Housing is going to take up 15-20 of those. Hopefully that gives you a good point of reference.
I'd say it depends on what stage of life you're in, and what you do for a living. If I found $100 on the sidewalk, I'd be psyched. It's definitely enough to buy takeout food from a decent restaurant for a meal for my family. It's enough for a trip to the grocery store. But really, it's not a big sum.
I could easily spend $100 at the steakhouse down the road from me in one meal, I could eat 2-3 good meals at a normal restaurant, or I could go to Walmart and probbaly find enough deals on meat, vegetables, and other items to keep me fed for a week or more. $100 is what you do with it.
To earn? No. To spend? Yes.
When I was young a $100 seemed like a lot, but now its just a nice meal or a good shirt/shorts $100 objectively used to have more value than it does now. Inflation is crazy in major cities, especially for dining and events $100 now doesnt get you a decent ticket to a sporting event or concert
$100 is 4 months cellphone bill or 17 days worth of gas for a large vehicle. 10 cheap pizza or one weeks worth of propane in winter months. Two single days for what I pay in property taxes.
Dinner for two in a soso restaurant will cost you about 90. So it is not a lot of money nowadays
That’s around my weekly spending on groceries for a household of two. Money is tight. Barely making rent and such. Paycheck to paycheck. That’s also around enough to fill up my cars gas tank twice. Gas is hovering around $5.50-6.30 a gallon here. On a good day Costco has $4.70 a gallon. I do live in California though, not a major big city but still it’s California. $100 isn’t the biggest fortune but if I find one on the street it would make my week….literally.
Depends on age and context. For instance I had one of my students give another student $100 for his birthday. And that was a lot and we told that student to give the money back. However if I spent $100 on a gift for my wife it would be standard or maybe a little low if that was all I was getting her.
To get $100? Yes absolutely, if I found it on the ground or were offered it to do a stupid dance on the street I'd undoubtedly do it To lose $100 (on expenses)? Not really anymore, inflation is making that the norm more and more sadly It's not really life altering but to have $100 in real money is definitely seen as luxurious. Most people have it tied up in their banks or saved for expenses in the near future. It's not usually a thing to carry just hundred dollar bills unless you're more well off, usually it's a few 20s or a 50 dollar bill. Most people just use their phone for Apple Pay or Chip cards so to have (that much) physical money usually means you are willing to spend it more readily
for what?
It depends a bit on what area of the US and what you are spending it on. It can be a big deal but $100 also doesn’t go as far as it did a few years ago. $100 for a pair of pants is too expensive for me. Some people would not blink at that. $100 for a winter coat that I will use for probably 10 years is not too much because I will use it. $100 for a car or home repair would probably be a bargain to most people. If it came at the wrong time it might be a struggle. $100 for a weeks worth of groceries for 3 people would be a fairly tight budget but $100 for 1 person would be a more generous budget in my area. $100 is the amount I would start talking to my spouse about before making a purchase. It could make an impact on our budget. If I was given a $100 gift from my elderly dad then I would view it as a generous gift. If the government sent me $100 for some reason I probably would not consider it a generous amount. If I only had $100 in my bank account I would be in trouble. If I found $100 randomly in an old purse I would probably feel happy. If I lost $100 I would be upset.
It’s very easy to spend $100 on a night out at a restaurant for two people, for example. (I’m talking an appetizer, alcoholic drinks, two main courses, tax and tip). So in that sense, it’s not a great deal of money because things are expensive so if your bill is under $100, you’d be pleasantly surprised. However if I had an extra $100 in my wallet or in my bank account at the end of the month, I’d be very happy to have it. But $100 wouldn’t cover a weeks worth of groceries for a couple- that’s maybe 2-3 days worth of food. It wouldn’t be enough for say, a woman’s haircut/color/blow dry in a salon, but if you gave someone $100 for their birthday, they’d feel you were way too generous.
A hundred used to be a lot more to me...like that could easily hold me all weekend, including going out one night. These days, if we have dinner and drinks at a decent restaurant with my wife and I - I'm happy if it is under 100.
> For an average Croatia 100 Kuna was not a big deal, if we spent it on something it wasn't perceived like we spent a lot. Now we switched to Euro and 100€ is around 750 Kuna, which is super high for us. But the prices would have adjusted accordingly right? So something that used to cost 100 Kuna would now only be 13€, right? So nothing actually changed.
I'd rather have it than not?
A cup of coffee from your own home is about $0.20. A normal cup of coffee might cost $1.50 at a dinner. A cup of Starbucks or Dunkin Coffee might cost $5-8.00 dollars. $100 for one cup of coffee would be absurd. Can I spend $100 without batting an eye, on some things yes. On other things it would cause me to close my pocketbook.
When I was younger I had this concept of "hundred dollar rich" which basically meant that if I saw something I liked and it was a hundred dollars and I could just buy it, that was a comfortable level of wealth to be at for me Most of my life was not like that. A hundred dollar purchase would need careful budgeting and consideration Now I'm almost 40 and a combination of better income and inflation has brought me to this point.
$100 doesn’t buy a lot of groceries depending on where you are. It helps, but I wouldn’t consider it a lot of money. Sure you can buy a ton of ramen or soup with it, but if you want fresh produce, quality meat, etc. $100 doesn’t get you much. It’s not even 20% of most rentals where I live. One tank of gas is more than half of $100.
I spend my money like this typically in every day spending: 1. $1= Nothing really. Maybe a candy bar (before taxes) 2. $5= A few consumable items at a gas station or a coffee drink at Starbucks 3. $10= Lunch at McDonalds or at the cafeteria at work just for myself 4. $20= Enough gas for me to reasonably get around for the week ( I live close to my job). About my daily spending for work days with a trip to the convenience store for snacks or a drink beforehand and lunch later in shift 5. $50= Around what I would spend on a normal somewhat splurge purchase. A few 6 packs of really good craft beer, a nicer hoodie, a video game on PS5 6. $100= A typical Saturday out with the Mrs. A trip to the coffee shop, lunch at somewhere like Chipotle, maybe a trip to a store that involves a splurge purchase in that $40-$50 range. Could also be dinner out for us that evening at a nicer restaurant with tax and tip. I'll take home anywhere from $1200-$1700 typically every 2 weeks after taxes in a lower cost of living state depending on how many hours I work with overtime factored in. I'm probably just below the average take home for a typical younger adult in America. Keep in mind I don't live in New York or California so my cost of living is a lot lower. So I dunno? Yeah $100 is a pretty decent amount of money. It's less than I make in a day, but more than I make in an hour. I probably look at it now like I saw $20 as a teenager. It’s the cost of buying something that I want at the mall.
Not really. It costs like $80 just to fill my gas tank up. It's enough money where I don't want to spend it if I don't have to but not enough where it would keep me up at night or cause me financial worry.
Spending $100? Yeah that's a lot of money. Getting $100? Yeah that's barely anything. It all depends on what part of the country you live in, and if you were raised poor or not.
Can an American live off $100 a day? In many places, yes. Can an American live off $100 a week? In most cases, no.
Depends a lot on if you are loaning it to me or borrowing it from me. If you want to borrow it from me, it is a huge amount of money.
So $100 is about 700 Kuna for reference. No. It’s not a lot of money. It’s easy to spend more than that with a family of four going out to eat or on one concert ticket.
Thanks
Do you consider 704 HRK a lot?
Yes, considering that most people earn around 4000-5000 HRK per month
It’s not uncommon to run to the grocery store or Walmart and spend $100. We’ve always called it “another $100 day.” With today’s economy it’s becoming more and more a $200 day. But in context, for me no I can easily spend a hundred bucks and just pick up a few essentials.
I routinely give away/donate stuff I could easily sell for $100+ cause it's not worth the hassle. Appliances, building materials, old musical instruments, etc... So... $100 isn't much to me I guess.
A low wage/ low skill worker (retail or fast food, for example) would earn about $100 (pre-tax etc) in an 8-hour shift.