And it's payday

Apparently I've hit the limit of my retirement contributions for the year (the system I pay into, there's a percentage limit, I guess. At any rate, I'm putting aside ~15% of what I make, that's outside of the annual IRA contribution and other stuff).

But anyway, the nicest of First World Problems: my checking account is well replenished (not that I was in danger of going into debt) and I have a decision: do I chunk some of the money over into Savings (not that I make much interest at all, but having money in savings I don't think about having it because I don't see the balance but once a month, and so I'm not tempted to spend it) OR do I buy something I've been wanting but put off because I had other expenses?

I do the savings-account thing In Case Of Emergencies, which was why the furnace replacement this summer was more an "oh dang" than a real freak-out of "how am I going to swing this?"

But I really want a new digital camera of some kind (No, not a smart phone with a camera, I really am not ready to shift to - and pay for the plan for - a smart phone just yet). Not sure whether to go and spend the couple hundred dollars a good Canon or something would cost, or to just put that money into savings. (I could do both - buy a new camera AND put a smaller amount into savings).

(I will have to look into how one uploads photos from a newer camera. As clunky and awful as the old Mavica is, it had the virtue of using floppies, and I have an external floppy drive at home. I presume most of the new ones use some kind of USB connection?)

I do live frugally, so I have savings. And I also recognize that I make a good bit over the median income in this nation. And I come from a background where attitudes about money and such were those that enable me to see the importance of saving money. (Sometimes I may actually be a bit TOO frugal, I think, considering that inflation is essentially eating my savings slowly, while I dither about spending $300 on a camera)

However, if you look up the average salary of a Full Professor? Well, I make somewhere on the order of 1/3 to 1/2 of that depending on the numbers you use. A lot of those salaries are artificially inflated by people in research posts who have large incomes from grants, royalties from patents and the like - and also from B-schools and Law Schools that pay more. Though it is....interesting.... I have been told here we are in the 6th percentile for salaries for our full professors, as compared to similar institutions.

(Which is why I tend to give a bit of the stink-eye to people who make comments about "overpaid, underworked professors" and seem to be implying I'm one of them)

Of course, our cost of living is also a lot lower than MANY places. I was able to afford to buy my house outright. Granted, it was a bit of a fixer-upper, but not having a mortgage made a big difference.
 
 (But I do think my frugality and the fact that I started out here with a cushion of savings - yes, even as a "broke" graduate student I was able to save money, mainly because I lived with my parents and instead of charging room and board, they said they'd be happy to see me put away money - made a difference there, too.)

 I will admit, about the 6th percentile thing....one of my colleagues claims that means we "should" be making $10,000 more a year. What would I do with that? Well, when I sit down and think that perhaps $3000 to $3500 of that would wind up going to taxes, it sounds less grand. I don't know if I'd have more electronic gadgets or not if my paycheck amount was higher each month. Maybe I'd be more cavalier about ordering expensive books from Folio Society (the one true luxury I indulge in). I don't think I'd buy more yarn or fabric than I do now; I don't use up what I already have and that makes me sad. I wouldn't eat more meals out; my restaurant activity is by necessity circumscribed by health concerns. I don't know that I'd travel more: I work all the time, and honestly? I prefer short-term trips, ideally ones where I can sleep in my own bed at night.

I'd probably give more to charity (I'm fairly generous right now, though when I feel skint I back off on some of the "they probably don't need it as much" ones, like some of the scholarship funds I give to). I'd probably put more away for retirement. But I don't see living any more lavishly than I do....because I'm fundamentally pretty comfortable. There might be a few creature comforts I could add, I'd worry less about cranking up the thermostat in the winter when it's really cold out, or I might buy some slightly-more-luxurious food items than I do now....but I admit I kind of lack imagination and draw a blank when someone starts up the "what would you do if you won the lottery" game.