Why is discussing salary such a taboo subject for some people? You might learn some really valuable things in a discussion with others about salary across the industries we all work in. Yes the subject invokes a lot of dick swinging, but there is knowledge to be had from it.
I didn't consider the car splurging. I give myself a "toy allowance" of $1400 a month. I can buy/finance/sell/trade whatever I want (cars trucks motorcycles dirtbikes etc) so long as I don't go over $1400 in monthly payments.
I work in IT (not management), and I'm somewhere around 140k on paper. So then you ask why do I only get $1400 a month for toys and then I'll tell you I have a wife that's a full time student and 5 kids from 5 baby mamas
