Reply to Does anyone here live very well on very little?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would say we live very well on relatively little just because we're older (late 40s). First of all, we just feel more secure than we did in our 30s because our 401Ks and home equity have built up and we've had 20 years to save and invest. Second, we have a much better sense of what we want and don't need.

The biggest financial difference is the mortgage. We bought our house in the 1990s before the kids for well under $500k while our new neighbors have to pay closer to $1.5M now.

The spouse loves cars, but I wasn't going to spend $80K for a Tesla. So we got a used 911 for the price of a new Accord and only Porsche aficianados can tell that its 9 years old. It's just as fast and thrilling to drive as a new one. We keep an old SUV in the driveway for when the whole family rides together, but that is pretty seldom.

We are foodies and both love to cook so the eating local and seasonal trend has really brought our food budget down. No money is wasted on tasteless California strawberries or Chilean raspberries in winter. The peaches and blueberries I put away from the summer CSA are tastier and cost next to nothing. We still do lots of dinner parties and you can afford much better wine/cocktails at home than at a restaurant. Loving to cook means we only eat out at great restaurants. When we don't cook, it's never for basic Chinese or Thai delivery or some forgettable restaurant because we're hungry. Going out once a month to a great restaurant like Filo Mare is cheaper than what we used to spend on take-out 3-4x/week. And, we don't order alcohol.

Instead of going to the Mid-Altantic beaches, we share a very rustic up-island rental on Martha's Vineyard with another family for $150/night. The plusher house next door goes to the same stretch of sand for $10k/week. Spending so little on our summer beach vacation means we can go to Paris in the fall, Puerto Rico in winter, or Zion in spring. Our kids have seen the entire world off-season (with self-created school holidays) for what some families spend on Disney.

We see tons of movies (I don't know why more people don't buy the ticket book at E Street for $8/movie) and we're regulars at the Shakespeare Theater ($25 for unsold seats 2 hours before every show). Some people might feel it's a little beneath them to get rush seats, but for me it means no guilt for paying $600 to see Hamilton on Broadway over Thanksgiving.

So yeah, it is possible to live in a nice house in a great neighborhood, drive a Porsche convertible, summer (for 2 weeks) on the Vineyard and vacation globally, enjoy the theater and film, and be treated like regulars at places like Komi on less than a big law partner draw.   [/quote]

Get over yourself.  Its only because you have one foot in the grave, er, are old and bought before the housing boom/bubble.[/quote]

Why be so mean? She admitted these circumstances contribute to why they are doing so well. Everyone's circumstances are different. I think we're trying to see what might be able to contribute to our own success, from what we're reading here.
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