Anonymous wrote:we live below our means but still spend a ton of $

+1. Spending has increased over time, consistent with our income and savings, but we’ve always “lived below our means.”

We live below our means in that our income is $500K plus a ~100K bonus and our mortage is $4K/month for a modest house, one old car and two kids in public school. But we do spend on travel, theater (here and in NYC), concerts etc. But we easily save about $80K/year not including maxing two 401Ks and already having college funded. Our income increased dramatically about 7 years ago and we just never really adjusted our spending that much. Although now we are thinking about buying a second house since we can work from anywhere in the summer and hate the DC heat. If we do that we won't be living below our means quite as much.

We live way below our means. 7% of income spent on housing inside of the beltway. We save 50% of our income after contributions to retirement. Max out our retirement.

When a boss is a jerk, we have no qualms with quitting or chillin' for a year. Life is grand.

Me

You won't find many people saying "no" in this forum

We do but not because we want to. House paid, cars paid, no credit card debt, retirement well funded.
Our kids and other family need help so we stopped all unnecessary spending. Unfortunately the others haven't and we are expected to bridge that gap. We are 3 years into helping and are just plain tired but where there is a need we have to help.
No one cares about our bottom line as long as they get what they want.
We're too old for this shit. LAUNCH ALREADY !
My advice, SAVE SAVE SAVE because a rainy day fund is better than having fancy anything.

Yes, we make over 400k and save over half, townhouse is paid off.

We do, but we are wealthy so there is no huge sacrifice.

I used to. Currently (two kids in daycare), I just about break even. It’s good to have the savings cushion from before.

I used to. I live within my means now, but something changed me in recent years. Not sure if it’s covid or old age or what.

I no longer have any desire to die with a huge pot of money. My boomer parents have always lived frugally and I will inherit millions most likely. I think they are foolish for not having enjoyed life more.

I now don’t blink going on luxury vacations, my new and safe SUV, American made interior designed house etc.

Granted my husband and me are relatively high earners with not too large of a mortgage. Together we put around $90k into 401ks each year (includes match) and my husband receives another $80-100k in stock awards. We try to invest another $20k. So that’s around $200k going into the market each year plus home equity. I spend the rest of it enjoying life. Frequent babysitters, luxury hotels, designer clothing etc.

We have a high HHI (I make 180k and DH makes close to 600k). We live on my salary alone and save the rest. We have occasionally splurged but we manage to save and invest above 300k a year. We still clean our own house, renovate and fix things around the house as needed (including major renovations like entire bathrooms), keep kids in public schools, and do our own finances (including DH's business taxes). We both love learning new things so doing things like researching tax laws have been fun hobbies.

Anonymous wrote:We live below our means. DH makes 350K, I am SAHM, and we live very well on 150K.

We have NOT had the following costs - student debt (scholarships), childcare cost (parental help and then I became a SAHM), high mortgage (cheaper area, bought at bottom of the market and refinanced at historically lowest mortgage rate), private schools (kids went to public competitive magnets), college costs (kids went on generous merit to in-state flagships). We are wonderfully funded for retirement and have a generous pension plan, no debt, lots of insurance, good medical coverage and by and large a comfortable life. We do the occasional splurges - remodeling, new cars, foreign vacations, cleaners, eating out, travelling, tutors and EC activities for kids... but we are living far below our means.

I have to add - we decided to not keep pets like dogs or cats because I did not want to take care of them. Seeing the amount of money that our friends and relatives spend on dog and cat ownership is insane. I will say that not having the cost of pet ownership, or now owning a second home, a horse, a boat or a plane - has also helped us to live below our means. Also, we do not buy expensive designer clothes, accessories or get expensive spa or beauty treatments. We do spend on getting the best dental care though.

We live below our means. DH makes 350K, I am SAHM, and we live very well on 150K.

We have NOT had the following costs - student debt (scholarships), childcare cost (parental help and then I became a SAHM), high mortgage (cheaper area, bought at bottom of the market and refinanced at historically lowest mortgage rate), private schools (kids went to public competitive magnets), college costs (kids went on generous merit to in-state flagships). We are wonderfully funded for retirement and have a generous pension plan, no debt, lots of insurance, good medical coverage and by and large a comfortable life. We do the occasional splurges - remodeling, new cars, foreign vacations, cleaners, eating out, travelling, tutors and EC activities for kids... but we are living far below our means.

Most of the items listed as avoided spending in this thread are so insignificant - eating out at lunch, coffee, the occasional fashion splurge, etc. These things don't make or break the finances of someone who is making bank. Neither is buying a luxury car if you stick with a car for 3 years and limit the purchase price to about 2 months of gross monthly income. You'll end up getting maybe 50% of the car on resale and end up spending one monthly gross income to drive the car for 3 years - again not a huge deal. Similarly, homeownership with an expense ratio of 28% to gross income is perfectly comfortable.

Where people get in trouble most often is truly frivolous spending - paying money for things they don't derive an adequate level of utility out of. Owning multiple expensive suits that they wear a few times a year; home renovations with exotic fixtures and materials; excessive fine dining; excessive travel experiences; owning a boat; getting married for the wrong reason or to the wrong person; etc.

It is hard when everything is expensive now