Living within one’s means is what counts. Agree with PerryChase that immigrants seems to know this better. They’d have a 15-year mortgage while driving a 10 year old car, and simply skipped dinning out and latte. One can still live very comfortably without many of the small “luxuries” as referred here by people. Actually, these are luxuries are desirable only because people grow up having them and feel that they can’t live without. In reality, one can live with almost any reasonable income — your compromise may include share homes with roommates, driving a used car, etc, etc. It’s better live this way when you’re young, and hopefully not having to worry about money at all when you’re old. I think that most American middle class kids grow up having experienced too much material abundance that their expectations of necessity are skewed. They should have struggled a little more while they’re young.
