As a counterpoint, my family of 3 is living in San Bruno (San Mateo county, on the peninsula) on a budget of $50k[1], and enjoying life immensely. We do without

As a counterpoint, my family of 3 is living in San Bruno (San Mateo county, on the peninsula) on a budget of $50k[1], and enjoying life immensely. We do without a lot of things that other people probably take for granted, but it's by choice, not necessity. And even within that limited budget we can afford some great perks that most of humanity can only dream about, like a reliable car for getting around town and the two trips we took to Europe last year. I don't blame anyone for making different choices -- our lifestyle probably isn't a good fit for many people -- but I do think it's important that everyone realize that life doesn't have to be as expensive as what the median consumer spends in the developed world. Once you know that, you can make a deliberate choice about how much each additional luxury is actually worth to you, taking into account the opportunity cost of spending a dollar now vs having it available later. [1]: This number is not related to my take-home pay, the balance of which is automatically invested and ideally forgotten until retirement. One of the great mysteries of human nature is that the average individual living a perfectly happy life on a salary of X will, upon finding himself earning 1.5X, naturally increase his expenditures to 1.5X as well, and yet find himself no happier than he was when his spending was just X. Don't be the average individual!