>I have lots of coworkers who do just this. I would wager they are making less than me, yet have a bigger house and better car. Is this real? I can't for the l

>I have lots of coworkers who do just this. I would wager they are making less than me, yet have a bigger house and better car. Is this real? I can't for the life of me figure out if it's a trope or if it's actually the case. We try to keep housing under 20% of budget if possible. I just assume most other folks do as well, I am definitely speaking to the 500k and not the sub 150k housing scenarios since I understand at some point you have to live somewhere. Though I guess that depends too, you can buy a 3-3.5k sq ft brand new house in the top school zones for 500k around here.