For those of you who have never lived in CA, this looks very normal.
You live and work to pay your bills.
Zillow shows my house in South OC at $920,000. Three bedroom - 1 1/2 bath two car garage. My utilities run about $310 per month including trash pickup. HOA and Lake Dues are about $175 a month. No cable, but maybe $120 a month in streaming services.
We have no kids but I wish my wife and I made half what this couple is pulling down.
We live in NYS, which is second to CA.
We don’t live like that.
We went Galt before it was fashionable.
“For those of you who have never lived in CA, this looks very normal.
You live and work to pay your bills.”
But these people aren’t “normal” in any way, even by CA standards. Paying $15 for a delivered bagel EVERY day, $25 for tuna sandwiches, $100s for multiple entertainment providers. Those bills aren’t necessary to live.
You actually have to make effort to be as stupid as these people are.
We lived in SoCal for many years and made a decent living — not as much as these people make, though.
At the beginning we had cars that we paid off, and then drove for 5-8 more years. SAVED THAT MONEY. Since the mid-’90s have paid cash for cars. (Still drive them for 10-12 years before buying a newer used car.)
At the beginning we had a mortgage on a condo, and made some double payments on the principle a few times a year. Paid it off. SAVED THAT MONEY. Since the mid-’90s have paid cash for very nice, sometimes new, homes.
Took advantage of every workplace savings plan including HSAs.
We were DINKs. Didn’t eat out. Modest grocery bills. “Vacations” were a few weekends up in Cambria or Morro Bay. Took our lunches to work. SAVED OUR MONEY, but financially helped my parents (poor country preacher) at times, and still help Mom.
Now we’re able to enjoy our retirement and not worry about money. Cruises. Eat out when we want to. (How long that will last with RATs running the show, I don’t know.)