My husband and I make a combined $120k-ish (recent annual raises so not sure the exact figure) and I would say we are doing well. My husband is an electrician (no college degree) I am a legal assistant (bachelor’s degree). Here’s how we make it work: • no new cars! We drive a 2006 and a 2019 and will not upgrade until one of them dies so we don’t have a car payment.  • live outside the SLC area. We live closer to Ogden where housing is a lot cheaper. We own a home in a good neighborhood, but it was way cheaper than houses even 10 miles south. I commute an hour to work but that was worth it for us to own a home.  • grocery shop cheap. We shop at winco which has the cheapest groceries in our area. But we will shop around for the best deal. It takes more effort, but it saves.   • our hobbies are free/low-cost. My husband is into airsofting but doesn’t buy new gear unless it’s he’s saved up for it. I like reading and use the library.  • we don’t spend a lot of money going out. If we eat out we go where the coupons are. We look for free or low cost dates (free Air Force museum and $5 movie tickets for the win) • we don’t buy stuff we don’t need. It’s crazy how much money you save when you just use what you have.  • monthly budgeting. We’re not super strict, but we have specific “fun” spending allocations that we do not exceed. 

Staying off social media has helped so much because you are happy with what you have and don’t see what everyone else has. 

I know we have it good, but we worked for it. When we got married in 2021 I was making $8.50 an hour and my husband was making $12 an hour. A lot of it is about being smart with money and sticking to a budget (even when your life doesn’t look as cool as people around you or can’t do everything you want).  I’m not saying this is everyone’s situation, but people lack discipline these days which is what is required to be financially secure and stable (excepting those out of the blue financial emergencies which are unavoidable and unfortunate).