I used to make low 6 figures. Work owned me. I had to be reachable nights, weekends, holidays, vacations. 50 hour weeks were slow weeks. I finally walked away. Money is no good if you don't have time to enjoy it. I make half of what I used to make but am much happier. I actually get to spend time with my wife, hobbies, and friends.

I thought making >100,000 would be awesome but I'm just living paycheck to paycheck.

I love not having kids. I'm happy I have a small dog.

Couple of observations. I am the sole earner in our house. I am fortunate that I make about $140k and we live suburban Texas. In our family of 4 our basic expenses are as follows.

Mortgage is $2100/ month

Homeowners insurance $400/ month

Property tax $200/month

Car insurance $185/month

Electricity $250/month (average)

Natural gas $40/month

Water+trash $200/month

Internet $90/month

Streaming (disney/netflix/audible) $45/month

Groceries $400-600/month

Gas $200/month

Toll roads $50-100/month

Cell phone $200/month

Coffee once a week $40/month

Date night food (once a week) $500/month

Fucking health insurance for the family is $750/month (my contribution, my employer pays the majority)

Roughly $6250/month give or take.

We don't have consumer debt, no car notes, no child care (stay at home parent cares for the kids) no daycare, and no paid child activities.

That is just our fixed expenses, something always comes up so obviously there is more but its inconsistent.

My car is a 2019 wrx that was $30k we paid it off last year but the note on that was $470/month. I couldn't get that car for that price today.

We have an older suv for my partner and I have an old pickup that sits unused unless we need to make a hardware run, those vehicles are paid for, no loans and have been for 10+ years.

Our last house was purchased for $191k in 2016 and we sold it for $295k this past year.

Our insurance went from $1200/year to $4800 per year on that house before we sold it. Similar thing with property taxes.

Unless you have managed a 10% return or salary increase, your money doesn't go as far as it used to.

I am happy to pay my fair share of taxes. For what I am paid, I feel like its reasonable to contribute more in taxes based on my earnings, but as a result, my take home is obviously not $140k. So when you figure fixed expenses are ~$75k, plus my 401k contributions, savings for my kids college fund, and incidentals for stuff like car tires, birthdays, christmas, house repairs, medical expenses, etc, its relatively easy to eat up the remainder of that pool.

I make low six figures, definitely not in survival mode. I’m probably abnormal, as I grew up with money insecurity, and had to file bankruptcy in the early 2010s.

When my income started going up, after a certain point I just started living like it didn’t. I save 30-40% of my pay every month. I’m not cheap, but I’m frugal and willing to wait for sales on stuff if it’s not something I need right this moment.

I have well over a year of expenses in a HYSA.

I bought my last car in 2020 for 24k USD fora new previous year model that was still on the lot and paid 1/3rd cash up front with a zero interest deal financing to keep the monthly cost down.

Paid off all my debts, student loans, everything but the mortgage. And since I work remotely and am an introvert, my wife and I moved to the rurals and got a mortgage for half of what it would be in our previous city. I will likely have it paid off in 2-3 years, maybe 6-7 years into a 30 year mortgage.

Living on six figures had not been all that difficult. I don’t even really think about money anymore and it’s a weight off me. It’s living on six figures while keeping up with the Joneses, celebrity influencers, and advertisers, going into massive debt for sake of appearances and potentially invoking the envy of others to prove you’re somehow better or you’ve “made it” and “deserve it” … that’s hard.

So those under this figure are ‘Walking Dead’?

I know. I'm one of them.

Americans with six figure incomes are not the enemy. We need them on our side in the fight against the Americans with eight, nine, and higher figure incomes

My sister, who earns several times the average income of the city she lives in:

• constantly complains about taxes. She says she wants to pay, believe it or not, zero taxes, because "what is she getting in return for that money anyway? Nothing"
• complains about how she "has to" work "four jobs" (she means 4 clients) then she casually drops something like "I saved up enough to buy two apartments. I want to buy and rent and quit my job". She sees herself as someone who HAS TO work multiple jobs for rent and food
• she constantly complains about how poor people "pay less taxes" than her and absolutely hates anyone who works a low-income job as if they're "dirty" or something. I assume if "no taxes" is her wet dream, then "everyone pays the exact same amount regardless of their income" is something she'd be ok with
• this is happening in the EU, with free healthcare and all that, so she's getting plenty out of the taxes she pays (or would, if she didn't insist on using overpriced private clinics instead and hell knows what other "rich people" alternatives)

She's not poor. She's practically a one percenter. She's just upset it's a lot of effort saving up to buy property to turn her favorite hobby of "fucking the poor" into a job by becoming a "professional landlord". I don't need Trump. I have Trump at home.

Most rich people I've met are disconnected assholes... I'm sure some are cool, and where I'm at they tend to vote liberal (but not progressive), but goddamn I have not a thing to share or discuss with them. Bless'em and may I never wait on them or paint their house or be their nurse or anything like that, cause I'm not putting up with their attitude.

Sorry if I sound like a dick. Just blowing off steam.

I live on benefits, about $1,200 a month, and have the good fortune to only be obligated to pay for internet, fuel, some services like VPN+Email+Anti-virus, and food. For most of the past decade I was able to squirrel away about $200 to $300 a month into an ABLE account, but the last few years that has become increasingly difficult. In fact, I don't think that I saved any money at all for this year.

My game 'plan' was to just let my ABLE collect interest and use that for my annual computer after a new AMD socket has been released, buying the best endgame gear for the prior standard. I spend most of my time on my PC, so I figure a expensive computer would be my 'big ticket' item every decade. Never once I have had a vacation to see new things or do stuff beyond the house, because it felt incredibly wasteful for my situation. I would have to cut more of my food budget if I want to save up for the next PC in 2030. This assumes that things like buying new tires doesn't come up, or medical issues.

I don't feel good about the future. My circle of possibilities shrinks every year.

If they're on survival mode, I'm on Hardcore Ironman mode.

We already cracked. We're all in the biggest ever bubble pop, we just don't know it yet.

More than half of six-figure earners said they would have to double their income to feel financially secure. 

“People used to feel when you got to six figures or above that it was a sign of financial stability,” said Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer and futurist at The Harris Poll.

Mr. Rodney is full of shit, whether he knows it or not. There was a study done on the psychology of earning more money than you need to live. There's an interesting phenomenon that arises; people always think they need more to feel secure. $100k feels they need $150k, $400k needs $600k, and this pattern continues all the way up to $15m, on average. I wouldn't be surprised if the peak is even higher nowadays, the study was conducted in the early 2000's I think. I will come back and edit this with more details of said study so I'm not just talking out my ass.

I don't know how people are getting by. Average household income in the US is like $121k/year. I would be in trouble if that was my household income and I don't know how people are affording groceries making $60.5k each.

"Survival mode" was basically my family's first few years as new immigrants before we managed to move on from that stage. I don't think we even had "6-figures", far from it.

Now the entirety of America get to experience what is it like to be an immigrant lol.

Still remember in Brooklyn, I was in elementary school. I was in an afterschool program than ran until 6PM, I was just waiting, as the clock ticking... minute and minute goes by, other kids get picked up from school. Until there are only a few kids left, then someone enters the cafeteria where us kids were waiting, I thought is that mom?, but it was someone elses parent... this goes on and on... until I was the only one left. But my mom still hasn't come. 6:30PM. I was so afraid CPS was gonna get involved. Authorities were terrifying for me as a kid. I mean, who knows, immigration status could've been at risk. This scene repeats itself very often.

Mom had work until very late, so get picked up very late. Not always the last one, but always very late, the last few, but then there are days where I get very ublocky and end up being the last one to get picked up.

I get so anxious and scared and felt so alone, until my mother shows up.

You can guess why I eventually end up with depression.

This was some years ago - even before the first Trump presidency - I read a perfectly reasonable sounding piece from someone about how he's struggling as a dual-income family making $400,000 a year. There's the mortgage for the house and the summer home and the vacation condo and the kids' tuitions at prestigious schools and family vacations and the 401ks and the kids' college tuition funds and how there was NOTHING LEFT after the bare necessities!