12.
“I stopped comparing myself to friends and coworkers. Once I started making decent money, I got caught in this trap for a couple of years. Everyone my age, or with whom I worked, seemed to live a better life than me — they had more expensive homes, newer cars, or went out to eat at restaurants every day for lunch. I kept thinking I needed to catch up and keep up.”
“I figured out that many of them were making these decisions against their best financial interests. Example: The coworker who spent three times as much money on his house was spending more than he earned, quickly building up credit card debt, had no savings for a rainy day, and wasn’t saving for retirement.
I also realized that spending three times as much money on a house doesn’t get you three times as much day-to-day value. There are diminishing returns. The right balance for me will probably change with time and with my income, but I probably wouldn’t get much more joy out of living in a bigger or fancier home.”
