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Originally Posted by Ustwo
Stop paying for cable, cell phones, internet, cut out the extra-curricular activities for kids, make them get summer jobs, live in a smaller house with one car, cut out most air conditioning, and you too can live in the golden age of the early 70's.
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There's a lot of truth in that, but things aren't the same anymore. There are more demands on education and other social expectations that simply cost more money. For many people, jobs require home Internet access and cell phones. Also, depending on where you work and where you live, you might need two cars to get to work. For example, we live midtown, Baraka_Gurl works in a neighbouring city and I work downtown. For this reason, she drives a car to work and I pay for a metropass to ride public transit.
There are two things at play: Things are more expensive, yet we are wasting a lot of money on needless things (and using high-interest credit to do it). I think you are right to say we could be living much better than we are, but I don't know if we could match the 70s.