[zeku]

This is a great point. I'm American and my girlfriend and I make close to the same amount of money. We have recently decided to live(buy a home etc.) off of just one salary and completely invest the other salary because the penalty for getting sick and losing your job in the USA is so high that we don't feel comfortable spending most of both salaries.

ALSO, this is only possible because we each make 150% of the median household income in our city. Our country is awful for the average person, it really really is.

Oh yeah forgot to mention the combined $90,000 in debt we have in student loans(so we can get these jobs) and car payments(so we can drive and exist in society).

It's just such a stupid way to organize a society...

To drive this point back to the conversation at hand--these American pressures are what drive the mindset that dominates most of any English speaking dev forum.