[beej71]

+1 for frugality. I also own my home with a small mortgage, so I don't worry about rents increasing. I just got a job again after taking a break over a year ago... But I could have floated for years. I spent a lot of my career as a contractor, so I did a lot of cheap living and a lot of saving for a rainy day. After a while, it became habit.

I drive a 22-year-old car that gets 37 MPG. I ride my bicycle whenever I can. My home is 1100 sqft on a 5000-ft lot.

I can see prices that have gone up, but that hasn't impacted my buying habits. (One exception is international air travel... Scott's Cheap Flights helps there if you're flexible, but prices to where we want to go are still up 200%.)