[halhen]

Picking a neighborhood where you are relatively well off seems to usefully calibrate those assumptions. Maybe it has to do with status, which is relative.

Earning well and living in a regular middle class neighborhood of teachers, carpenters, and office workers, I don't feel stressed about keeping up with the Joneses I'm surrounded by. I can afford enough relatively (to my surroundings) nice things.

My social circle is not full of wealthy people, so living in a regular middle class area is also not low-status. I also feel like that the kids feel more secure about the things they do and have than they would be if they were always falling behind their friends, doing and having exactly the same stuff.

[looseyesterday]

Yes living below your means is a key to happiness. Too many people end up pushing what they can afford without planning for tougher times.

I think one of the biggest positive impacts on me was my parents deciding to raise me until 16 in a developing country. They had a middle class income, but my country of origin they could afford to put me in the best schools and pay for plenty of out of school activity. That changed my mindset of what was possible. By the time I came back to Europe, I went to a free school, but performed much better than my peers, I believe mostly due to my own expectations for my future.