I'm more practical than materialistic. There is nothing wrong with either; if ya got the money spend it.
My home is very practical and I live in an area of the Midwest that has the lowest housing prices in the country. I've got a 4br, 2bath, 1400 sq ft home that my wife and I paid $30,000 for (not a typo- thirty grand) about 3 years ago. Our mortgage is $197 a month. Our most expensive vehicle was my Blazer for $8600. At the time I could have afforded a $20,000 vehicle, but I went with a cheaper one since vehicles aren't investments, they are money pits. My Honda I got for free. My wife's Explorer we pay about $118 a month. Why spend more money than you have to?
Takehome income (net after taxes) is about $2,600 a month both incomes combined. If we didn't have CC payments or my student loan payments, we'd live very, very comfortable. Even with the above debt, we still do pretty well. We have a few thousand in savings for emergency use only, then a separate savings for things we want.
We are working on paying off our debt then investing in something that will make more money (my business). Slowly upgrading things as needed without rupturing financial stability is our goal. Family first, fun second.
I don't get bummed out too much about the luxury stuff on here once I think of the overhead and maintenance required. To me, it's just not practical, but I'm below working class so I've never been in a situation to appreciate the finer material things in life. I'm a Honda car and Timex watch kind of guy.
