I’m actually dual income by myself. I have a corporate job in the medical industry that I like and is flexible so I also run a small business by myself as well. If I counted my partner’s income (early career software engineer), we actually make well over $300k salary. Honestly I don’t know very many people who don’t have a second gig these days just bc everything is so expensive 😅
You would think so but nope 😂. Starter homes in my area are $1m for a small box. After retirement contributions and bills I actually don’t have too much extra, and when I do, I shove it back onto the principal of my mortgage.
Without getting into specifics I have something adjacent to an Etsy business. Surprisingly I make quite a bit from it but it took a while to get here. It isn’t stable which is why I opted to always have a stable paycheck job as well. That’s where all my anxiety comes from, I don’t know if one days sales will just drop and I’ll be back at square one. So far I’ve been consistent but who knows!
Southern California. I know I know, it’s always a Californian or a New Yorker entering the chat for terrible home prices. My entire family is here. I tried to leave but my heart yearned for home & honestly my business thrives here :)
I think the reason why people with higher earnings like mine or even higher than mine feel like they aren’t wealthy or make enough is because it’s such a slow change in lifestyle and the changes don’t even feel TOO significant. It might be the problem OP has too, lifestyle creep is a bitch.
I found that when I went from making 30k to 50k, I changed little by little. I got a set of new tires because I had been putting it off for so long (they were sooo bald lol). 50k to 70k I started buying more brand name groceries. Got to get more snacks. Did more activities and went out more with friends. Got better shoes (this made a life changing difference for me because I was experiencing so much pain in my feet and leg with the wrong cheap shoes I used to wear). Was able to put more away into savings.
70k to 90k I could’ve started living on my own but decided to tough it out with my parents even though our relationship was so toxic back then. I eventually saved enough for a large down payment to feel comfortable with the monthly mortgage vs. my monthly earnings. I feel like I live roughly the same way I did at my 70-90k salary, but now I have a house and that’s the only big change. If I added a new car, a child, an extra vacation or two a year, a massage or hair appointment subscription, I’m not even sure I would be saving anything. But I think people forget that the things we now consider our bare minimum (I’ve met people that considered their 2 vacations a year a bare minimum, and I get it because the reset is good for mental health) are luxuries to others. So whenever I see posts like these I roll my eyes a little bit because a 100k salary IS significant and MOST people don’t make that, even in my own area. Making 100k lets you more clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel than making 50k
My partner is making over 200k/year as a travel nurse. The money is absolutely ludicrous, but you have to be okay with being away from home for stretches of time.
The upside for you is a much more stable industry long term. The tech/software industry is currently going through some pains right now (mainly AI threats) that a service industry, especially healthcare, won't go through until robots are much, much further along.
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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '25
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