There's nothing wrong with wanting a high standard of living....however, you seriously undercut yourself when you act like you are inherently entitled to such a standard of living regardless of other obligations, and your statements about being on the brink of homelessness are laughable. You do not *have* to live in a 3 bedroom house, much less live in one by yourself as it sounds like you do. In fact, if you're living in a house alone, you're spending hundreds of dollars a month (in the form of forgone rent) for the privilege of having such a large amount of space to yourself. Yes, we all need food, clothing, and shelter to survive. That doesn't mean that my food, clothing, and housing expenses are all "survival necessities" regardless of the quality of those items.

Your father's standard of living did not include internet, microwave ovens, big screen TVs, cell phones, and lots of other things that are considered normal parts of the standard of living today. Back then (at least in my father's age) few people had health insurance, and certainly not dental insurance. Most houses did not have dishwashers, and if a family owned a car at all, it was only one, not one for each driver.

All things considered, you probably are living at a higher standard of living than your father did. Considering ONLY the cost of housing is not a true reflection of the standard of living.

Also, a lot of your standard of living is dependent on where you choose to live. You live in a very expensive part of the country. From the generalities you've given, I suspect my income is very close to yours. I live in a $190,000 suburban house ( 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2000 SF, 2 car garage) in an excellent school district, amongst educated neighbors. I support 3 people on my salary, plus pay my mortgage and all other expenses... including health insurance for my kids.

My folks' house was bigger and nicer than mine, but all things considered I think my standard of living is equal to or better than what they had. I would not be able to replicate this standard of living if I were to choose to live where you do.