Kids are a major variable. Many financial sacrifices in a family occur to provide opportunity for children. You can live comfortably in the hood only for your kids to get a crappy education, or you move to where schools are better but live paycheck to paycheck? Do you sacrifice and spend the money to send your kid to private school, or pay for expensive tutoring? Many public schools lack music programs, so have you looked at the cost of private music lessons? So many friends of mine in college (Including my wife) told me how their parents took out loans against their homes to pay for their college tuition. Was that a bad financial decision?
People need to stop falling for the corporate propaganda. Everyone's disposable income isn't going toward Teslas, Jordans, and MacBook Pros. No one is an iPhone, or Netflix subscription away from financial ruin. I can't tell you how many times I see people publicly state that Warren Buffett lives frugally, despite him having a personal driver, owning a private jet, and owning multiple multi-million dollar homes. Americans are more productive, but make less money, while the cost of living is skyrocketing. The wealthy want you to scrutinize each other's spending habits, because as long as you do, you aren't scrutinizing theirs.