<prompt> Human: 31 yo, married, no kids. Annual income combined is 110k. Wife is a grad student earns 20k, I am a patent agent 90k. Live in very high cost metropolitan area rent.Basically, I never struggle to pay rent or anything, but I do not see how it will be possible to get ahead in life if I keep on the path I am on, unless I stay on it for a long time. My job is stable but I cannot leave the firm I am with very weak academic pedigree, but a good worker who has proven himself and do not have any skills beyond esoteric patent prosecution skills that are only relevant in a law firm environment. So my salary is basically fixed and not going anywhere. I work 60-70 hrswk, so no time to go back to school or learn anything new. Wife has years left on her PhD but at least she is getting paid.We live very very modestly - tiny one bedroom apt. in a bad area like, I saw a guy shooting heroin behind my apt. building a few days ago, bad and dont have much debt only my student loans. We dont have any possessions of any value to sell iphones and decent laptops, an oldish TV setup, but everything else in the apt. is used Ikea furniture and things from craigslist. Recently paid off all our cc debt and final car payment, so we are really only starting to save now, but it seems like it will take forever to own a first home or anything like that. What am I doing wrong?Heres our monthly budget:Rent: 1100 Car Ins.: 130 Student Loans: 350 Groceries: 480 Dining OutActivities: 300 Transit: 190 100 for gasmo.; 90 for her subway pass Pets: 50 Cell Phones: 160 Internet: 30 Netflix: 7 Gym: 75 Other haircuts, etc.: 50 Total: 2950moOther expenses savings per month:401k contribution: 400mo Roth IRA contribution: 400mo Cash savings: 2kmo Assets as of now: 401k: 30k Roth: 6k Savings: 6k Car: low mileage Japanese car in good shape Debts:Student Loan: 40kI can max my 401k and Roth contributions every year going forward at bonus time. Small houses in the area go for about 400k, so I would need 80k for the down payment and would need another 20k in reserve to be safe. On my current path I will be 35 years old before I have this, assuming nothing goes wrong in the interim. We both come from very poor families, so getting a loan from family for a downpayment is not possible. Basically, I see my peers buying large homes, driving better cars, having children and going to Hawaii a few times a year, but I cannot afford these things and do not know what I am doing wrong. My wife and I never go on vacation maybe camp once a year in a national forest or something and dont do anything else lavish, just a dinner out here and there, but eat at home almost every day. I bring a bag lunch from home every day, go weeks without spending anything. Did I just start out too late? How do you get ahead in life without a big windfall somewhere? Or do I need to accept the fact that I will not own a home until I am 35? How can we have children if we cannot afford a home, let alone daycare, etc.? Not trying to be whiny, I know are situation is better than many, but I need some advice.  <response>: 2000 a month is about the price to lease 2 luxury cars, payments on some furniture, and a couple of vacations a year. So you have the money to LOOK like you are doing well. But you are smarter than that.Keep doing this, and when you get to 40, you can walk into a dealer, and pay cash for a luxury car, then drive home to a house that you have equity in. 