<prompt> Human: My 5yr old small business crashed and burned in December of 2016. I managed to shutter it without taking any hits to my credit, but only had 5500 in 2015 Roth IRA contributions left to my name.Since then I have aggressively saved and invested. Ive maxed out my 2016 and 2017 IRA contributions and put 8k in an emergency fund needs to be at least twelve. I have 800 of 0 interest debt remaining on some medically-necessary dental work.It sounds good and all, but I will need a new used car soon. My 12 year old Civic is slowly dying. The suspension is royally fucked. Gas mileage has plummeted. It smells like oil after my work commute. Speakers are going out and the brand new battery seems weaker than it should be, so theres probably a short somewhere. I do all my own work on it but Im basically at the end of my abilities and know how. Im just crossing my fingers that it will pass inspection later this month. On top of that, my gf of 3 yrs is starting to talk about marriage. About wanting to own a house. Weve begun discussing the possibility of children a few years from now.It just feels like its never going to end. That Ill always be desperate to save more and more. That Ill never be able to buy the things I want. As soon as the EF is up to par Ill have to save for a shittier car than Id like or maybe before then if the catalytic converter is toast. As soon as the car is purchased Ill still need to max my IRA for 2018 before I can start saving for a downpayment on a house, and by then Ill already have to max my IRA again for 2019. At some point Ill have to buy a ring. Shes not interested in a fancyelaborate wedding, but thatll still cost a few thousand. Kids will be costly I dont know that Id want them in the care of my parents due to ideological reasons. How do yall keep going with this? Im not content with living like a hermit. I want to own nice footwear and clothes. I want to buy 100 bottles of bourbon and eat 30lb prosciutto. Do I need to find a higher paying job? Is 27k saved by age 31 better than I think? Because I feel like its not enough. I feel it should be double that. I feel like Im always going to feel like Im behind. Like buying a house is just a pipe dream. I cant even imagine how fucked Id feel if Id taken out loans to finish college. I just want to say fuck saving for the rest of the year. I want to add a zero to my clothing budget and buy a 30k car. Its not even about the Joness. Its about not wanting to perpetually sacrifice for some day and age I may never even reach.  <response>: If you really, really want a 30k car, there is no reason why you shouldnt be able to budget for one. If you want to buy a house, there is no reason why you shouldnt be able to make room in your budget to save for a downpayment. If you want to drink a 100 bottle of bourbon and eat 30lb prosciutto every once in awhile then budget for it. The thing is that you cant have ALL of these things. You have to pick and choose what you want and live within your means. If you find that your means is too small, then the only remaining option is to increase your income. 