<prompt> Human: Im in my late 20s. I make a decent wage at a job that is fairly safe - 60kyr. I will top off just over 100kyr in a few years. I have minimal debt 10k. 7k in savings fund. I rent an apartment, dont have a car, and luckily have minimal other expenses. What gets me is that I dont know how people have enough money to get through a standard American life. I want to get married, have kids, buy a house, put kids through school, etc. But, if I can only save a little bit with my current salary, it seems like Ill never be able to afford all the added expenses of marriage, kids, a car, vacations, home ownership, etc. How do people do it?  <response>: Post your itemized budget and we can help. If you dont have an itemized budget through your own tracking or something automatic like Mint, thats your first step 1. People are surprised at where money leaks.As others have said, most people around cant afford what they buy, but they do it anyway for the same reasons why you are scratching their head. They go in debt and live on credit. 