W2R
Moderator Emeritus
To me, affluent is someone who can spend money (big and small, but not as big as a house) frivelously without giong into debt, and who actually accumulates high quality material possessions. So by my definition, someone with tons of money (in the millions) who lives on the cheap, is not affluent.
Either way, 250K won't cut it.
Hey, even those of us who have a less-than-lavish lifestyle spend frivilously! It's the *amount* that one spends frivously on a low budget is obviously less. I bought a Timex watch in December for $30 and that could be considered frivolous, since my cell phone will tell me what time it is. I bought a Wii game recently, and so on. I buy whatever I want but I am happy with what I have, for the most part.
Still, I agree with what you are saying, but would change it to say,
someone with tons of money (in the millions) who lives on the cheap despite wanting to spend more, is not affluent.