Jealous, don't laugh.....

[Siv]

It's not really that difficult to save that much. Here in china, I found accommodation is the biggest portion of expense but we're lucky to have it covered from work + transportation. Should we need it, public transportation such as taxi and subway are affordable. Beside working days, we rarely have time to go out, our daily indulgence is only eating out which also is quite affordable. This habit however may change once the baby is here.

Another advantage is there aren't much to buy unlike in US..store display looks attractive, shopping experience is pleasant, lots of bargain, etc.....here there are too many people outside during nice weather, people bump into each other without feeling bad...at the end we would go home feeling worked up. so our weekends are spent mostly on nice lunch, a walk around town or movie here and there. Kind of boring to some people, though.

 

[Siv]

I want to thank you for all of your kind words. I was starting to feel inadequate nad question myself for living below means.

I'm learning how to invest wisely as some of you do and I have far to learn.

 

[kaudrey]

Siv - you sound VERY successful to me!

Ha commented in response to my earlier post that some cultures have different family values, and of course I recognize that. In saying that you shouldn't care what people think, that was intended to be more black and white than things ever are.

My point was this: yes, in the ideal situation your family would praise you for your success and your smart handling of money, but in reality, if this is not happening, then you should try to build up your confidence so that you don't have to rely on something that may not happen in order for you to feel successful and satisfied that you are doing the right thing.

It sounds like there is a long history with these aunts/uncles of them not approving of you. Maybe it's time to either work on fixing those relationships, or not worrying about what they think anymore. Again, things aren't black and white, but you don't want your relationship with them to negatively affect you for your whole life, so some kind of change might be worth working on.