If my income increased dramatically, I would tend to put a big chunk in a nest egg, but I would also do some home renovations, hire a cleaning person, and buy some really good Hamilton seats.
Hahaha # 55, nope, my happiness has increased.
As I said, I didn’t buy a nicer house. But I did add an addition to this over 100 year old one. I’m sitting in it right now across from the fireplace. I love this place. I sit here and read, watch movies and enjoy the fire and look out the sky lights.
My nicer cars give me happiness because the leather seats are heated and I can remotely start the car. Since I live in an area with long cold winters, getting into a already heated car with heated seats is wonderful. I do not have an attached garage. I have a one car detached garage that is too full of stuff to actually put a car in.
And yes, staying in a nicer hotel or resort makes a world of difference to me. I love to camp and am not bothered sleeping in my tent on the ground. But I hate a hotel with stained carpets and a feeling of major use. So yes, they really are that different.
I truly believe " The best things in life aren’t things." But the experiences that make life good can be improved for sure.
And since I knew there would be people like you, I posted # 52.
Do you drive a Subaru? Does your master bedroom have a bathroom? Mine does not. Do you have a two car attached garage? I don’t .
Our income went up in the past year and we are spending it. We have never been extremely frugal but we have always been very careful. We have spent little on vacations, next to nothing on our house, and have invested and saved a lot over the years. We buy the bottom trim level of cars. We’re approaching our retirement saving goals and saving more money doesn’t make a significant difference at this point compared to growth of our investments so I actually cut back my retirement savings and save only what my employer will match. We have a long list of things we would like to do to the house, and lots of travel to make up for. I live in fear of the kids deciding to go to grad school!
After-tax income, maybe. Or are you claiming you are living on 10% of your gross income, assuming around 30% in payroll and income taxes?
You don’t mean “marginal tax rate”.
DW is self-employed. We are in the 35% AMT exclusion phaseout bracket, and pay 5.1% in state income tax. That means every extra $1000 she makes costs us $350 in federal income tax, $125 in FICA (some of it is deductible so the total isn’t 15.2%), $9 in Obamacare tax, and $51 in state tax, for a total of $535, or a 53.5% marginal tax rate. We don’t make enough for the itemized deduction and personal exemption phaseouts to kick in, or that would add a few more % to the marginal rate.
Our income didn’t double overnight per the original premise, but over the last 3-4 years it went up a lot as DW has ramped up her business. We put a lot of it into retirement savings, a lot into debt reduction, and a crap-ton into taxes. With what’s left we put some in the bank, and took a couple of pretty nice vacations. Still have the same house and the same cars. Eat out/take out more since DW works a lot more hours than she used to.
I definitely agree with this. No matter how much my income increases, I will never say anything but that!
There is also the thought that no matter how much you make or have, it can all go away in an instant, in so many different ways.
Ahhhh! Can’t win for losing. I guess I never won enough to pay taxes on. 
I’m curious as to whether others have experienced financial disasters: e.g., long-term unemployment, catastrophic illness or injury, an extended legal battle requiring payment of attorney fees. I’ve gone through the first (with my now ex-husband), and it has affected, probably irrevocably, how I feel about money. I scrimp (on myself) and save because I’m terrified about being without money. That’s why I’d save as much as I could from a big increase in my income.
I’m definitely not interested in a debate on who can qualify as the most frugal. I will point out that some of what you like, such as heated seats and remote start can be found, on relatively cheaper vehicles, such as a new Honda Civic. On hotels, there’s been news articles of where they took a black-light to hotel rooms. Even at some of the 5-star $600/night places, you almost want to bring your own bedding and avoid the other furniture.
@rosered55, no full on disasters for us, but my husband was building his business, and at the peak of the recession we had an entire year with no income. Thankfully we had been living well within our means and weathered that year fine. The only other thing we dealt with was a lawsuit (business related) that we had to settle for many thousands. Self-employment has its risks. Now, would we have put all that lost income into retirement or college savings? Back to the original question.
I never mentioned what car I own. Why do you assume it is not a Honda Civic?
And you did not answer my questions.
@rosered55 I think that is a very understandable and normal response to a financial disaster. Look at our grandparents and even parents who witnessed and lived through the Great Depression. A lot of the frugality of that generation is a result of those hardships.
I’m not sure what the point of those questions was. If you want to prove you’re more frugal than I am, I’ll declare you the winner and let the thread move on.
Well, since you were suggesting I am a hedonist, go back and read your thread, I was challenging that because it was insulting.
I was not, and am not, trying to prove who is more anything. I was just annoyed at you suggesting I am a hedonist. I was also suggesting you look at you own life, and the way you live, before making judgments.
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I didn’t read @roethlisburger’s comment to mean calling out anyone as hedonistic nor an insult. More just pointing out increased spending does not necessarily correlate to more enjoyment/happiness. There are various studies that support this.
With $1.2 million net income per year, you are probably at the point where your shopping list could include politicians. That is a kind of purchase that is typically beyond the financial capabilities of the middle class.
We were making about 50K in the mid 90’s and our income increased by 10K every year after that. But when we reached the 200K mark, the increased slowed down. Now, my income varies from year to year depending on bonus. We live in SoCal so COLA is up there. We are not frugal but not extravagant either. I still do my own mowing but also has a thing for fast and nice cars. Wife still do her own cleaning but also drives a nice SUV and has a thing for relatively expensive purses. No debt except primary home and rental mortgages.
My elder kid started college in 2014 in an Ivy full pay. With only a year left before she graduates, it was easier than we thought. We are able to finance it by current income (with 529 savings and outside scholarships) with no drastic change of lifestyle and/or retirement savings.
I kinda agree with @CaliCash
When we go to the mall, we feel poor just by looking at the prices of shoes at Nordies. So we go to the outlet.
That might be me this year – my business is going gangbusters. 
I will mostly save it, though. I did splurge on some clothes shopping this month, though. My wardrobe needed some updating. But I don’t like shopping, so don’t expect it to continue.
This is how I see the question. Think about your current lifestyle…housing, food, transportation, entertainment, clothing, etc. Now imagine your income doubles. What you do next depends on where you are in life. If our income doubled now, I’d save some for our children and spend some on memorable family trips. We retired very young and have no debt and no financial worries right now.
However when we were younger our income did triple a couple of times. The first time I was in my 20s. My first teaching job paid about $22k. A year later my husband got his MBA and our income tripled. Did we change our spending habits? No. For the most part we continued frugal living and saved it. (I can’t help but smile when I think about my used Toyota Corolla. I took it in for some problem and the mechanic asked me if it had ever been submerged! Then there was the hand-me-down orange couch we kept for couple of years. Yeah…don’t miss it)
The second time our income experienced a huge jump was due to an investment opportunity. The opportunity, which did pay off, would not have been possible if we hadn’t saved a lot early on. << I hope that makes sense. It was stressful when we were waiting to cash out, which only exacerbated our cautious spending habits.
Anyway, I agree with those who say saving is ingrained in some of us…modest vehicles, modest house, modest spending habits, delaying gratification. We never fell into the trap of trying to impress anyone else. And in hindsight, starting early, at 23 and 24, was one of the biggest contributing factors toward our early retirement. If possible, start saving early and spend wisely.
“And in hindsight, starting early, at 23 and 24, was one of the biggest contributing factors toward our early retirement. If possible, start saving early and spend wisely.”
This. I’m trying to ensure and help my kids with this sort of financial discipline.