Just my opinion

DallasSteve wrote:
It's been suggested by one of the members that most people can't be expected to accomplish what I accomplished and be able to pay cash for big ticket items like an RV because it's usually the result of good luck or rich parents. Let's look at my good luck.

I was lucky enough to be born in the USA. Did anybody else here have that good luck?

I was lucky enough to have good parents. Anybody else?

My parents were middle class; they died with a combined estate of about $100K that my brother and I split. I used most of my share to buy two new cars for my 2 oldest children. Woo hoo! We's Rich!

I was lucky enough to be able to work 40 hours a week in my early 20s with a wife and 2 kids while going to night school to get a degree in accounting. Some people call that luck, I guess.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend hundreds of hours studying for the CPA exam (in the evening after work) and pass while others had the bad luck to be out drinking and partying.

I was lucky enough to decide to change careers at 40 and to spend hundreds of more hours studying computer books to pass Microsoft certification exams (in the evening after work) while others had the bad luck to be drinking and watching football.

I was lucky enough to defer expensive purchases and vacations so that I could save for my retirement and college for my son while others had the bad luck to be running up credit card debt to live for today.

I was lucky enough to never smoke nor do drugs and to quit drinking in my 20s when others had the bad luck to keep wrecking their health. I also exercised regularly and ate healthy - more good luck.

I could go on, but you get the picture. None of what I have is the result of wise decisions, hard work, and sacrifice - it was all just good luck.

There are many variables at play. I live in a part of the country where a young couple need the better part of a decade to save up just the down payment for their first home. That home is likely 50-100 years old and sits on a 60x100 foot lot. Property taxes will be anywhere from 500-1000 dollars per month. Electricity is expensive here too. Winters are cold and heat costs money. Car insurance is likely more expensive than most areas. I could go on and on.
The idea that this couple could ever save money to buy all of their cars, vacations, RV's, etc for cash is not realistic. Unless they live in Mom and Dad's basement for a couple of decades. If they were to wait for full financial solvency before they started to really live life a little they could drop dead before it happened.
This is not meant to knock your post, or your life decisions. They have obviously served you well. Hard work and discipline are never bad things. Not everyone is gifted with the intellect or discipline you were. Some people have great hurdles to overcome. They start life out as an adult already behind the eight ball. You had two good parents. Many don't. You were middle class. Many are less than that.
Let's not discount other factors. Local cost of living being just one of them. Health, layoffs, natural disasters, divorce being some others.