>Not to me - I live in a modest flat, but the house has more appartments rented out.
>Buying it for me wholesale was really part monetary/retirement investment,
>and I paid ~50% in cash and the rest in a very short time,
>so the part of saving a fortune rings a bell, as does living frugally ;-)
>
>Not that I am a total cheapskate. Andy and I do splurge from time to time. But when we do, we can afford it.
>So I guess we have very similar outlooks.

Sure do - splurging is one of the ways to find out if you still have motive to work.
I do have some hobbies thought of as expensive, but I calculate cost in one of my sidebrains automatically,
using one of the others to formulate cost cutting strategies if I want to get into that area more often...
Not letting salespeople/current opinion set your buying choices but finding your own standard helps immensly.

>
>About the only luxury I need is silence while still being near centre of the city as well as having added
>floor heating under nice marble: I often program according to Charles dress code, even in winter
>
>That is a visual I did not need <g>.

Don't worry - I abhor the Facebook/Twitter mania to post pics or other trivials - dress code irrelevant ;-)

Unless you ring my door very early saturday morning, announce yourself as Jehova's witness
and then visit the other tenants first after getting me to open the house door, you are quite safe ;-)