A couple who live a DINK lifestyle have claimed that, despite earning a combined £160,000, it's not enough for their lifestyle.
The extremely comfortable amount, equal to $200,000, is earned by Natalie Fischer and her husband Keldon.
Natalie, 25, and Keldon, 30, both work in the tech industry and earn six-figure salaries.
Advert
But it's not enough, according to the US couple, with the duo 'downgrading' their lifestyle due to a cost of living crisis. Yes, they're deadly serious.
Natalie, a content creator in Seattle, said that they could feel 'lifestyle creep' despite their incomes rising. Essentially, they earned more and spent more.
We're talking luxury holidays to the likes of Alaska, Mexico and Rome, as well as regularly eating out instead of cooking at home.
Their actual overheads are pretty standard, which will probably leave many scratching their heads.
Advert
Rent for their two-bedroom flat sets them back £1,876 a month ($2,378) and bills total £920 ($1,163).
Eating out every month costs them £230 ($300) while groceries add another £170 ($200).
All in all, that's around £3,200 ($4,000) a month in expenses. That's £38,400 a year, or $48,000 - not even a quarter of their combined salary.
Advert
The couple also spent £16,000 ($20,000) on their big day but the expense saw them become a little frugal.
Natalie has since cut out beauty regimes and the couple no longer pay for their lavish gym memberships or eat out as much.
"Last year was a bit of an anomaly for us - me and my husband got married which cost a lot of money," Natalie explained.
"We travelled a lot and we did a lot of general spending so we didn't put as much away on savings. We are trying to cut back on these unessential expenses."
She continued: "I consider me and my husband to be middle class. We live in the greater Seattle area and we both had nine to five jobs in the tech industry.
Advert
"We're both earning over $100k and as we started to earn more money we treated ourselves a lot more. A big reason we have decided to downgrade our lifestyle is because we didn't know where our money was going."
But what exactly is a DINK?
DINK is an acronym that stands for ‘Dual Income, No Kids’.
It means disposable income is usually higher in these households, with no childcare expenses such as nursery fees, school lunches, and paying for that extra place on a plane or two if you want to go on holiday.
Advert
A Los Angeles Times article investigated the term and credited the rise of DINKs as a way for baby boomers to 'beat inflation and income stagnation'.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there was a 3.1 percent decrease in children being born in the UK in 2022, compared to 2021.
Keldon and Natalie now want to save up for a trip to Guam, Japan, and the Philippines. They've started 2024 by not eating out and is something they say they'll continue to be stringent over.
Natalie said: "I noticed it was getting very hard to track how much we were spending when we would go out. I was living beyond my needs.
"I want to greatly increase the savings we have and I feel like we spend way too much so I am trying to balance it this year.
"I know we have experienced lifestyle creep - that is a big reason why I wanted to downgrade my lifestyle and track where every dollar is going."
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Cost of Living, Money, Sex and Relationships, US News