A Silicon Valley CEO recently shared the story of a couple who, despite impressive salaries, live paycheck to paycheck due to their expensive lifestyle. Damon Chen, founder of Testimonial.to, said he was surprised to learn that the couple managed to spend a staggering $30,000 a month (approximately ₹25 lakhs) for mortgage, utilities, education and groceries combined.

Chen said he initially refused to believe his friend when he claimed to live paycheck to paycheck because he was a well-paid technician at Google. However, an analysis of their expenses convinced him that his friend was not lying.

Expensive lifestyle expenses

Chen discovered that the Google employee and his wife were paying $17,000 a month toward the mortgage on their $3 million home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Property taxes and the child’s private tuition fees made up another portion of their salaries—$3,000 each.

Utilities, eating out, groceries, travel and maintaining two cars brought their monthly expenses to a staggering $30,000.

“My friend told me that he and his wife live paycheck to paycheck. I don’t believe it because they both make good money in tech and he even works at Google. But after doing a little math, I discovered that he wasn’t lying,” the founder of Testimonial.to wrote on X.

Chen said the couple spent US$30,000 on their lifestyle, “not including other expenses such as maintaining a house, paying for Netflix, etc.”

What’s the point?

The Silicon Valley CEO expressed concern about their lifestyle, with respondents noting that the couple has almost no savings despite earning more than the average American.

“W-2 employees typically take home only 50% of their salary, so they have to earn $60K per month before taxes, which is $720K in annual TC,” Chen wrote. “What is the point of living such a life?” he asked.

“This is why I left the Bay Area and will never return. I grew up there and the quality of life is very poor compared to any other city I’ve lived in (8 cities in total),” wrote one X user.

“People living paycheck to paycheck don’t have $3 million homes. You are confusing this phrase with “living beyond your means.” They put themselves in a difficult financial situation, but they also have the opportunity to change this at any time,” another opined.

“It’s not paycheck to paycheck; it’s lifestyle inflation and excessive spending,” agreed user X Patrick.