Looking at personal finances is always a eye opener. The biggest eye opener is the fact that most of us are just a few hundred dollars a month away from a comfortable "luxurious" lifestyle. Now, I am not talking about trading debt for luxury, I am talking about having the extra cash every month to enjoy life, to go out for dinner, to go to a movie or two - to indulge a bit.

When you look at most people's monthly expenditures and costs, usually the margin of "spare" cash is so little that we don't have the ability to truly enjoy ourselves without pulling out the credit card. The margin between sustainable fun and credit fun is usually very little. But that is the "magic amount", the few hundred dollars to luxury. If you or I can sustain a few hundred dollars a month that can be spent on pure fun, without credit guilt, then truly one feels like you are living in luxury, because, this amount over time can attain the luxuries we all want. I mean, lets say you have $400.00 per month that after expenses and investments is all yours to play with. After 5 years that’s 24,000 in guilt free spending! How much luxury can you buy with that! For the average working person, a lot.

So the key to living a luxurious life, is to find the few hundred dollars to luxury. The amount that is needed is not really that much, but it always seems more that we have. When you think about it, finding or creating a "few" hundred is not all that difficult if you put your mind to it. The lap of luxury may be just a small reach away for many of us!