A 1 bedroom apartment I live in near work is about 3k/month with utilities. I don’t do the super expensive car with a huge payment thing but put those two together and you’re halfway there. Throw in some expensive vacations (gotta fly business internationally can’t be a peasant) and you’ll make decent headway.

Or maybe you are a dog owner so you rent a house so your dog has room. It’s fairly easy to do in a high cost of living area just to feel “middle class”

Music festivals and Vegas trips are also a great way to set small piles of cash on fire.