All I hear is "I earn a 1% income and want to live a 1% lifestyle". Yes, if that is what you do with your income of course it's "not that much".

Nice house in London/SF = $$$

Kids = $$$

"good education" (I.e. nice schools) = $$$

No student debt for your kids = $$$

Retire early = $$$

This seems like a classic "3 options, pick 2" kind of scenario. You can never have it all at the max level (Except maybe if you're a billionaire).