# Is it perfectly possible to live like people did in the 50’s and 60’s **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 11, 2023, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-perfectly-possible-to-live-like-people-did-in-the-50-s-and-60-s/979603 "2023-02-11T01:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 15
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-perfectly-possible-to-live-like-people-did-in-the-50-s-and-60-s/979603/15 "2023-02-11T11:11:14Z")
> [@How common, really, was the single income family with working father and stay at home mother?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-really-was-the-single-income-family-with-working-father-and-stay-at-home-mother/979473/67): > > if you want to live like people did in the 50’s and 60’s, it’s perfectly possible to do so on one reasonable middle class income. Just move to a smaller town, have one used car, and live in a 1,000 sq ft midcentury bungalow. Cook your own food from scatch, mend your clothes instead of replacing them, vacation by driving to camping spots or visiting relatives, eating out is a few-times-per year luxury, etc. > > It’s just that no one wants to live like that anymore. That list doesn’t actually impress me much if any, and the conclusion at the end is certainly a blanket statement with no basis in reality. We have one used, 20-yo. car. We live in a 800 sq.ft. house. We cook well over 90 % of our food at home, and eat out maybe three times a year. I wear all my clothes until they basically drop off my body, and we mend them regularly until that time. Vacation time means driving to national parks or visiting relatives. We do use the internet daily, although I don’t use the smartphone for other than calling and texting. We like living like this, and know dozens of people who do likewise. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-perfectly-possible-to-live-like-people-did-in-the-50-s-and-60-s/979603)._