Yes, and note, most of the expenditures, dollar-wise, are not on the house mortgage, but on the depreciating assets such as TV's, cars, The Latest Phone/Computer/GPS/Whatever. When you spend your life financing the wealth of those who use consumerism to play on your stupidity, you will remain poor, or never rise very far. What if the same budget laid aside for greaseburgers, mEphones, 80,000 dollar SUV's and the like were spent on paying down the mortgage with fanatical zeal? THEN where would the middle class be, which lives like rich coke dealers do in other countries? They would be moving towards upper class. People self-destruct, by having no vision of the future. After you pay off your house, have a million set aside for retirement, and your kids' educational budget all safely held somewhere in some instrument that can't be suddenly written into nonexistence, THEN it's time for the Lamborghinis, etc. The people who buy Camaros spend about what, a year's wages on them? The people who buy Rolls-Royces don't even spend an hour's wages on them. Spend time and money on that which will return you time and money. Not that which consumes all you give it and comes back demanding more. The people on top didn't get there by buying Rolls Royces or other conspicuous consumption items. We seem to think that owning the latest toy will make us happy. It doesn't, and never will. Owning your future is what makes you happy, and so very, VERY few do what it takes to do that.