[josephmosby]

Some of the other answers here appear to be "just don't do it," which I don't think is helpful. I also struggle with the Joneses.

For me, it helps to hold in my mind what the Joneses have to do in order to be the Joneses. It may look like the Kardashians got super rich off doing nothing, but instead they consented to having cameras in their life all the time. There's no taking a long nap on a Saturday and not doing anything. They are constantly doing something to stay entertaining, and that seems exhausting to me.

On a closer-to-me level, I have some friends who are engineers at hedge funds in New York. I really love New York and I get jealous thinking about making fintech money there. But then if I chat a little more I realize that most of them are working 10-12 hour days on the regular, their apartment is either way out of downtown or it's super tiny with no room for personal projects.

However, I also have some friends who are super into their fitness and their travel. And I do try to keep up with them, because that lifestyle is appealing to me. I'll track them on social media and try to push myself to take more vacations and work out harder. They're my inspiration.

To keep myself grounded, I don't just think about keeping up with the Joneses, I think "am I willing to do what it takes to be a Jones?" Yes - some folks got lucky and fell into a pile of money. Most didn't. Sometimes I'm willing to do what it takes to be a Jones, sometimes I'm not.