How do you do it?

We do not live above our income. We do not take lavish vacations, or hardly any vacations really.  We do not go to movies, theatre shows, concerts, etc.  We do not go out to eat unless it is a "special" occasion.  We spend very little on "hobbies"... i do love to knit and sew but it doesn't add up to that much!

So how is it that i sit back and watch people who make far less than we do live far "better" than we do?  

I admit to not clipping coupons or shopping around to several stores just to get a box of cereal for 1/2 price!  I do use coupons that print off at the store, quite often actually.  I stick to a budget and plan out our meals for the week so i do not over buy food that we will not eat.  And we still spend 100-150 per week on food and random grocery items.  Which would add up to around 5,200 a year... and that is just for food!!!

So again i question if i should go out and earn more money, or just spend less?  And i really would like to know how people survive with more than 1 child (like we have) and only earn 30k a year?  

It is hard to imagine having our house payment, car payments and normal bills but earn far less than we do.  I feel like i am a bad person because i can't figure out the "trick"!  

I think i'm going to go into deep research mode and figure out if people are just big fat liars and really do live off of credit and debt... or if they have wonderful parents who just pay for their lifestyle... or a trust fund... or something.  Because i honestly am at a loss when i look around at several of my friends who claim they have ZERO credit cards, ZERO debts, and they live off of a very small income and still have more than what we have going on.

This started because i felt guilty buying 42.38 worth of groceries today to earn Box Tops for my daughter's school.  Sad and pathetic, i know!  But i honestly felt that buying cake mixes and cereals we didn't really need was a waste since we really did need other food items.

help me understand, because i really am strangely fascinated by how people live their lives when they have no money to live by. (and i don't mean that to be mean and nasty, just that i can't figure out how to send my daughter to an acting camp this summer and we actually have a decent amount of money coming in and little debt; yet i have one friend who is going to a tropical island, another who is taking her family of 5 on a cruise, and another who's husband isn't currently working and is making crafts like they are surrounded by money and then i felt guilty buying a $2 packet of yarn the other day! am i overly feeling guilt for spending money when times are hard, or are other people just not caring enough?)