Sacrificed during my twenties instead of doing the usual things that many do at that time like overseas trips in favour of property investment and getting my law degree.
Started my thirties with a sizeable university HECS debt and property loans that needed paying off. Went into private practice as a solicitor (attorney to use the US vernacular) for a firm and gradually eroded that debt with generous remuneration but little time for anything else. A few machine purchases here and there as fixer uppers but little else.
Once I hit 40 that earlier sacrifice paid off so I currently only have to work part time by choice in the public sector (State Attorney General's Dept) to keep my qualifications relevant and can now spend more time on pinball machines as the property investments act as a top up.
I fit into the double income no kids category but for pinball purposes our incomes would best be described as separate in the same way as my spouse's expenditure on clothes/shoes is separate.
As for the overall affordability side, I'm not particularly interested in the current artificially inflated NIB experience epoch that pinball seems to be going through considering what you get for what you pay for down here. Would rather bring in a container of used machines from overseas and restore them back to as good as NIB at my leisure. Resell the surplus to first time buyers then do it all again in 12-18 months as time/finances permit.