Livre d'Or

I bet there were some pretty upperclass people in Peterhouse Orchestra. But since you are so little prone to personal gossip you maybe never found out their backgrounds. But perhaps you really didn't meet anyone titled, that's also possible.

I think the difference between your financial situation and mine is two-fold: first of all, you've lived for a great many years in London which is expensive. Not just housing, but transport and council tax and even food, (and you buy hechshered kosher food which increases the premium even further). On top of that, although we both bought properties in the same price bracket, my house is a solidly built, interwar brick semi with modern central heating, and it costs me almost nothing to heat. Your flat, because of the London housing market, is a low-end property which is expensive to run. So, sticking my finger in the air, I wouldn't be surprised if your absolutely unavoidable outgoings are 50% higher than mine. The money that you absolutely have to spend just to live, before you start on any luxuries or leisure activities or anything that you can budget for. (I did live in Stockholm for part of the time, which is an expensive capital city, but still nothing like London.)

The second is that you have financial investments and I don't really. My entire wealth is in my house. My "retirement plan" is to let out the house and use the rent income either to keep myself living frugally in a small flat, or to pay for nursing care when I can't live independently. I don't think financial advisors would typically approve of this, but I am so extremely debt averse that it's worth it to me to have no savings in order not to have to waste money on mortgage interest.