I believe they live a happy life.

I don't really care. I mean, if they wait and only get the basic versions, they could now get a Wii for $99, could've got an XBOX 360 for $99 last Christmas, and a PS3 for like $199, and these are all new. And all three of them now combined are cheaper than the PS3 at launch, so really it doesn't matter.

Oh I agree, I think it's when kids are involved that it becomes  alot more difficult as you really have to prioritise spending, but for the most part, there's no reason cutting back on something for a few months in most households wouldn't allow you to buy a different system to the one you currently own.

It's more a matter of priorities and really how much you want something, non of the consoles are particularly prohibitive in pricing. But then I paid out a bit extra for a Panasonic Viera plasma when they were still making the really goods ones and most people thought I was barmy to pay so much for a TV when I could have paid a few hundred quid less and got a crappy LCD which would have been "exactly the same".

When you are dealing with children there are more than money that decides what you buy - educating them about the value of money, building up their expectations for X-mas and birthdays, makeing them do homework instead of games etc. However it seems that the average gamer is 37 years old (PC & console). Their parenting duties can restrict their consummer choices by the same factors as mentioned above, but money should really not be a problem for most 37year olds that want to have gaming as a hobby.
http://kotaku.com/5931077/the-average-age-of-a-gamer-just-dropped-by-seven-years-um-what   http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/29/gaming-advocacy-group-the-average-gamer-is-31-and-most-play-on-a-console/

I have more than enough money to buy all consoles, I just don't see any reason to buy them all, I'll always have plenty of games to play on my system of choice, and I don't have too much time to spend on gaming anyway. Frankly, time is the constraint, not money.

I say good for them, I could if I wanted to but I choose not to. I usually buy 1-2 consoles ever gen and 1 handheld

I could buy consoles, sure. I had a Wii U, and had considered the PS4 and Xbox One. I sold the Wii U though, and focused on my PC. It's not necessarily about the money, it's about having time.

My way is buy the most important console first, wait for the next one at the end up of the generation, skip the console I don't care about it. Do it again next generation. It is rinse and repeat

The value diminishes with each additional console, though. If I buy a PS4 for $400, the XBO instantly offers only about 10% of content I don't already have access to, yet remains $400. Going ahead and still buying that console after knowing that makes no sense if you value money. You're buying the first console for $400 thinking "this is worth $400 because it will offer me access to 1000 games I couldn't have played before," but then saying "this second console is still worth $400 even though it will only offer me 50 more games I couldn't have played before." I don't care if other people do it, but they're throwing money away.

I do watch TV and know that cable is a waste. There are several alternatives that cost less to nothing and offer infinitely more freedom than cable ever will.

I feel that they have too much free time, I could afford them financially speaking but then I will not have time to enjoy them, so what is the point?, I usually go with a main console and a handheld, and sometimes at the end of the cycle I buy a secondary console to see what I might want to play that is exclusive or not available on my main one. And I still have problems with my backlog.