I tried to trick myself once I started making more than 60K by splitting my direct deposit into checking and savings. Now every raise I get goes directly into savings and I try to live thinking that financially i've been in the same place as I have been for a while. It works fairly well but once you get married, buy a house, and have kids things change quite a bit.

That all being said if you think that your salary correlates to your happiness then you're chasing the dragon.