On a serious note, i think everyone lives to their means, im not sure why that is, but its one of those laws like toast falling butter side down etc. I guess what happens is this, you earn more, you buy more, often on credit, you might have two decent cars, decent house, nice area, etc etc - i don't think that makes you greedy, i just think that then, when money gets tight, you might even feel it more than someone who has always earnt less, but been more frugal - not saying everyone should be frugal, but it really is a case of living to our means. Half the problems with the economy is that people have been encouraged to live without their means, credit thrown at you like some sort of compliment "here, have some more money" sort of thing. I don't judge for that, we fell right into that trap - lived beyond our means, and now paying the price.
So, maybe we are being unkind to the OP? But actually £65K isn't going to get "killed" by tax, yes, they will have a hefty tax bill but it is only after £40K or so, so only £25k will be taxed at the higer rate. None of us like tax, we probably wont be able to pay our tax bill this year - we are self employed and don't earn anywhere near £65K, might take us about five years to clock that much. I think it is possible to have a good lifestyle on that sort of money, but only if you are debt free, and that really is the crunch of it isn't it.