People just don’t want to live within their means anymore. Last year when gas hit 5$ a gallon I sold my truck, shrunk my car payment, gas and insurance by half. I got rid of a few streaming services, cut out the eating out to once or twice a week and I had an extra 1,000$ a month in the bank.
There are places where you can rent a great apartment for 1000 and places you can rent the tiest apartment in a 30 miles for 2,000. Rent is high so grocies and many other things are higher. 80,0000 goes as far as 140,000 In some areas.