Wow. I am always blown away by these sentiments. Ten years ago, in school, I lived, quite comfortably, on $1000 per month. That is $12K per year (you don't really pay taxes when your income is that low). I did not have a lot of spare cash, and I would not have wanted stay on that level forever, but I was comfortable. I never worried about paying for food or rent, and I could go out occasionally. When I got my first job at 40K, I felt wealthy.

I am now living on 80K in a city that is more expensive than New York, and I feel almost filthy rich:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/economic-r...

Seriously, what do you people spend your money on that requires so damn much of it?