Living within your means only goes so far when rent is 80% of your monthly pay, and there are no cheaper rooms in the city.
There is a lot of imbalance out there right now. Many blue collar and entry jobs no longer giving full time hours but expecting open availability so you can't get a second job. More people competing for each one of those jobs. Not to mention an entire wave of boomers who have either been downsized or have come out of retirement because a pension set up in 1990 isn't enough to pay basic bills now.
It really is tough out there at the lower income levels.
I made minimum wage throughout COVID working at sportchek. My paychecks were $1,100. So $2,200 a month.
I had no problem living on my own, buying $100 of weed a month, $100 of alcohol a month..always had people over on Fridays and Saturdays...was fun.
Managed to save too.
$700 on rent.
$100 on weed.
$100 on alcohol.
$120 car insurance.
$100 on gas.
$250 on food.
$50 on phone.
$500 towards investments in TFSA
That's the extent of my expenses...$1420 +500 savings.
$2,200-$1,920= $280.
So if I felt like not doing much, I could invest $780 that month...if not, I could spend like a whole extra $300 on something...maybe save it for a couple months and buy an Xbox...or a new tv...smoke weed every day...get drunk on weekends with friends...drive a fun RWD manual.
You can have a fun life and save money while making minimum wage...so I really agree with the thought that if you know how to live within your means, you can have a fun life.
The biggest issue is rent being 80% of your income. I've seen rooms being rented in a house for under $1,000. At minimum wage, that's only like 40% of your income.
I would never live somewhere that cost over half my income. I would rather go back to my parents in my 30s than pay 80% of my income on rent.