What does that even mean? Live entirely alone in a 1 bedroom apartment? A studio? Live with roommates? What do their meals look like? A "living wage" means abs

What does that even mean? Live entirely alone in a 1 bedroom apartment? A studio? Live with roommates? What do their meals look like? A "living wage" means absolutely nothing unless you define the expectations. When I first moved to San Francisco in 2011, I was living on less than $300/month or so for 8 months or so. I slept on an air mattress and ate rice and beans prepared weekly from 25lb bags because it was cheaper that way. I spent less than a dollar a meal. What expectations do we have that people learn to be frugal? Here's someone who lives in the SF Bay Area for $7000/year: https://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-i-live-on-7000-per-year.html https://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-i-live-on-7000-per-ye... It's actually not hard to live on these wages if you're smart about how you spend your money. The only cost you can't really escape without moving is the cost of housing, and if you don't fix that problem, any increase in wages it just going to be temporary relief until housing prices correct.