I was trying to do FIRE as a student making only about ~10k a year, and managed to save most of my income despite having a low income by just living really real

I was trying to do FIRE as a student making only about ~10k a year, and managed to save most of my income despite having a low income by just living really really cheaply for over a decade. By the end of my PhD program I had saved up ~100k when most people would have been that much in debt. Then I had a kid, and couldn't find/afford childcare. So I ended up using my 'FIRE' savings to pay for childcare for several years, essentially using it all up. I was paying about 100% of my take home salary on childcare for two years straight, and able to make it through. Basically the safety net I acquired worked awesome! I didn't get to keep my retirement savings like planned, but I was able to keep doing a low paying postdoc despite needing expensive childcare, which let me keep a low paying postdoc I would have otherwise had to quit... which ultimately led to a high paying and stable career where I've rebuilt my savings after all. Basically, having lots of savings a la FIRE is (1) possible even on an extremely low poverty income- you just need to make hard choices like shared living situations, no car (or a very old car you maintain yourself), home cook all meals from cheap ingredients, etc. and (2) it gives you a safety next with flexibility and options for the type of unforeseen events you are talking about. Having a massive financial safety net is great, even if you end up not being able to use it to retire early, as I was not. It's all about priorities... on almost any income level, you can ruthlessly cut un-needed expenses, and build a safety net/retirement. The poorer you are, the more likely you are to need this for some non-retirement financial emergency, which is all the more reason to do it, because those type of things are even more important than early retirement.