I remember when I made $2400 post tax a month. My rent was $750 (literally unheard of cheap for a one bedroom in the middle of nowheresville). Easy, except childcare was $950/month for my one toddler. So rent and childcare alone ate 70% of my income. I don’t want to talk about my electric bill because I was drowning, but had no debt, cold showers, but no debt, I’d say to my self on those cold winter mornings.

I had to steal from peter to pay paul, a lot. Mind you this was back pre pandemic, you could get a beater car for $500-$1000, and I did. Each car I had lasted about a year or two with repairs I could afford before they died.

I was late on my rent two months in a row, and my slumlord (you ever wake up next to a puddle?) told me, sarcastically, “well, maybe you should find a cheaper place to live”. He knew damn well he owned the cheapest, shittiest apartment in the area. He was a cunt.

Living somewhere “undesirable” to save a buck is folly.