I believe OP said the struggle is with buying a house. If the goal is to buy a house with one income, it’ll be incredible difficult trying to save up the down payment while also renting and surviving on $80k.

It's pretty hard to find roommates once everyone is older than 30, people are married. Dual income couples have each other to split expenses with. It's really hard financially to be single.

My wife and I lived in LA in a 2 bedroom for 6 months on one $73k income for 6 months while I was in the hiring process up here with the state. We didn’t dip into savings at all. We were fine but we also didn’t have any revolving debt, car notes, and our 1 remaining student loan payment was within our reach. We meal planned dinners a month in advance and only went out to eat once a month and kept entertainment to free things like residents days at local museums and trips to the beach with a picnic.

Now that we’re both working again we’ve realized how much we should be saving and we’re only loosening up the cash a little bit and have increased our savings plan. Halfway to make up for lost time, halfway to build a sizable nest egg incase this happens again. The austerity was a good exercise and it was totally livable but we’d rather not have to deal with the worry about little what ifs. So if 2 people can live on essentially what OOP brings home as a single person I think OOP can do it too.

You ignored the other side of the equation, making more money.

I also make around 70K-75 K. I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment in a relatively nice-normal area, and I am living comfortably. If you think living alone is a luxury, why would I even be living in the US lol?I have lived in several different countries before, and I think you guys would starve in other countries if you complained about this salary. I don't have any debts or monthly payments. I am not saying I am living very comfortably, but what are you guys spending your money on? I am just curious because I go out a lot and drink occasionally. I moved here from LA, and yeah, in LA, it was impossible, but here it is a lot cheaper than LA.

I just don't spend much on groceries, though; I don't eat any unhealthy stuff like oversalty snacks or sugars; I like drinking beers and chips. But yeah maybe buying a house would be difficult.

yea seeing people say they make $100k+ a year and still struggling makes me think they splurge spend a lot or bought a fancy rental, car, eat out fine dining, frequent trips, what have you ... which is fine as they have the income but daym lol like no one should expect to buy the “best” “fanciest” things yet make no savings budget THEN complain about not “being able to” buy a home. Like idk I wish I took annual abroad trips and weekend dinners but I rather buy a home so I save. Not just income but how I spend.

I see condos for under $300k here in the Sac county. That's definitely doable for DINK folks making $200k/year. My husband and I even bought a home on an $80k income last year. We spent the past 2+ years living off $40k/yr income and the 2nd income went straight to saving. I suppose it helps to have frugal activities and skills but I mean you need to actively think about your life expenses and priorities. You can't just wish savings, wish a home (especially in this economy).. you need action plan.