[perl4ever]

I don't know how other people live, but for me, the overriding expense has always been rent. But in some places I've been, there are apartments with lower than market rent that are reserved for people with low income.

I don't think there is one correct answer to the question of how much money you have to have to live, because it's mostly about your biggest expense, imo. Everything else you can economize on to an extreme if you have to, if you're healthy and sane and frugal.

Once you start talking about a "nice" neighborhood, you're talking about a competitive zero-sum game where the costs can increase without limit.