[wisnoskij]

"here exists a lower limit under which certain parts of life are simply not affordable"

You do realize that like half the world lives in under a dollar a day right? It is expensive to live in the west, and technically you are right, but people even manage to have an apartment, etc, etc, etc, in NY city and live on $100 a month.

People spend money mostly to signal to others their wealth, and secondly to save the brain power it would take to find free alternatives. 35k is just so far below your income it is the furthest you can image or have acquaintances at that level. But if you make that, you would have some other arbitrary number where it was not affordable to live under.