[wenc]

It’s hard to generalize. Americans from different parts of the country have different relationships with frugality and entitlement.

Lower income people in high COL places like NY typically know how to survive through frugality. They’re more like the rest of the world.

Lower income people in less competitive places tend to find it harder and expectations and the level of hustle are different.

For instance, I was a former international student and used to live in a 400 sq ft apartment. This to me was a ton of space, an amazing upgrade from the 100 sq ft room that I used to rent. To most (non-New Yorker) Americans, this makes them feel claustrophobic. They need more space. And a house with a yard. I’m in my 40s and currently live in a 600 sq ft apartment and it’s more than enough space.

As a former international student, schools would often publish guidelines on living expenses — food, rent, entertainment. It was always surprising to me how much they think a student needed to budget for entertainment. But it was based off the average American budget for entertainment. Most poor international students could live off much less — I almost never ate out, never went to the movies. Instead I borrowed books and DVDs from the library. There are free things to do in every city. And shopping at ethnic groceries and cooking cuts your food bill by up to 30%.