[bryondowd]

A higher income means more options. Yes, you have more options to get yourself into trouble, but you also have more options to keep yourself taken care of.

I was making about $12/hour before I finished my CS degree. I had no debts and some money in the bank because I had no real expenses.

Now I make about twice that, but I got my own place with my fiancee and raked up far more debt (on top of student loans) than I can afford to pay at my current salary. My quality of living has actually been decreasing.

Does this mean I have more financial problems than I did before? No, not really. I have plenty of options now that I didn't before. In the worst case scenario, I can declare bankruptcy and start from scratch, where I'll have no debts (aside from student loans) and still have twice the income I would have otherwise, and be able to find a maintainable quality of life significantly higher than I would have with the lower income.

A low income doesn't mean you have less problems, it means you have fewer options and have to simply accept a worse outcome.