He never said he's spending more than he's making, or that he's failing to save money. He asked about why things aren't better than they are, and whether things are that way for everyone else.

Telling him to cut costs is absolutely absurd. He didn't ask for advice and he didn't say his costs are extreme.

> He never said he's spending more than he's making, or that he's failing to save money.

Which has nothing to do with anything. He doesn't feel financially well-off or stable, so obviously he's not happy with his earnings to savings ratio.

> He asked about why things aren't better than they are

And my perspective and advice is that things are better than he thinks they are, he just needs to adjust his attitude.

> Telling him to cut costs is absolutely absurd. He didn't ask for advice

Obviously you're welcome to your opinion and me mine. If you don't like my advice you can always down vote it. Cutting costs is actually extremely sound advice for someone that doesn't feel financially "well off" or stable. He admits elsewhere in the thread "I feel like the goalposts keep moving".

> He didn't say his costs are extreme

Nobody that's not entirely satisfied money-wise thinks their expenses are extreme. That's the whole point.

He didn't complain about his wages, and he made it clear that he is not spending excessively. His lifestyle sounds fairly frugal by modern standards. He didn't even express discontent money-wise, as in 'I wish I made more money'. He's clearly expressing a general sense of uncertainty about why the economy is how it is, and why costs are how they are.

Also, he asked about other people and you're saying he needs to adjust HIS attitude? What does that do for everyone else? Do they all just need to adjust their attitudes and accept their lots in life?

The goalposts moving doesn't mean he's setting the goalposts for himself; if anything, it implies the opposite: Someone else is setting the goalposts. If those goalposts are essential (rent, health care, food)... what is he supposed to do?

> He made it clear that he is not spending excessively.

Of course he thinks that he as to. As others have pointed out, he's making $110k a year and not happy with how much he has, it's pretty likely he's spending too much, or he just has unrealistic expectations.

> His lifestyle sounds fairly frugal by modern standards

You mean modern standards that set the goal posts we should all own x,y,z ? If you didn't know already, those "modern standards" you refer to are the problem here.

> What does that do for everyone else? Do they all just need to adjust their attitudes and accept their lots in life?

Attitude and spending. And plenty more things too. Read the book I recommended.

> If those goalposts are essential (rent, health care, food)... what is he supposed to do?

If you're trying to say for one second that someone making $110k a year can't pay for those "essentials", you're not being productive here.

Let's go with the case of someone earning $30k who's can't afford those - which I think is a realistic scenario. In that case, then the only option is to adjust ones expectations and personal goal posts to fit reality. Hypothetically, if the economy completely dies tomorrow (a la Germany, USSR or Argentina every ~10 years) will you be horribly unhappy you can no longer own your own car and are forced to take public transport, and must downsize your house to a small apartment, etc. etc.?

If you are unhappy with that, then you're basing your happiness on external factors outside your control (the economy) and you're setting yourself up to be a very unhappy person.