US v Aussie wages v cost of living

ESP47 said
I bought a $145k house 4 years ago while making $10 an hour. I'm now making twice that but paying the bills was doable at the time. I didn't have to just eat rice and chicken every day and I still had cable and internet. I was debt free as well.

You can make money go a long way if you really want to. The problem is people go out and do stupid things like get traffic tickets and DUI's. When you're barely scraping by, you can't afford to make stupid mistakes that put you in the hole.

I honestly attest it to daily driving my Duster. I bought and maintained my Duster while my friends were all buying newer vehicles. Fast forward a few years and I have a nice Duster and a house while my friends are in debt and still live with their parents. They still have that "brand spanking new" 2005 vehicle that sucked away all their income though.

Yep, you sure can. I've never bought a brand new car, and probably never will. If you must have a factory warranty, consider a 2 or 3 year old one.
That's $5-10K in your pocket, right there

Try to put 20% down on a home puchase to avoid junk PMI, and be realistic about your home purchase and what you can afford.

I still live like I make $10/hr, and instead of buying $$$ draining petty crap and recurring fees for services (like satellite raido, or a new $100/month cell phone every six months), I buy one time expense larger purchases, like classic cars and income property:)