It's surprisingly easy for this to be the case. I'm not particularly great with my salary, entirely because I don't have any pressures. I'm in my early 20s, near the 6-figure threshold and it's easy to fuckup. You think, well I should be living in a nice place, I make enough money right? So you lease a penthouse. So you've got this nice condo, you need new furniture, right? Then your car you've had since college starts acting funky, so why not just buy a new one? Been there, done that. I mostly broke even on my expenditures and maintained my savings, less a downpayment on a new Civic, but you could see how things could go wrong when you get into that mentality. Now consider the similar case but with folks with little earning power. Worst case, I could break my lease and live somewhere cheaper. Worst case, they're on the streets.