As an Xer, going to 7 eleven was pretty much the same as a daily latte, and a lot of us drank far more alcohol after work, too. We had other things we spent money on too. The big thing is correct though, if you don't have a job that is beyond worker-level, you're likely to struggle more over time.

Learning couponing and bargain hunting is all good, but I wouldn't expect that to bring you to the finish line. The best I can do as an activist and a voter is to work for make the bottom half's lives more dignified and meaningful so they're not always begging after a big expense and that if they can't work for some reason, they won't spend their life being treated worse than a cruel criminal.