I haven't managed to make more than $11k in a year since I graduated college due to various shitty circumstances, like an abusive relationship with a partner who refused to let me work or having to put off finding a career when my mother was dying of cancer and dad needed help caring for her at home. I've been below the poverty line for 5 fucking years now and I've been around plenty of others who are also struggling and on assistance because life dealt them a shitty hand sometime in their recent past.

1000 out of 1001 (that'd be more than 99.99% of people...) people I meet in this situation aren't "simply lazy" or "depraved." People coming into hard times despite working hard and spending frugally is the rule not the exception. At best, I'd give you 1 out of 5 people being lazy. At best. And maybe another 1 out of 5 being bad at money management because they never had any young and never learned.

As to splurging on steak... When manager's special steak is cheaper per pound than literally every other meat in the store, guess what I buy? Steak. I wouldn't call it "splurging" when it's legitimately my cheapest option for what I've got left for the month. Lucky and a welcome surprise, yes, but certainly not splurging. Hell I haven't had meat that isn't manager's special in probably over a year now. I have fucking fish lining my freezer and coming out of my eyeballs right now because we got tons of it nearly free. I am so sick of eating fish, but when that's what's cheapest, that's what you eat - and then you turn right around and get berated for "treating" yourself to a "luxury item." My blood curdles with rage when I hear people who have no fucking idea say this shit.