I'm actually going to disagree, based on a few of the comments that she snuck in that are sort of sticking out to me.

She has a problem, one that is rather serious, and her opener to this serious conversation is "I wish I could have your undivided attention". What in the world is this addressing? How is that appropriate in any way? Not a "Hey, we need to talk"

She mentioned that she would be totally okay with netflix and dinner, quoted here:

I agree. I would be happy with Netflix and a nice dinner once or twice a week.

Yet that is exactly what they were doing, and still felt that this talk needed to happen.

She never actually says exactly what is wrong, "quality" time is one thing, what specifically you want is another. Why say "I want quality time" when you can say "I was talking with some other people ,and I'd really love to go for a walk at night or go out to a movie"?

You're hung up that he went off on money as an excuse, yet the OP herself commented twice that money IS AN ISSUE for them:

but unfortunately neither of us have a car and we rely on public transportation, which gets pricey.

and

Plus he doesn't have a lot of money as it is,

So, his concern, however corny, is a little legit.

And probably the humdinger for me - Even if it is a shitty excuse, it's something to address. It's a concern. He voiced it. What does she do? Does she try to help come up with ways around it? Does she offer alternatives, like the nightly walk she said her aunt and uncle do? No, all she does is shoots it down. Deflects. Ignores.

Look, if you want my honest take, OP wants something, but has no idea what it is and isn't able to accurately convey it. If she wants dates, she did a really bad job of actually saying I want to go out on dates. If his concern is money, she is not doing anything to alleviate that concern, and is instead just flatly ignoring it. Even unintentionally.

I think this conversation went as south as it could have. There's lots of room for improvement on both ends.