We are sadly on a tight budget. The two of us make 35k a year as that is the money i get from my PhD stipend and she cannot work in the US as I am on a student visa and she is on a dependant visa. I am 21 years old, already graduated from college, manged to save some money as the scholarship i got exceeded my expenses. Since I am an student the city gives us 50% discount a year on transport so the yearly price is really 160 for the bus pass. I used to live in Denver and there bus prices were madness from what I am used to in other countries i lived.
we also really do spend just about 200 a month for the two of us at home. We never eat out though, and dont eat much meat either. Plus the school as a cool shop were you can get anything for free so we do compensate with that. How it is looking, i think we will end up getting 2 radbikes (ebikes like the one Taran used to use for 2800 for the pair) as a car truly seems like a money pit at the moment. Maybe if I get into a posdoc later our income from an stipend would double and she would be allowed to work in the US. But that would be something only possible in a few years from now