You literally said the exact opposite of the point you were implying throughout the rest of the discussion. We were talking about ways to live cheaply. Then YOU were the one that changed positions and said we were talking about someone making the minimum effort to save money, which as you rightly pointed out could mean someone not saving money at all. What is the point of discussing someone who doesn't save in a thread about saving money?

A native English speaker would not make the mistake of using a colloquialism that means the opposite of the literal definition when the very disagreement is about the effort it takes to save money. You can live by yourself in the bay area and still save money. Remember, you were the one that quoted $2k/mo for rent.