And that's your problem. I was the same way, though I live in NYC. With every pay raise I upgraded my lifestyle. Whether I was making $50k/year or $100k/year, I wasn't saving anything more besides the shit I was contributing to my 401k. My savings actually grew smaller over the years, until I made a conscious effort to save money. An effort so simple, I kick myself for not realizing it sooner.

Several simple ways I found to save money living in NYC (not SF, but close enough). Note these figures are on a per-year basis.

  - Scrap web hosting, move to AWS and S3 (~120 saved)
  - Get rid of cable, stick with cheap Internet (~1000 saved, Internet ~40/mo)
  - One night less at the bar each week (~2500 saved, that's just for a $40 tab)
  - Skip buying coffee every day (~500 saved)
  - Get a cheaper phone package (~120 saved)

In the end, I think a good rule of thumb is to keep your daily expenses under $20. You want to dress well? Wait for Banana Republic to have a 40% off everything sale, and buy clothes then. Buy clothes you're actually going to wear more than once (this is easy for guys, women have it harder).

I don't know your lifestyle or actually care what you spend money on, but complaining you can't save money is a bullshit excuse. I was bullshitting myself too, and I think everyone's got spending habits they can curb without impacting their lifestyle.

I'm not complaining about anything, I'm just pointing out that for some people saving money isn't their first or only priority, but doesn't mean they have no priorities.

The point being that not thinking about the future is in fact a lack of priorities. The party is not going to last forever and not planning for that in the slightest is very short-sighted.

You can have an active social life without completely disregarding the future.