Not usually broke, just thrifty and often fun.
PHASE ONE - HOME TOWN
1. Got job at $350/week (maybe $700 in today's terms).
2. Rented room in shared house (maybe $350/mo today).
3. Rode bike, didn't own car.
4. Bought food at grocery store. No microwave stuff except frozen vegies. Lots of peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, fruit, Wheaties, milk... I actually like that stuff, but learn to cook is my advice looking back.
5. Banked half of paycheck.
Before leaving town, purchased small used Japanese sedan for $900 cash (just under $2,000 today I think) from private buyer. No car loan. Ran it for 6 years, sold to friend. Car ran several more years, friend is still my friend.
PHASE TWO - MOVED TO CITY
1. Selected destination with low cost of living, high quality of life, decent number of jobs.
2. Got cheap apartment ($600 today), then switched to rented room in house ($350 today).
3. Too many low-paying jobs, as in near minimum wage, for first couple of years, due to inaccurate self-perception. Saved maybe 10% at this time.
4. Kept buying food at grocery store.
5. Cheap hobbies - reading, books from library, etc. Went to every cool new bar but didn't spend much on drinks. Now that my city is legend for nightlife, I'm the old guy who went those historic clubs back in the day. It was worth it.
6. Got soulless but safe corporate job. Learned a lot, which was part of the purpose... I had a plan (and, later, left per per my plan). Earned $40k-$50 in today's money, maintained same lifestyle.
7. Maxed out 401k!
8. Bought house thanks to stable job. Filled the extra bedrooms with paying roommates. My dwelling cost went to almost zero! Saving/investing maybe 40% at that point.
9. I still live in that house years later, though my property tax went up. Not quite free any more. (Of course, the property value went up too. Several hundred percent eventually.)
10. Met beautiful woman, helped raise kids for a while. Relationship ended later but had little cost impact. Good times just the same. Decade over.
PS. I also made friends in both places. That added a lot to the joy of it.
One guy in my home town had an entertainment budget of zero because he could barely pay the rent. 80% to 100% of his paltry income paid his share of rent, leaving him maybe $10 for food in a good week. I hung out with him for a while and discovered if you know you're going to spend zero, and you're open to what happens next, often it's something fun. You just go out and explore and see what happens. Three of the friends I made in the City are still best friends for life (hey, I pioneered the BFF thing before it became a thing!)