Being poor is a thing you can dig yourself out of but it takes a huge amount of energy to do so. It's excruciating to not spend on comfort when you're uncomfortable but that's what it takes. Which is probably why so few people manage to "pull themselves up by their boot straps"
This is why if you want to stop the cycle of poverty, you need to give people incentives to get off assistance and make it possible to succeed, instead of making it easier to stay on welfare. As humans, we will always take the easier route.
It also sad to think we've made it much easier for people to get on welfare and stay on welfare indefinitely. I have several friends who prefer to work just enough hours to get assistance, but not enough to actually get off of it. What does that say about our culture and society when people are content to live off the government instead of wanting to succeed and get out of poverty??
source: after college, I had several bouts of depression, was homeless for a stint and used government programs to get out of the hole I was in. It wasn't easy, but it gave me perspective on what its like to be really poor, and what it takes to get out of that hole.
You were able to do it, but some folks can't. The system doesn't help, and they don't know how. Some folks, in your situation, might have died. You were armed with a college education, which meant you had more opportunities than the local retail spot. Add a wife and/or children and/or severe health problems into the mix and it becomes much harder.
What's "comfortable" to a person choosing an SUV as their third car because they already have a convertible and sedan is entirely different to someone stuck on public transportation, for example, who'd appreciate anything with a running engine.
Bicycle versus walking.
Single room apartment by yourself versus multi room apartment with roommates.
Choosing a dwelling versus living in a vehicle.
Eating tastier more expensive food versus cheaper, blander food.
It's comforts all the way down to living in an improvised shelter out in the wilderness.