Think that as you are possibly an american, your parents might be at ur age getting a house and perhaps even raising you.
We definitely make a lot of money, but everything nowadays if expensive and the "end-game" objectives are more expensive for us than it was for our parents.
In the end, it's just a number, and you are possibly worse off than the previous generation.
Even after rent, you still end up with more money than most people earn in other places.
Those who make such claims usually seem to be those who get coffees at Starbucks, eat out every day, travel multiple times a year, get Uber rides everywhere, drink at bars regularly, buy the latest gadgets, etc.
>Even after rent, you still end up with more money than most people earn in other places.
It's virtually certain that people in management, sales or any other important part (besides engineering) of any company aren't thinking like this. "How much can I get" is much more constructive way to approach this, compared to "how much do I need".
Remember, you don't have to spend a bunch of money on useless crap, but since most people are doing just that, you can negotiate as if you did too.