I'm assuming Seattle living expenses, which are higher than national average. Also it's not like he keeps all the $85k. Taxes take a chunk of that . I keep reading stories of how hard it is to live in Bay Area on low six figures, so I assume that $85k in 2004 in Seattle would also be somewhat hard.
$85k adjusted for CPI is something like $113k today. Microsoft is in Redmond not Seattle. Hard is certainly relative but living in the suburbs of Seattle, fresh out of college making $113k is nearly objectively not hard.
You can find a decent room in a share for $1500 in any city in the USA, and significantly less than that in most. When you're 22, that's pretty much 100% of your mandatory expenses, beyond maybe $200/mo in food and $100/mo for an unlimited transit pass or $10/mo to own/operate a bike.
Everything on top of that is gravy, especially when you're working at a tech company that pays for your healthcare and a lot of your food and coffee and maybe your commute.
