Where do other people spend their money?

My department just had it's awful Labor Day picnic, and the subject of abodes came up, which got around to how I was paying too much rent. While I admit it's true that I pay too much (location + space + no roommate), I was pretty mortified when my professor characterized it as "embarrassing" because it was only a little less than what she pays on her house mortgage (of course she didn't add in what she has to pay in tax, which is significant in this area). It made me feel like I was being foolish and uneconomical.

But then I got to thinking: if I'm so foolish with my money, shouldn't I be way more broke than my collegues? But such is not the case. I would even say that my money matters are in even better working order than most grad students', especially after this summer's savings from living at home and earnings from work. Most 2nd years, I gather, spend the beginning of the semester in the red, so the fact that I'm in the black alone would attest that I'm not totally clueless, like I often feel I am. Add to this the fact that I spend a good deal of dough on grooming (a real flaw, I admit), and my grocery bills are astronomical compared to what others tell me they spend.

So that leaves me wondering, how exactly does everyone else burn through their paychecks at roughly the same rate as me? Sure I have some extra cash from working, but I didn't need to dip into it last year. I'm breaking even, and since I'm told almost no one makes savings from our pittances, I'm guessing they're breaking even too. The only thing I don't spend too much money on is alcohol, and maybe eating out. But is that enough to make up for what I spend in rent and shopping? If it isn't, as I suspect, what are other people's expenses? Do they all have mistresses on the side or something?