You're assuming that just because a bike didn't cost much to buy, therefore it must be mechanically maladjusted and unpleasant to ride. Not the case even with my skip bikes. All have properly lubricated & adjusted wheel, headset & BB bearings, and the brakes and gears work correctly. That's all the moving parts there are on a bike!.
Now some of my bikes are cosmetically horrible, and would probably offend the typical Lycra-wearing weekend warrior, but the shabby neglected appearance and badly-applied paint is entirely intentional. It's what allows me to use my bikes in dodgy areas and leave them unattended on the street without them getting stolen.
As for the "earn more, spend more" mentality; if you spend less but spend wisely you can enjoy the same or better material standard of living without having to kill yourself maximising your earnings. All the people who always buy new and spend big are doing, is spending half their time earning money that will simply evaporate in depreciation of the assets they buy. They are in effect the people that provide me with cheap cars and cheap bikes, because they pay full whack, then I buy them a few years down the line for a few pence in the pound. And if they pay interest on borrowed money to purchase fast-depreciating assets like bikes and cars- that is even more stupid!