Maybe not for the rest of your life, but the first few years out of college haven't been fun. I'll give you my example:
Instruct/work at an FBO part time..$1800/month
Instruct full time at a university ...$1600/month (free healthcare and tuition to start working on my masters)
First regional...$22.95/hr (Somewhere around $1800 a month)
Second regional $22.95/hr (Flying more here, $2200 a month)
Throw on that:
$600/month to college loans
$400/month paying off credit cards (have those gone by the end of the year)
$300/month crashpad
After all is said and done, I have about $400 to get myself through the month. That basically allows me to eat out once per trip (I pack my lunch on trips) and keep the gas tank on my jeep at about 1/2 tank.
I've lived paycheck to paycheck for the last four years. I'm getting pretty tired of it.
Second year would have brought about $600-800/month pay raise which would have been a HUGE improvement in quality of life becuase I live within my means. However, I'm getting furloughed in two weeks so I'm scrambling to find a new job.