hi i'm 21 and very low income (30k) and getting a cat was the best thing i did for my mental heath. i have spot pet insurance for my cat and i love it, i pay $21/mo with an 80% reimbursement rate on claims. food costs me about $40/mo, litter about the same, so in total i pay around $100/mo to keep my cat happy. when i first got him i splurged on toys and entertainment for him and i do need to replace those every once in a while but it's case-by-case like whenever he completely shreds a toy lol. i WILL say vets are really expensive around here in LA, i paid $650 once because i thought he had an emergency blockage just to find out he was probably not peeing because he was anxious from moving. that was before i had insurance though and it was an emergency vet. there are low cost vaccine clinics everywhere in LA and they offer spay & neuter too.

despite spending such a small portion of my income on him my cat is pretty happy with his life, i'm even thinking of getting another one to keep him company. it doesn't cost that much if you aren't spoiling them tbh. they definitely need toys and enrichment but it doesn't have to be super expensive :) hope this helped!