His mother told him to save his cash when he was young.

(so when he had a job for a several years, he actually accumulated savings because he lived at a very cheap place, ate fast food and shopped at the 99 cents store.  I suppose that's one redeeming trait of him- he knows how to not blow his money on video games.  Just play the free ones on the internet)

Despite that I suspect by 2016 he's probably in lots of loan debt and in threat of being evicted from a very cheap apartment.  So ending up in the playplace is a godsend to him since it means he won't be on the streets.