I find simple haircuts to be quite cheap here (20 RMB to get my hair cut in shop downstairs from the apartment). Of course there are lot of expensive places too.

Local milk in our downstairs store is 16 RMB / litre.

I think the most important thing brought up here regarding finances is about the rent. You really need to be prepared financially for that. Most want a year in advance plus deposit and realtor fee if you use one (another months rent). You should try to pay less than a year... 6 months is often ok although I have usually paid only 3 months at a time. If you can't get what you want/need from your landlord, there are thousands of other apartments to rent. All other matters financially are quite low cost.

Addendum to my post: Chinese tea can be very very good when it has been bought by someone who really knows their stuff and knows how to prepare it. But its expensive, and much more time consuming than a typical English cuppa.

I've had no trouble at all with Chinese-made paracetemol aspirin etc. Local tea is excellent IF you like the way Chinese like tea - very unBritish, of course - frankly I don't care much about tea one way or another - local coffee beans are very acceptable, cost about $US 11-13 a pound, available only at a few shops or restaurants, mostly westerner-run.
I won't argue about 1980s-90s buildings (those before 1990 or so are being torn down) - Haali has a point about hygiene, but 'filthy' is too strong a word - but I will point out that many of them are homey, with trees and plants that haven't just been planted yesterday, residents that often know each other, kids running around acting like kids, old folks sitting outside chatting, a few dogs, not too many damn cars within the complex, etc. The newer high-rises here are more modern, but I find them sterile - however, I've never lived in one - wouldn't want to. There are also places in-between the 2 categories mentioned.
I've been here over 12 years.

Filthy isn't too strong a word for rentals. But these are rentals that are filthy. And sometimes it's grubby European renters that left them filthy. But again, rentals. Chinese people's own homes are homey like Alien described.

Yeah, as a couple of people pointed out, you need to scrape together six or seven months worth of rent all at once initially.

And if you're young and single, you will be going out to expat bars to drink, eat, and mingle. it adds up. And everyone, old or young, spends a good amount of rmb traveling to other parts of Yunnan, China, or SE Asia. But unless your employer f***s you over, I can't think of any English teacher anywhere I have met in China actually struggle to live on their allowance and salary. A few actually saved enough for one year of grad school, though most just travel or party.

There are advantages to high rise.
Above the 8th floor, mosquitoes are rare.
The higher up you get, the further away the street noise. This is not just traffic, but the hubbub of people.
Higher up, less dirt and dust from the streets, which can be bad in some areas due to construction, and at night the construction truck's wheels just throw it all up again.
Ground level pollution can be bad when the weather is unfavorable. AQI of 100 plus is common at some times of year in some parts of the city, 150 plus has been known.

High rise are generally wider spaced buildings. You get more light and less feeling of being overlooked.
High rise are more modern and people are, generally, less likely to leave trash on the stairs until they can be bothered to take it out.
As high rise are newer, they are generally better managed properties.
There are some nice low-rise, but these are rarer.

@ Alex: I don't understand: are you renting or do you own your place? I'm renting, my place isn't filthy, neither is the stairwell, though it could be cleaner. Many of my neighbors own.

I have had some shitty neighbors in the past, when renting. Working class area, low rise, old property. People would put the rubbish outside the door and leave it until they went downstairs to go out.
I am 100% certain I am not alone here.

@ Tiger: Mine is working class/lower middle class area, property over 20 years old, low rise. Some neighbors occasionally put rubbish outside as you say, wish they wouldn't - guess it depends on definition of shitty.

@Alien. I'm talking about the conditions of some vacant rentals units I looked at when I last looked for a place. Not commenting on qiaoqus as a whole which you seem to be. But I have lived in a grubby old low-rise complex where weeds were overgrown and any bike locked downstairs was gone overnight.