It sounds like he is blessed to have an uncle in his life that cares enough to talk with him on a personal level about matters of life.

I would answer your question a couple of ways but it's all relative to each persons goals and ability to be frugal with their money. First he needs to have a vision with his goals in mind (which it sounds like you are trying to point that out to him). Then he needs to develop of plan on how to achieve those goals. Thirdly he needs to really understand the principles of money, and the compounding affect of those principles so that he can put his money to work for him, rather than him working for his money the rest of his life. There are several good books that I would recommend that with help foster those goals and a really good understanding of how to achieve them.

1.The Travelers Gift - A really good book that focuses on the 7 principles of success.

2. Rich Dad Poor Dad - Will give him a good understanding of the principles of money, and will teach him how to put his money to work for him so that he can do those things that you speak of at a much younger age.

3. Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant: A guide to financial freedom

A vision with long term goals, a strong desire to achieve them, a strong work ethic, and a never give up attitude will be much more valuable to him in life than a high priced education will ever be. Just look at the history of some of the worlds most successful self made (not inherited) men and you will find that many of them never graduated college. Not saying college isn't important but these other things that I listed will help him achieve his goals with a higher success rate if he TRULY attains them.

Now to answer your actual question. I've seen people who are frugal who still enjoy life and pretty much do the things they want on 50k per year and I've seen people who make 120k live check to check do to their spending habits. It's all relative to understanding how to get the most out of what you have.