I doubt the author sees being frugal as a rut and I doubt that the author sees "getting more" as advancement. You and the other are both human and normal regardless.
The author's outlook on life is completely valid, so is his partner's, so is yours. Your outlooks has nothing to do with social media, but maybe his partner's really did. We only have the author's words to go by for this story.
I'm not criticizing his own choices. What I'm surprised at is his lack of empathy for his partner's. We have only one side of the story, but it does seem very one-sided.
It's a dialog he is creating as a summary of many discussions. In his version of the story they both communicate well and seem to hear each other, but not agree on life. Then his takeaway is that she didn't hear him, which was an odd take.
The author's outlook on life is completely valid, so is his partner's, so is yours. Your outlooks has nothing to do with social media, but maybe his partner's really did. We only have the author's words to go by for this story.