Even though it may seem like one is making more money, just as much is spent in surviving.

【直译】看起来人们赚的钱好像比原来多了，可实际上，恰恰同样多的钱也花在了生存上。

这个句子省略了有关成分，等于：

Even though it may look like people are making more money, just as much as that amount is spent in surviving.

把as much as 看作限定语，修饰量词。意为“多达，差不多，和......一样多的”。as many as...也有该用法。例如：

As much as half a foot of snow has fallen in Tianjin. 天津已经下了半英尺厚的雪。

At this weather analysis center, as many as 35 different charts were constructed for a given time.当时在这个气象分析中心，要为同一个规定的时间绘制多达35 种不同的图表。