I did just water the plant last night so I dont know if that changes what youre thinking with the soil.

This is the soil I have https://www.amazon.com/Hoffman-10404-Organic-Cactus-Succulent/dp/B006MY5KJO?th=1

Can this plant be saved or is it pretty much a goner? And if it is rotted that doesnt explain the leaning. Any idea why that might have happened? I thought originally it was leaning towards light but considering where it was and the fact that it was leaning away from light that doesnt make sense.

The link didn't say what's in the mix, but it looks to be very peat heavy which doesn't work well with cacti and succulents even though that's what it's marketed for.

You need a really chunky mix. 5:1:1, or gritty would be even better for this application.

What I think happened is the soil retains too much water for too long and the plant started to rot.

how often were you watering and what were you using to tell if it needed water?

You may be able to save some of it, maybe not. Cut above the rotted part, and keep cutting in small increments until you see flesh without any dark spots. If you have any plant left, let it callus for few hours or a day just laying it on newspaper or kitchen towels. After, it should be potted into well draining mix.

Unfortunately, most bagged soil are not as good as they are advertised to be. Simple fix would be to get a bag of perlite, sift thru ordinary kitchen sieve to get rid of dust and smallest particles. Mix min 50/50 with the C&S soil; you could use more perlite (60%).

Not sure about the pot, is the saucer attached to it? The often do not offer very good drainage.

Btw, leaning happened since stem has been rotting, got weak and couldn't support plant anymore. Soil in your pot is very wet, and that was the reason for rot.

To be honest I was doing what I thought was a poor job of watering it. The tag the plant came with said to water once a week. I was watering it more like every 2 weeks and up until a few days ago the soil was dry all the time. I never soaked the soil all the way through.

I had given it more water than usual last week because the leaves had been shedding or turning white and I thought it was getting thirsty. But on normal waterings it wasnt more than 4oz I would guess and I determined when to water by either length of time since the last watering or sometimes the leaves looked a little shriveled.

The pot itself has a built in saucer with a drain hole at the bottom. When I had re-soiled the pot I did notice the roots hadn't branched out that much from its original size.

Every 2 weeks shouldn't be much problem with succulents, unless you live in very hot climate. Plant could get thirsty, but overall it recovers better from under watering than over watering. Leaves could start changing color, texture and falling off for either reason, but it looks different: overwatered leaves are usually soft, very light color (almost translucent). If too dry, they usually start to shrivel a turn dry.

Damaged roots can't take much water in, so that could have been problem too. If they were mostly dead, and water would just start damaging the stem.

If you cut the top off as I suggested - and there is enough of healthy stem left -, there is a chance of regrowing the plant. Once you pot it up, do not water until roots start growing - usually indicated by new growth.

The plump fallen leaves will likely also take root. But as others have mentioned -- get a better draining media. Furthermore, that plant needs a lot more light.

I'll try the cutting the stem and seeing what happens. I dont ive in a hot climate (chicago) and there really isnt much more light I can give it. I have east and west facing windows only. I could try the east windows because at the moment its facing west.

I live in similar climate (Ontario, Canada). I have some succulents in a window - mostly ones that do not need strong sunlight. Majority are under supplemental lights. If you have only 1 or few plants, simple desk lamp with a CFL bulb that is 100W equivalent and high k (I use 6500k), would help. There are also clamp-on light fixtures that are inexpensive. If you decide to use any, start with plant further away, moving bit closer every few days to acclimatize to better light.

Cutting the damaged/rotted part off should be done ASAP as rot spreads quickly. You could take photos of pruned stem and post here if not sure.

As Paul pointed out, healthy leaves may root for you. Just leave them on top of the potting mix; roots or plantlets should start growing & will take moisture and nutrients from mother leaf (not the yellow leaves). Make sure the leaves are not broken, twist them off gently. They do not need strong light to begin with and should not be kept wet. Many start growing even placed on a tray or paper towel.

This is what I have to work with. Even before cutting the stem was mentioned in the thread the rot has spread most of the way up the stem (bottom right of photo). I think I have about an inch to work with and those are the remaining leaves. Plus the dirt that contains the roots...which I dont know if that helps anyone any but there it is.

I can't see the end of remaining stem. Close up showing just the cut end would help. If healthy, take off lowest leaf, let callus and then pot into dry, fast draining mix. Keep warm and maybe it will start growing roots. It is really small and may or may not survive.

Leaves should be left just on a surface of mix, or just touching it and if healthy enough, they may start growing roots and/or plantlets. here is one I just 'draped' over the rim of pot approx. week ago and is already sending out roots: