[mr_pink]

Paycheck calculator shows me that $120K [1] in CA leaves you with $6,220 after-tax monthly income. If you really made about as much, and managed to save ~$5.5K a month, then you spent only ~$660 a month, which is just impossible, sorry. Even if you're sharing a 1BR with several roommates, which, by the way, is not really an option for many.

[1] Googling "average software engineer salary california" shows figures ranging from 107k to 135k, 120k seems to be more or less the median of Google's figures.

Edit: added footnote

[nostrademons]

It was 2009-2010, so rents were lower, but my paycheck was lower as well (I started at only $100K/year base, compared to the ... well, much higher amount a few years later). After taxes and 401k, I netted $5400/month. 18 months encompassed 2 bonus cycles, so about $40K of that was bonuses, after tax. My rent was $900/month with roommates, and then $1400/month in the 1BR, and total monthly expenditures were about $2K. I was packing away about $3.5K/month; 18 months of that is $63K, +$40K from bonuses = just over $100K.

[linkregister]

Thanks for sharing your numbers.

You must admit that $40k bonus after tax is a huge, atypical amount of money. It makes your effective yearly income to be about $156k.

It reminds me of the mrmoneymustache.com guy, saying "anyone can retire early! Just look at me, all I had to do was get $1M in stock from Cisco!"

No disrespect intended for you; I'm sure compared to some of your friends you lived frugally. The point I'm making is that to duplicate your living standard today, very few comparable developers would be able approach your level of savings.

[nostrademons]

It's over 2 years. $20K or so after tax per year. A bit over $30K pre-tax.

Not sure what typical bonuses are these days, but I don't think that's out of line for a big tech company. Certainly stock grants can be much more than that, but it usually takes more than 18 months for them to amount to anything.

[ryandrake]

Thanks for sharing numbers. Wow, that's an amazing bonus, and you should feel fortunate! This is coming from someone who does work for a big tech company. I've never seen anything remotely close to that.

[user5994461]

It's out of line for people who are not at big tech companies with publicly traded stock or bonus.

[shawndumas]

not for the bay area; and really, that's the point...

[linkregister]

I will unequivocally state that a total comp of $150k+ for a new grad is at the very least, the top 5% of software development salaries for that level of experience.

[shawndumas]

was the op a new grad? sorry, I missed that. yes, $150k for a ncg in the first year is high. but honestly not that high, and for a 2nd year... doable from my experience [1].

[1: I am an engineering manager at Google]

[linkregister]

Yes, doable at Google, a company known for being at the top of the market in compensation.

The whole point of the original statement was "I made $X and saved $Y, it's not that hard." But when you examine the X and the Y, they are not representative at all!

It has similar merit to a lottery winner saying, "why can't you win the lottery too? All I did was buy a lottery ticket."

[mr_pink]

Well, good for you. I don't think your situation was "average" really, but kudos on the savings :) Coming from a guy in NYC whose monthly expenditures are through the roof...