[slowhand09]

Thats a terrible best case. With a beater car you can deliver pizza and make $1500 a month in most metropolitan areas. Put aside a small emergency fund. Pay off debts, smallest to largest to build psychological momentum. Once debts are paid, start saving for home if you want. And put 15% in a retirement plan. People go to college paying their way while doing this. They live frugally now and benefit later. They major in lucrative subjects. And they earn good money after (and sometimes before) graduating with minimal debt. It can be done.

[hultner]

It wasn't supposed to be best or worst cases, it was just supposed to show that living under your means do matter and that someone with a fraction of the disposable income of a high earner can still earn more in the long run by saving regularly, obviously a high salaried person with the same mindset will earn even more but that's beside the point. The point was that cash flow management do matter.

I could have made a case with a even higher earner living even more lavish, racking up credit card debt and payday loans, buying stuff on installment ending up even worse with debt interest eating up much of the cash flow, here I simply compared someone living under their means with a higher salaried person living at their means (never beyond).