I don't like these headlines. Why does everything have to be clickbait these days?
I wouldn’t normally think calling this out is so important, but she’s using struggle porn as advertising for her businesses linked at the bottom of the article. She’s lying for profit.
She rents the house she lives in for more than the cost of her mortgage. She makes income from that there. They don't own a car. Her husband gets a free bus pass from work. No housing or transportation expenses. So what's left? Food?
Her husband works in tech (first Amazon, and now Google!) and saves 100% of his income. And they live off hers. They have like $1.7 million saved from his Amazon stock which should be a nice investment income too.
Their expenses are around $1000 per month.
Not that hard to imagine the math.
Being able to buy a house and rent it out for more than you pay is /hard/ because it's based on luck. No one in a major tech hub could start and do that right now. Houses in the bay regularly sell for $10k/month in total cost but rent for $5-6k. And then immediately say goodbye to 40%+ of your rental income to taxes. It's just not hard - it's luck.
They rent out the rest of the house including the living areas and kitchen.
That's some massive sacrifice. That's not luck. That's the willingness to give up massive amounts of comfort in exchange for money.
Not many are willing to do that.
I would also think that "90% of my income" is really "90% of our income", since they're married.