I think I was sorely misunderstood ...the point is to not spend on what you don't need - whether that's 15% of your income, or 80%, it was there to illustrate just that. When I started working at 18, my living expenses could've been 100% of my income if I even tried to live "like average". I lived like I was on welfare and saved my money and because of that, avoided the typical mid-20s credit card sinkhole, the fancy cars, and all the other crap nobody really needs. Career trajectory aside, the savings from the years when it was the hardest to save were the only way to get to this point.