How We Saved $6,000 a Month (Without Feeling Deprived)
When people hear that my wife and I saved $6,000 per month for several years, their first reaction is usually:
“That sounds insane.”
But I promise — it wasn’t extreme. We weren’t clipping coupons or skipping lattes. We just followed a simple structure:
One third of our gross income to housing, one third to lifestyle, and one third to savings.
That’s it. No budgeting apps. No restrictive lifestyle. Just consistency.
Here’s how it worked — and how this one rule helped us buy multiple properties and build a net worth of $1M before 35.
🧮 The 1/3 Rule
Combined, my wife and I earned about $200,000/year before taxes.
We split our finances into three big buckets:
| Category | Monthly Amount | What It Covered |
|---|---|---|
| 🏠 Housing | ~$5,500 | Mortgage, insurance, property tax |
| 🛒 Lifestyle | ~$5,500 | Food, travel, childcare, fun, everything else |
| 💰 Savings | ~$6,000 | 401(k), Roth IRA, brokerage, STR savings |
The key was never perfection. It was automation. Our savings were auto-drafted before we had the chance to spend them. Once that was dialed in, it felt effortless.
💡 Why a Simple System Beats a Perfect Budget
A lot of people get hung up on budgeting tools, daily tracking, and spreadsheets.
That’s not how we did it.
We focused on:
- Keeping fixed costs reasonable
- Not letting lifestyle creep eat our raises
- Investing consistently every month
By doing that, we avoided financial burnout and still lived well — we traveled, ate out, bought a home, and had a kid during this time.
🏡 The Results
With $6,000/month in savings:
- We built up a cash buffer
- We maxed out our retirement accounts
- And we saved enough for down payments on two more properties
Once those were in place, the growth took care of itself.
Rental income + portfolio compounding = cruise control to $1 million.
🧠 If Our Savings Rate Sounds Crazy, It’s Not
Yes, $6,000/month is a lot. But we weren’t tech founders or crypto millionaires. We were two full-time professionals making $100k each — a strong but not uncommon household income.
We just didn’t overspend. That’s it.
✅ Takeaway
You don’t need to track every penny.
You need a system that’s easy to follow and lets you consistently save.
The 1/3 rule worked for us.
Find your version — and automate it.