I was going to say that $40,000 USD is an exorbitant amount of money for a single to spend when not having to pay for housing costs, but then I saw that the lady in question pays for part of her parents' expenses and also gives a significant amount to charity. So her real savings rate is a fair bit higher than 60%, even. Good on her, and great to see the American dream at work. Her parents went to the States with so little, and yet their children are high achieving high earners. As Tony Montana would say...she loved the American dream, with a vengeance.
Yes, she's pretty frugal. Adding up numbers from the chart, her expenses are US$1349/month, less than $16,200/year. That includes the $200/mo for "business." I guess that's startup investment? (Maybe I misread.) If that pays off, her true living expenses are $1149/month (under $13,800/year). Her tithe adds another $8,000 or so; the rest is savings and financial investment.
I got 60% by counting the tithe as an expense and subtracting from her take-home pay:
16,200 living expense + business expense
8,000 tithe
-------
24,200 total spending
after-tax income 5383 x 12 = 64,600
(America does have taxes!)
savings/investment:
64,600
24,200
-------
40,400
40,400 savings /64,600 income = 62% give or take. If we count the business expense as investment, would be close to 80% savings rate without tithing. I think.
Just curious. Where do you get $40,000 as her expense?
ETA: Reading the article again, my calculations above are wrong - because a large portion of her savings is allocated to pay for her sister's tuition. I counted them as investment, so the calculations only show what her savings rate would be if she weren't as generous with her family. But that misses the real point, I suppose, which is how the family lovingly invests in each other. Heartwarming.
