my wife and i make north of 100M/yr and saving 30M per year is far from easy with a kid. between your mortgage/rent payment, daycare, normal bills (insurance, phone, utilities, etc.), and one car payment, you are looking at a minimum of 3000 in monthly expenses before you put a scrap of food on the table, gas in your car, or have any sort of entertainment. assuming you take home ~75% of your income after taxes and pre-tax deductions, you are starting with $6,250/month in income and are expected to save $2,500 of it? doable maybe, easy, hell 2 da naw.
Well, paying down your mortgage counts as saving, just not the interest, property taxes and maintenance of the property.
I'm not saying it's easy, but it's possible if you prioritize. You may not be able to live the middle class lifestyle you want, but this is what I plan on doing with a $90k income
30k goes to taxes so we have $60k after tax
rent $400/month. This is possible if you live with roommates and don't have to be right in the city or the nicest areas.
Utilities: $100/month, you don't need fancy HBO and sports packages or a home phone. Basic cable, internet and Air Conditioning/heat will do
Car: well I have a car that my parents gave to me (lucky I know). You don't need a car if you live in an area with good public transportation. I also biked 3.5 miles to work each day over the summer. If you must have a car, you can find one that works for $6k, you don't need anything new or fancy. Let's say $200/month
Car insurance: if you must have a car, you'll have to pay about $100/month for this as well.
Gas: $100 month, if you're commute is longer, ride the train or move
Food: $200 month (assuming one person and you only eat food from the grocery store)
clothes: I have accumulated a lifetime worth of clothes already, but let's say an extra $100/month is reasonable
Cell phone: $100/month (amortized new phone cost with 2 year plan). Splurging a little here
Furniture: Once again nothing fancy is needed, and it only needs to be bought every decade or so. $100/month to overestimate
And that pretty much covers your basic needs with even a little bit of spoiling yourself. It assumes you only provide for one person. Kids are both expensive and a choice. This comes down to $1400/month. Now realistically, I'm gonna throw in another $400/month for fun stuff like going out to eat, movies and drinking. So $1800/month. We have after tax salary of $5000/month so we save $3200/month or $38,400 a year. So just short of the $40k/goal, but I counted the $200/month for the car which I won't actually have to spend since I'm spoiled so, that's how I plan to get to $40k