My effective income is $17,280, pre-tax. Even pared back to that, I've accumulated about $3,000 in savings over a year. It helps not to buy stuff. Like, at all.

My effective income is $17,280, pre-tax. Even pared back to that, I've accumulated about $3,000 in savings over a year. It helps not to buy stuff. Like, at all. I have only 14 major physical possessions, including where I live and "clothing" and "tools" as single objects. I have much more software, most of it purchased at steep discounts through Steam or the App Store/Market. Spotify provides music. Surplus monthly income is roughly $500. It's been a pretty successful experiment. So saving at low incomes is very possible. What I think bears mention is that this is mostly possible because of my age and disposition; I'm young and I'm picky, so I neither pile up expenses nor have a burning desire to possess most things.