Most people can without much trouble. Income follows a statistical distribution. It follows that most people could choose to live the lifestyle of someone earni

Most people can without much trouble. Income follows a statistical distribution. It follows that most people could choose to live the lifestyle of someone earning 10% less than them and save 10% of their income per month, building a buffer that grows by about one month per year. You are right in that they have 632 reasons they couldn't possibly do that, but they are clearly wrong since other people are. The correct thing to do is to realise that having a little bit of financial stability is a higher priority than those reasons in the majority of cases. Or option B, which is figure out a way to earn more and keep lifestyle inflation in check. In theory, everyone should be able to take that path. > And most people who do save a lot have a much higher income than is average in their area. Cause or effect? Because if you save consistently you are going to automatically have a higher income than your more average peers. You all have the same average income but savers supplement that with passive income.