I went to University and afterwards got a commission in the military as an officer but non flying (US military). Pay was over $4000 per month after taxes for the first year, and by the time I got out, I was around $6000 per month after taxes. I also did a 6 month deployment and put everything in storage, and during this time I was getting paid an extra $1700 per month tax free, and since everything was in storage, I had no rent, no utility bills, and I even put my cellphone on hold so I didnīt even have a cellphone bill.
Also, even though I was married and living in America where you NEED a car, my wife and I only had one car to save money.
Additionally, I was lucky because being in the military, I qualified for certain educational entitlements, which paid for 60% of my FAA IR and CPL, plus flight test fees and written test fees. That saved me a bunch of money that I was able to use for the JAA conversion after I moved to Europe.
We also did other things to save money, for example we bought a lot of second hand goods for our first baby, like a changing table and a crib, baby swing, wipey warmer. At first, we felt like Ļthis is our first baby and we are buying second hand goods?Ļ But, we were really glad, because we didnīt even use half the stuff, and the kids grow out of most of the stuff so fast. And then we were able to turn around and sell it to someone else for the same price. You know those baby mobiles, the things that hang over the crib so they can look at it spin around? The babies get bored after about 2 days of looking at it, before you know it, they are 10 months old and already know how to operate the DVD player and an iPhone. Basically, you start looking for ways to save money. Going out and buying a brand new car and a motorcycle and blowing money on an awesome TV while trying to pay for flight training is difficult unless you are just rolling in money.
After finishing the conversion, I was able to find a job in my town at a flight school where they hired me even before doing the FI rating. (I also got another job offer at another flight school around the same time). So I plan on doing this for awhile, as I enjoy it, until I find a better paying job flying airplanes.