Entrepreneur Tori Dunlap Got Rich on an Average Salary — Here’s the One Wealth Mistake She Avoided
Tori Dunlap is a self-made millionaire, money expert and founder of Her First $100K, a financial education platform focused on helping women build wealth. She built her first $100,000 on an average starting salary. She then went on to make her first million dollars in the same 650-square-foot apartment she'd been living in.
She had lived there for four years, through multiple raises and as her business began bringing in serious money. Long before the million-dollar milestone, Dunlap was earning $55,000 a year in her first corporate marketing job and working toward $100,000 in savings and investments by age 25. She reached it shortly after her 25th birthday, while Her First $100K was still a side project.
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Below is the one money mistake she avoided to grow her wealth without sacrificing the things she loved.
Her Salary Grew, but Her Lifestyle Didn’t Follow
One decision, she said, made a particularly big difference: avoiding lifestyle inflation as her income grew.
“Every time my income went up, I made sure my spending didn't automatically follow it,” Dunlap told MoneyLion in an exclusive interview. “I would buy myself something nice and make one tangible upgrade to my life — the rest went to savings.”
Dunlap’s salary climbed from $55,000 to $66,000, then $70,000 and around $77,000 before she left corporate life. Instead of letting each raise disappear into a more expensive lifestyle, she put more money toward her future.
“It was boring on purpose,” she said, explaining that whenever she received a raise, she increased her automatic savings percentage before getting used to the extra money in her checking account.
“You genuinely cannot miss money you never see land in your checking account,” she said.
She started small and gradually worked her way up to automatically saving 27% of her take-home pay. She also chose not to upgrade one of her biggest expenses as her income grew — her housing.
“I lived in the same one-bedroom apartment in Seattle for four years. Through multiple raises,” Dunlap said. “Even after Her First $100K started making real money on the side, I didn't move. I literally made my first $1 million in a 650 square foot apartment.”
How $55K Became $100K
That $100,000 milestone didn’t come from her salary alone, something Dunlap is transparent about.
She graduated from college without student loan debt. Her parents had saved some money toward tuition while Dunlap worked three campus jobs and earned scholarships. She also brought in extra money through freelance social media work and the early days of Her First $100K.
Saving, investing and earning extra income, while keeping her expenses from rising with her salary, helped Dunlap reach $100,000.
Her money was working, too. At 22, Dunlap opened a Roth IRA — a retirement account that allows investments to grow tax-free and began contributing the maximum amount each year.
“A real chunk of that $100,000 wasn't cash I physically put in, it was investment growth,” she said.
What If There’s Barely Anything Left To Save?
Of course, “save more” sounds very different when rent, groceries, childcare and other bills have already eaten through a paycheck. Dunlap doesn’t pretend otherwise.
“If you truly have nothing left after the basics, that's not a ‘you’ problem to budget your way out of,” she said.
Rather than immediately cutting something enjoyable, she recommended trying to reduce a recurring expense such as a phone plan, insurance rate or credit card interest rate. If $5 or $10 per paycheck is all someone can save, she said to start there.
“You’re not trying to get rich off that five dollars,” Dunlap said. “You’re trying to have the system already built and running by the time there’s more money to point at it.”
When a raise or bonus comes, the system is already in place to direct more of that money toward savings.
She Still Ate Out and Traveled
Here’s where Dunlap’s approach breaks with some familiar wealth-building advice. She wasn’t interested in reaching $100,000 by stripping all the fun out of her life. Two things in particular remained in her budget.
“Travel and eating out, without apology,” she said.
She traveled internationally and ate out regularly while saving toward her goal. After crossing $100,000, she celebrated with a trip to Europe with her friend Kristine.
“I hate the oatmeal-and-ramen version of this story that gets told about women who build wealth, like joy is the thing you're supposed to trade away,” Dunlap said. “Women are allowed to have hobbies. Women are allowed to buy things that bring them joy while they're also being financially responsible.” And, of course, this applies to everyone.
For Dunlap, avoiding lifestyle inflation wasn’t about spending as little as possible. It meant choosing what was worth spending money on without letting every raise make her life more expensive.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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