Saving a dollar is superior to earning a dollar

I have this concept for a while now, but haven't been able to convey it in writing thus far. I always debate myself on "earning more" vs "saving more" and many times "saving more" wins. Let's say you are an individual earning 60K taxable income in the state of California. Here is how every additional taxable dollar earned would get broken down:

Federal Tax(~18% of $1 earned) - $0.18
State Tax(~9% of $1 earned) - $0.09
SSN Tax(6.20% of $1 earned) - $0.062
Medicare Tax(1.45% of $1 earned) - $0.014
Net amount pocketed = $1-$0.18-$0.09-$0.062-$0.0145 = $0.65

So you would end up keeping only 65 cents in your pocket for every additional dollar earned. If you are in higher tax bracket you would end up keeping only 50 cents. Depending on your tax bracket you will have to earn anywhere between $1.70 to $2.00 in order to keep $1 in your pocket. On the other side cutting down $1 on luxuries or unnecessary expenses will always leave full $1 in your savings pocket. Now you know why "saving more" always wins in my brain. But in every day life I do both to reach my financial goals.

Disclosure: Do I really want less services from government? No, not at all. I am not against tax code. To make the concept look simple I did not consider few good facts such as SSN/Medicare benefits every tax payer receives during late ages, Unemployment and Disability taxes/benefits etc.

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