Do you think Zurich offers any net advantages over NYC or the Bay when it comes to aggressive savings? It seems like salaries are about the same and living costs are higher (at least based on the few times I've visited).
Zurich is not particularly on the border, but I have to go there anyway for various reasons once in a while and usually I come back with a suitcase full of food.
Also dentists in Germany are bound to fixed prices for certain things like checkups (a checkup in Germany costs like 23 Euro), so that is also massively cheaper and justifies the ride.
You don't have the possibility to win on this geographic arbitrage in NYC or the Bay area. Although there "crazy" salaries (>200k USD / year) are probably more common than here.