NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - When Tal and Amy Elliott, both 34, became husband and wife more than a decade ago, the childhood friends-turned-high school sweethearts vowed to be faithful to each other and their savings plan.

"We agreed when we got married that the first five years would be the 'suffering period' where we wouldn't spend anything," said Amy, recalling good-humoredly how seriously Tal took this promise. "He used to do stuff like get up early to read the neighbor's paper so he wouldn't have to buy his own."

Today the Victoria, Texas, couple still saves almost half of their combined salaries, but they're hardly suffering. Amy, who is a physician's assistant, and Tal, who recently left a 10-year teaching career to work as an investment representative, are just $75,000 shy of being millionaires. And if you include the equity in their house, which they own outright, they already are seven-figures rich.

To be sure, the Elliotts are proof of the power of investing early and regularly. Tal, for one, traces his thrifty habits back to the sixth grade, when he starting mowing lawns and retrieving golf balls and putting the proceeds in certificates of deposits. "I asked my dad if I could put my money in something other than CDs, and he told me I could go talk to the people at Edward Jones if I saved $10,000," said Tal, who was a senior in high school when he made good on his goal and opened his first brokerage account.

When Tal started teaching high school economics and coaching football after college, he was thrilled with the chance to invest in a tax-sheltered 403(b) plan. "Whatever it took to max out on the plan, I did it," said Tal, who eventually rolled his 403(b) money into an individual retirement account that is now worth more than $400,000. Amy, meanwhile, started investing in an IRA while still in medical school.

It's hard to believe the Elliotts could save that much on their own over 11 short years. They're the first to admit it was no walk in the park. Sacrifice was rule number one. And socking away half of their household income didn't hurt either.

Consider, for example, that you saved $20,000 a year in tax-deferred accounts, plus $15,000 in taxable accounts, with a 12 percent average return over the same period of time. Your stock portfolio would be worth $700,000 today, too.

For the Elliotts, though, it wasn't the promise of a large house or expensive cars that first motivated them to save. Rather, they wanted stability. "Both of our dads were contractors, and we saw how the economy could take you on a roller-coaster ride," said Tal.

Now that they've built a substantial nest egg, Amy and Tal let themselves splurge on vacations and dream about how they'd like to spend their retirement. Still, neither plans to stop working any time soon. "I haven't worked a day in my life I haven't had a great time," said Tal.

Besides, they seem to be having too much fun watching their net worth grow.

They continue to do whatever it takes to invest the maximum amount possible in their 401(k) plans. "We almost think of it as a bill we have to pay," said Tal. After putting money in their retirement accounts, the couple typically brings home about $5,000 a month. Of that they invest at least another $1,000 or, said Tal, "as much as Amy lets me get away with."

Although the couple has a diverse portfolio of individual stocks, bonds and mutual funds, they invest fairly conservatively. Tal says he avoided technology stocks, even when they could do no wrong. Instead, he's partial to value stocks, companies with consistent and rising dividends, and bonds.

So focused are the Elliotts on saving for the future, in fact, that their sense of financial discipline extends even to gift giving.

The couple jokingly recall Amy's birthday gift last year.

"I thought every woman wanted something from Neiman Marcus," Tal said.

"Maybe, but I got Neiman Marcus bonds," she laughed.