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Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

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Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#41

Post by gamegoblin »

wpietri wrote: post #37

There's a meta-rule that's been very helpful to me: never change today's rules. For example, for the last 6 months I've been changing what I eat. Sometimes the rules I've picked seem like such a good idea, but turn out to be really challenging. Does that mean I've been too optimistic setting my goals? Or just that I'm in the middle of useful struggle? By deciding that I'll only change tomorrow's rules, never today's,…

That is an awesome idea.

What I do is tell myself "I'll start this activity, and if I still don't want to do it after 5 minutes, I'll stop"

Chances are, after 5 minutes, I actually want to keep going. The human desire to not leave something undone works in your favor.

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#42

Post by mck- »

Read SICP, take MIT's 6.001 and learn Lisp -- it'll get you ready for any other language you'll pick up. Then take any number of free courses online on Coursera, Udacity, Codeschool...

This is what I did after I quit being a trader at an Investment Bank, and moved to the Chinese country-side for 8 months of re-education :)

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#43

Post by cschep »

bediger4000 wrote: post #34

If you're going to go to a bar and socialize, get a low-priced single malt scotch, and really stretch it out. Bartenders will let you nurse a single scotch far longer than the equivalent dollar amount of beer. Also, most people's bodies recognize that scotch isn't all that good for them, so you will feel biological pressure to not drink very much at all.

This is a great socializing hack.

Extreme version: tall soda w/ lime. some bars won't even charge you because they will assume you're driving and want to encourage responsible behavior, and no one will bother you about "come on just one drink!" because it looks so much like a voda/gin and soda.

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#44

Post by burritofanatic »

It felt good to have a regular job after leaving a law firm when I did that myself a few years ago. I ended up working as a lowly CSR for something I considered my passion at the time. After a couple unexpected transitions, I've picked up coding and am doing that full time remotely at home now.

People here are right: Separation between time and work, Food - don't eat too much of it, and Humans - you need that contact.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#45

Post by nickthemagicman »

jasonkester wrote: post #30

"Guy on the beach with a laptop". Seriously, lots of time/little money is why Thailand was invented in the first place. Rock up on Tonsai beach today, just as the high season is winding down and you'll have no problem negotiating a bungalow for less than $300/month if you tell them you plan to stay a while. They have good enough internet for casual remote work, good power, awesome rock climbing, Australian girls sipp…

Dont get kidnapped.

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#46

Post by avn2109 »

3pt14159 wrote: post #5

Get a good kitchen set and starting making your own meals. Spend two weeks where you make every meal you eat, so you break the habit of eating out. Also continue to surround yourself with fantastic people, it will keep you from getting depressed. Exercise (jogging, especially) is a very economical and beneficial pastime. Start that as soon as possible.

Here's a vote strongly in favor of exercise, but against steady-state cardio such as jogging. [0]

[0] http://www.simplyshredded.com/cardio-for-fat-loss-high-inten...

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#49

Post by namenotrequired »

aculver wrote: post #28
namenotrequired wrote: post #10

Congratulations on taking the big jump and going on a new adventure! I'm hoping to be in a similar situation in the future (uni student with a gap of up to 7 months because I'm ahead of the curriculum, and I have maybe ~€3k in savings, while living with my parents). Here's some ideas I had for myself. - Travel cheaply. I have friends in many parts of the world and hopefully some of them will let me stay with them. I…

There's really no need to freelance on a "pay what you want" basis. Just set a rate and stick to it. If you don't need the money, set the rate higher, not lower, because it will filter out projects where a) people don't understand the value you're providing or b) you're not actually providing enough value for them to justify paying you your normal rate. There's no need to do work like that, especially when you can be…

Thanks a lot for the advice!

One reason I was considering PWYW is just to try it out because it sounds great in theory, and I'd love to see how it works out in practice. And the best time to learn that is when I don't rely on the money to stay alive. I've done some research of course, and I'd be careful to only work with people I trust and on projects I'm excited about.

Another reason was that I'd want to do a job I have little or no experience in yet, so it's well possible that I don't manage to provide any value to my first clients.

But perhaps freelancing before I have a portfolio is always a bad idea, period? I don't know.

> Also, that might sound like a lot of savings now, but ...

Don't worry, it doesn't :) It's simply that until I start traveling or move out, I'll need little to none of it - assuming no emergencies. Of course that's a ridiculous assumption to make, so I probably shouldn't allow myself to go much lower (thanks for the implicit reminder!). I guess I shouldn't travel without making some income too.

Re: Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?

#50

Post by namenotrequired »

wpietri wrote: post #35
aculver wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's really no need to freelance on a "pay what you want" basis. Just set a rate and stick to it. If you don't need the money, set the rate higher, not lower, because it will filter out projects where a) people don't understand the value you're providing or b) you're not actually providing enough value for them to justify paying you your normal rate. There's no need to do work like that, especially when you can be…

Amen on the freelancing. Most people judge contractors the same way they judge wine: they look at the sticker price and figure it's meaningful. The more you charge, the better your clients listen to you. Which often means the better you can serve them.

Thanks, this is a good point I hadn't considered.
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