$15,000 in savings
$1,600 a month in costs
Just quit my job so don't know exactly how long it will last
Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
61–70 of 76 posts
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#622-3 years worth of living expenses. Should give me plenty of runway to get my business off the ground...
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#63On the order of $4,000, though in my circumstances it was less risky than that number would suggest, since I already had covered-the-day-job cash flow from Bingo Card Creator and strong odds of successfully filling a consulting pipeline by that point. (I'm not counting my retirement account, which was in the low five figures, since I wasn't planning on touching it for any reason short of "I'm dying in the snow.")
"I'm dying in the snow" hahaha.... Good enough reason, had to comment because it made me laugh right out loud..
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#64$10k liquid + $15k in withheld taxes the government owes me. At least 5-8x that in an HSA, 401k, SEP, IRAs, Roth IRAs and tax-advantaged government bonds paying 7.5% that I bought a few months after I cashed out of the Janus fund in Dec 1999. (My broker fired me for that) I'm going to hold on to those bonds as long as I can, and I'd much rather borrow against the equity of the "home" I own at a lower rate. (I bought…
"I have no idea why anybody buys a single family house;" I can give you a few personal reasons which hopefully resonates with a few others. I prefer having a "detached" home. I dont want the hassle of sharing anything with anyone. That does not mean I dont want neighbors. But I am not interested in hearing when my neighbor flushes their toilet. I like having a backyard with some vegetation. I like having a driveway t…
I've got a kid. There's a kid in the other house.
I grew up in Manchester NH where housing prices are high in the suburbs where I grew up (that's how I traded a 1200 sq ft house for a 75 acre farm with two houses and a barn the size of an aircraft hangar.)
In a really nice neighborhood in downtown (w/ good access to the freeway as well as a local grocery store 2 blocks away, as well as a dunkin donuts and a great ice cream stand not to mention a municipal pool and a beautiful park with a big pond and hiking trails) my uncle bought a huge 3 story house that was "luxury housing" in 1910, lived on the first floor, put up his mother and sister on the second floor, rented out the third floor to one family since at least 1976, finished 1/3 of the basement and built an addition on the first floor, raised 2 kids.
His property values are "depressed" compared to an array of 2 story colonials that were built in 1998 next to the intersection of Rt 93 and 101 (we measured 80 db noise levels outside.) These houses are made of chipboard (we hit "peak wood" 15 years ago and nobody noticed) and they suffered 90% mortality for the yews planted on the foundations because the idiot contractors didn't know that you're supposed to take the burlap bag off yew plants when you plant them.
But I guess they are expensive because of the liquidity premium that you can sell go get an equally bad house in Texas or Las Vegas or anywhere.
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#65In my case, I had something like 2,500 saved up before quitting my construction industry related job, moving to Mexico and giving myself 2 months to become a freelance writer. Worked out after all, though it was nerve wracking
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#66I was making around $3000 before leaving my job (it's very good money for Turkey) and I had $3000 when I left my company. It's been almost 3 months now and I have $1000 more. My project is ready to sell. And we will start selling next week. I hope I can survive.
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seriously, how do you do this? My family makes a good income, own a modest home, drive 10 year old cars, have $0 debt ex-mortgage and don't do exotic trips. We put 20% away for retirement. Our baseline cost to live including mortgage, property tax, food & minimal extras is probably around $45k. Our area has a tight rental market, so owning the house is a net money saver. Other than cannibalizing retirement, building…
When I scored my first job out of school, I moved out into a tiny apartment in downtown Toronto—walking distance from the office. I managed to save about half of my after-tax income for a year and a half which came out to $26k. No car, no family to support, no travel, no expensive purchases (I remember deliberating for weeks about buying an iPod Nano). Doubt I could have done it with a family to support and multiple…
My situation was extremely similar, though I had a car and half my salary for the year came out to more like 20k. Two years and a lot of raises later I am maintaining the same lifestyle, still have a roommate + a fairly cheap apartment, and putting away around 70% of my salary each month.
Not having any dependents helps...a lot.
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#68I wish I knew more about these stories. How OLD were you? That's key to me. It's one thing to quit your job when you are 23; another entirely if you are 51. I'm assuming the average age of the commenters below is 28.
There should be a formula that includes terms for age, likely earning potential on re-entry to job market, savings, debt, assets (like a paid-off house), % completion of the start-up project you're leaving for, monthly influx from startup project when you quit, etc., etc. The formula would pop out a single number, the Gutsy Factor.
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#69I only had about $2000 (half a month's paycheck at the time), but the change in work was prompted by a multi-month consulting gig that was paying in the low five figures over the course of a few months. My advice is to start looking for work before you leave your industry job - think if it as though you're doing lean testing on your product, except your product is yourself. If you can't find clients while at your day…
I have a similar story. I only saved up about $2000 too, but I also had a 1-month consulting gig that would pay me about 5 months' salary. That was enough to spur me to quit my job and start working on my own. I earned over a year's salary in the past 3 months since I quit and haven't looked back since.
Re: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?
#70I only had about $2000 (half a month's paycheck at the time), but the change in work was prompted by a multi-month consulting gig that was paying in the low five figures over the course of a few months. My advice is to start looking for work before you leave your industry job - think if it as though you're doing lean testing on your product, except your product is yourself. If you can't find clients while at your day…
I have a similar story. I only saved up about $2000 too, but I also had a 1-month consulting gig that would pay me about 5 months' salary. That was enough to spur me to quit my job and start working on my own. I earned over a year's salary in the past 3 months since I quit and haven't looked back since.
Also, I'm 35 years old, so not just some kid who could afford to take risks. Just was never able to save up $ on a salary, went through a few periods of unemployment, and a few of my other startups failed. I'm finally on course to make some real dough and it never would've happened if I didn't quit.