On Quitting • Hacker News Board

Re: On Quitting

#81

Post by caseysoftware » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:32 PM UTC

GFischer wrote: post #75

caseysoftware wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@johnward More likely you have a lot of optional things that you can trim away. Do you have cable? How often do you eat out? Do you smoke? Do you have a budget that you stick to? It's all about priorities. If you don't prioritize it, it won't happen. It's not easy and emergencies and unexpected bills come up but the freedom is amazing. Check out the Ramsey Plan. We wiped out most of our debt in about 2 years while sa…

You got me interested, but step 1 is already too steep, I guess I should convert it to local currency. And what's that thing about "mortgage"... Looks like it's too naïve, but it's good advice for people living in the U.S. and that have mortgages.

Yes, convert it to your local currency and skip over the steps that don't apply to you.

The point is that - like with most things - if you don't have a plan and you haven't defined success, you can't get there.

A plan doesn't make it easier but it makes you think about the details, gives you something to work against, and lets you track progress.

Re: On Quitting

#82

Post by gypsy_boots » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:33 PM UTC

presidentender wrote: post #3

But was there anything in particular wrong? Was there anything Dropbox should have done differently to keep her? I realize that some places are wrong for some people, in ways that can't be fixed. I'm just curious whether it's possible to articulate how Dropbox was wrong for the author.

I imagine she's still trying to sort those things out, and we may hear more about them later on. It sounds like the dust is just starting to settle and she's trying to make sense of the whole experience.

Re: On Quitting

#83

Post by caseysoftware » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:34 PM UTC

johnward wrote: post #72

caseysoftware wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@johnward More likely you have a lot of optional things that you can trim away. Do you have cable? How often do you eat out? Do you smoke? Do you have a budget that you stick to? It's all about priorities. If you don't prioritize it, it won't happen. It's not easy and emergencies and unexpected bills come up but the freedom is amazing. Check out the Ramsey Plan. We wiped out most of our debt in about 2 years while sa…

I appreciate the suggestions and trust me I'm working on it. I wasn't trying to turn this into a thread about my money issues. It's just that HN tends to have a lot of very young and very very well paid people who tend to think everyone else is in that same situation. I'm not sure they realize how fortunate they really are.

Agreed but even many of them squander it all and live paycheck to paycheck.

Unrelated: I know a bunch of the Watson team here in Austin. Good group, cool tech. :)

Re: On Quitting

#84

Post by purplelobster » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:40 PM UTC

gregd wrote: post #62

purplelobster wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you work in tech you should be able to save at least 30%. I save 60%, and I also live in the highest marginal tax rate country in the world. If you can't it probably means you live beyond your means.

Your numbers mean literally nothing to me. What do your expenses cost per month? Children? Food? Housing? Student loans? Car payment? What is your income tax rate? Sales tax rate? Insurance? Phone? Internet?

Number are rough because of different currencies, but:

Expenses: $1500

Children: none yet, but subsidized child care, paternity leave and other subsidies makes it pretty cheap

Food: $500

Housing: $400 (own apartment with my SO)

Student loans: $150

Car payment: no car, bike most places

Income tax rate: 32%, but employer pays another 30%, so effectively 62%

Sales tax: 25%

Insurace: $15

Phone: $15 (cheapest possible plan)

Internet: included in housing

Note: I also lived in the US before, with simliar savings rate, which was even easier.

Re: On Quitting

#85

Post by redblacktree » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:45 PM UTC

johnward wrote: post #76

mathgeek wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not to be a dick but it sounds like you just make a lot of money. I do not. I make just over $70k a year now (a lot more than a few years ago) and before we had kids, we cut back so that my wife's income at the time went entirely to paying off debts. Our home is worth ~135k (three bedroom in a nice cheaper US city), and our cars are nothing to write home about but they get us where we need to go. My total income no…

Just for the record when someone says "not to be x" they are almost always about to be X. I was wrong. You are in a situation similar to me though. About the same income/housing price with a wife and first child on the way. There is no way I'm saving 20% in the foreseeable future though. I have two car payments though. One that will be paid off this year and the other I'd like to get rid of but I'm too upside down ri…

I have yet to pay off the house, but my wife and I (similar situation to the two of you) managed to pay off $47k in debt (credit cards, student loans, and car loans) in two years. In the months that followed, we saved a six-month emergency fund. We just stuck to a budget, and put every other penny on debt. We followed the Dave Ramsey plan. People poo poo him for not being sophisticated enough, but it's about changing behavior, not doing math.

Anyway, I just noticed that you said "no way," and I wanted to provide a counter example. Good luck!

Re: On Quitting

#86

Post by ConfuciusSay » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:47 PM UTC

mathgeek wrote: post #73

johnward wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to be a dick but it sounds like you just make a lot of money. I'd consider owning a house and 2 cars to be pretty garish compared to the average middle class family. The luxury of being able to travel is something not many people have. Plus if you have ever had a parent help you with any significant expense you are much luckier than the majority of people. This sounds like one of those /r/personalfinance threads…

> Not to be a dick but it sounds like you just make a lot of money. I do not. I make just over $70k a year now (a lot more than a few years ago) and before we had kids, we cut back so that my wife's income at the time went entirely to paying off debts. Our home is worth ~135k (three bedroom in a nice cheaper US city), and our cars are nothing to write home about but they get us where we need to go. My total income no…

For what it's worth, you're in roughly the top 30% of earners globally. Whether that constitutes "a lot of money" depends on your definition, but we often forget just how little most people on this planet live on so I wanted to throw it out there.

Re: On Quitting

#87

Post by untilHellbanned » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:48 PM UTC

I'll say it — this post is a vapid pile of crap. It's so over the top dramatic, "I'd been idolizing for years". Really?

If your biggest struggles involve feeling guilty about $5 drinks you need better things to worry about.

So now "I quit my job" is the new learn nothing, "amazing adventure" startup-y blog post. FML.

Re: On Quitting

#88

Post by noobermin » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:50 PM UTC

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #5

gregd wrote: post #4

I have never been in a position to just up and quit a job without having something else lined up. Are you all trust fund kids?

Do you not save any money when you work? If you are not saving 10% - 15% of your paycheck into an account where the money is immediately accessible, you are living above your means.

10% of my pay check for a year would allow me to survive for two months without a job, baring I don't have a severe accident.

Re: On Quitting

#89

Post by gregd » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:50 PM UTC

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #64

gregd wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's because of his assumption that if you aren't saving a specific amount (some arbitrary amount that made sense to OP), then you're living beyond your means.

I don't even know where to start with this comment. If you read any "how to plan your life financially" books which are not written for multi-millionaires, but the average "Working Greg", you will see that the agreed upon advice is that you are supposed to save about 25% of your after-tax earnings. I didn't make up 10%-15%, I intentionally lowered the amount from the standard advice because I knew that 25% would elic…

You are still not understanding me. You know nothing about me or my living situation. My state's unemployment maximum amount per week is $538. That barely covers my rent each month.

Re: On Quitting

#90

Post by hunterloftis » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 2:53 PM UTC

johnward wrote: post #36

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do. Either that, or (if you are in tech) you are massively underpaid at your job.

It's both. I've worked on fixing the latter. However, living beyond your means isn't always that easy to correct. I can't just stop paying student loans for example. It's not like I'm dropping $300 a month on starbucks. It's student loans, mortgage, utilities, and other debt that takes up my entire paycheck.

Definitely. Some types of living beyond means (buying expensive toys, regularly flying to expensive vacations, eating out a majority of the time) are easy to correct. Loans and depreciating assets will be much more difficult.