On Quitting • Hacker News Board

Re: On Quitting

#111

Post by mhurron » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:06 PM UTC

Killswitch wrote: post #106

mhurron wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody forces you to live in an expensive city. It takes money move, to or from any city. It's nice that you were able to make it work, and yes, it means others could as well but you wold look like a little less of an asshole if you would consider not everyone is in the same situation as you were. Were you single Did you have kids Did you have any medical conditions that needed care Did you use to have a better job…

> Were you single No. > Did you have kids Yes. > Did you have any medical conditions that needed care Not that I know of. > Did you use to have a better job before I moved to the city with a $100 loan from my step-father so I could afford gas to do the 4 hour drive taking nothing with me but what I could fit in my car, which took a 3rd of that $800/mo just to pay. You know how I moved? I asked a friend, he came and h…

You know that lack of empathy is a significant personality disorder.

> Did you have any medical conditions that needed care > Not that I know of.

Others do, it's often sort of important to handle them. It can also limit the cities you can live in.

> Were you single > No.

Right here I start thinking your now being disingenuous, second income?

> car, which took a 3rd of that $800/mo

So you lived in Chicago on 528 a month and saved enough to move. You are leaving things out. This was either 40 years ago, you were getting significant social assistance or something.

Lets go ahead and throw out another perfectly, though unfortunate, normal situation. You had parents to even move back in with.

Now then, I don't live in a particularly expensive city. The 'million dollar house' you want to keep throwing around as if everyone has is almost 10 times the cost of where I live. Yet I can still see that not every one is in the exact same situation I am in. Moving to another city would not be something I could do on a whim, though I've had to cover medical expenses this year that are more than what your supposed monthly income was.

Re: On Quitting

#112

Post by whatok » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:14 PM UTC

Reading through this thread makes me a lot happier with my current situation but also makes me want to quit my job. I live in NYC, have enough cash to cover several years of rent, and am debt free. I would love to take a break but current industry strongly frowns upon gaps in employment. Current contract forces me to take two months leave if I quit which I would think should be enough time off. This is also going to be the first time in my life where I've had time off and not be completely broke so I might enjoy it way too much.

Re: On Quitting

#113

Post by gregd » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:17 PM UTC

adevine wrote: post #105

gregd wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My food budget is 3 times your food budget. My housing is 3 times your housing budget. My student loans are $200/month. My car payment is 300/month. Income tax rate 9%. Sales tax: 0 Medical insurance: $8000/year Auto (and other) insurance: 1200/year

Umm, I don't mean to sound crass, but if you have 5 kids, 3 who live with you and 2 who do not, and a spouse who isn't currently working, I am not surprised that you find it difficult to save money. At the same time, it's not hard to understand that people who chose to have fewer children would find it easier to save money and get by without needing a trust fund.

It doesn't sound crass at all. One of the children is a foster child who we get no extra money for. She needs a safe place to live and food in her stomach and we're in a position where we can do that. I don't begrudge my situation at all.

What I do have an issue with is "if you can't save x amount per month, you're living beyond your means". It's not that black and white. My trust fund question was legitimate. I also think that if you have a support system behind you (i.e. parents you could ultimately live with if you couldn't find work), it makes taking a year off with very little income, much more likely....as does, having a trust fund backing you up.

Re: On Quitting

#114

Post by mathgeek » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:26 PM UTC

ConfuciusSay wrote: post #86

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…

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.

I think we can safely restrict our sampling to much less than the global population when discussing someone quitting their job in SV.

Re: On Quitting

#115

Post by poikniok » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:28 PM UTC

gregd wrote: post #80

frou_dh wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is it that you are feigning surprise over? That people on high salaries can save a significant sum of money? What's counterintuitive or surprising about this?

Because I'm in tech and have yet to see one of these "high salaries". Nobody seems to acknowledge outside help. Does she have parents that she can always go back to live with if shit falls apart? And then there's a shit ton of "you're living beyond your means, if X isn't true for you.."

Okay so now we get down to the root of your problem. You are underpaid. The 200k+ salaries are out there, it is up to you if you want to go get them.

Re: On Quitting

#116

Post by Killswitch » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:29 PM UTC

mhurron wrote: post #111

Killswitch wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Were you single No. > Did you have kids Yes. > Did you have any medical conditions that needed care Not that I know of. > Did you use to have a better job before I moved to the city with a $100 loan from my step-father so I could afford gas to do the 4 hour drive taking nothing with me but what I could fit in my car, which took a 3rd of that $800/mo just to pay. You know how I moved? I asked a friend, he came and h…

You know that lack of empathy is a significant personality disorder. > Did you have any medical conditions that needed care > Not that I know of. Others do, it's often sort of important to handle them. It can also limit the cities you can live in. > Were you single > No. Right here I start thinking your now being disingenuous, second income? > car, which took a 3rd of that $800/mo So you lived in Chicago on 528 a mon…

> The 'million dollar house' you want to keep throwing around

I mentioned it once. You're the one who keeps bringing it back up.

> Right here I start thinking your now being disingenuous, second income?

No second income. My fiance has never, and will never pay anything for me.

> So you lived in Chicago on 528 a month and saved enough to move. You are leaving things out. This was either 40 years ago, you were getting significant social assistance or something.

Oh sorry, I left out the $600/mo the startup I worked for paid the owner of the spare bedroom I lived in. My bad. $1400/mo. And 40 years ago? I'm 30, I moved from Chicago in March of this year.

Re: On Quitting

#117

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:30 PM UTC

ConfuciusSay wrote: post #86

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…

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.

He also lives in a place that is far more expensive.

Re: On Quitting

#118

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:34 PM UTC

gregd wrote: post #42

timjahn wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You and me both. We must be doing something wrong. :)

Right? I keep reading these stories of people who up and just quit jobs at dream companies, which I can totally understand. But what I'm absolutely gobsmacked about is, "then I took 13 months off and roamed the country". Da fuq? I've been working since I was in 9th grade and have NEVER had enough money saved up to take 3 weeks off, much less 13 months.

I don't get this mentality at all - if you don't have savings to cover 3 weeks, what are you going to do if you become unemployed? I "only" have about 4 months worth of salary saved and I feel like I need to watch my expenses, cause that is not enough.

Re: On Quitting

#119

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:37 PM UTC

juanbyrge wrote: post #27

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'm curious about this too. Did she have conflicts with coworkers? Bad management? Did her projects feel like chores? Often if you're in an unhappy situation you can speak up and articulate what's wrong and others will adapt. I suppose if you're young and single you can afford to be impulsive. A pattern of doing that repeatedly can't look too good..

She was there for _years_, quitting a job is not impulsive and we are not salarymen.

You rarely get massive changes by talking to management (small changes, sure) and if you really hate your job, small changes are rarely enough.

Re: On Quitting

#120

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 01, 2015, 4:39 PM UTC

panders wrote: post #30

debacle wrote: post #11

There's literally no detail to any of the logic or rationale in this story. People like faffing about these fantasies, but the most important advice I've ever received in my career was from my father - "Don't quit your day job."

Seriously, you can't just quit your job without having any other plans laid out beforehand. This is just incredibly dumb and irresponsible...

You absolutely can.

She did, I can, so can you. Yeah best to have some savings or you may be homeless and hungry for a while but you absolufreakinglutely can, and should, quit your job if it makes you miserable.