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Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

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Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#81

Post by 082349872349872 »

Joeboy wrote: post #52
cryptica wrote: post #9

I feel like being poor has lost a lot of its negative stigma. These days I find myself casually letting people know that I'm poor in order to get more favorable treatment. There are so many highly skilled poor people these days that there is not so much stigma around it. Being poor is basically a natural state for the vast majority of people in their 20s to 40s. My ex-colleagues often discuss how little money they ha…

It's always been a totally normal conversation, at least where I live (the UK), for the last few decades. I had a colleague who complained that he couldn't reasonably be expected to live on his pitiful salary, which turned out to be £80k (about $120k, adjusted for inflation). Poverty oneupmanship from 1967: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k

When I was living in the US, I used to enjoy hearing people talk about "being rich." (To understand this circumlocution, the reader must understand that they're all "middle class" over there.) The most egregious instance was when I was talking with someone in a VIP tent, watching her pro jumping her horse over fences in a competition. She'd made some kind of comment about how she was different from the people she had just been talking about, "because they have money." When I asked what she would do if she had money, she replied that she wasn't sure, but maybe she would "get a jet."

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#82

Post by germinalphrase »

Havoc wrote: post #60
distances wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's FU paperwork? Only relevant Google hit I see is pointing to this comment.

Don’t know what parent commenter meant but for me it’s multiple passport and qualifications that will fly anywhere. So when a country doesn’t work out I just go somewhere else.

Is your passport situation by luck of your birth or have you gone through the expense/hoop jumping of obtaining passports?

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#83

Post by toto444 »

buran77 wrote: post #54
WilTimSon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's always a healthy option in the middle. I'm not exactly up to speed on what the pay is like in the USA (which is where I presume most of the users here hail from), but getting at least $3-4k is enough to work remotely from some place like Thailand or a small European country. You still get the benefit of a traditional-ish social life, where you "go" to work every day, talk to people and then have some ti…

With $3-4k you can live more than decently in 99% of Europe. Sure, it might not get you very far in the most expensive cities like Geneva, but otherwise you can can have anything between a very comfortable and a very lavish lifestyle. This is subjective, after all a luxury car or a top of the line Mac are just as expensive wherever you go. But for the amenities of regular life you really shouldn't worry about missing…

£3,000 in London is comfortable if you don't have kids. Nursery fees are about £1,800 and a rent £1,500.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#84

Post by luckylion »

ido wrote: post #33
WilTimSon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's always a healthy option in the middle. I'm not exactly up to speed on what the pay is like in the USA (which is where I presume most of the users here hail from), but getting at least $3-4k is enough to work remotely from some place like Thailand or a small European country. You still get the benefit of a traditional-ish social life, where you "go" to work every day, talk to people and then have some ti…

You don't even have to go to Thailand, there are plenty of minor towns in western countries that are very cheap (usually because there aren't any good local jobs).

I wonder when it'll shift that people that can do remote work move to these towns specifically for the lower cost of living.

In my circle of friends who do usually work remote, there are a few that want to move to more rural areas. The number one concern is availability of broadband, which is just terrible in Germany. Further down is friends/family not being close and possibly sticking out very much. I don't think remoteness is an actual issue (because there really isn't remoteness anywhere in Germany, it's very densely populated, and saving a lot on rent & co might well offset the cost for a few hours of driving every other weekend to meet friends.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#85

Post by toto444 »

fxtentacle wrote: post #68

Thanks to covid, I have experienced how it must be to not have fu money. I'm not entirely sure why, but many companies are now hoping to take advantage of the rise in unemployment by trying to lock in highly skilled workers at a low salary. The way those job offers were presented, it seemed like they were feeling like my savior in a shining armor for offering job openings in these challenging times. But they were ask…

"I'm not entirely sure why"

That is what people usually call the law of supply and demand. Your salary is not a function of your skill but of how rare they are on the market relative to the number of job opening.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#86

Post by bane »

My wife and I have probably hit a point where if we really wanted to we could cash in and probably just go the grid for the rest of our lives. We're not rich, but we've put together a plan where it would be possible to do this if either of us ever really said "fuck it".

The anxiety really comes when we start thinking about old age. Where dipping back into the workforce if we needed to is not really possible and unexpected expenses are likely. So I guess it's keeping to the grind to build as much of a safety net for those days as we can until we really decide to pull the trigger.

We both know enough people who are "independently poor" and seem to make it day to day without too much fuss in the short term. But almost all those same people we know end up in catastrophic financial emergencies over the longer term due to unexpected expenses they can't surge their finances to meet. For us it just means we don't put as much away for retirement for a paycheck. For them we've seen evictions, garnished wages, divorce, ruined credit, bankruptcy, and so on. It's a vicious cycle that starts with being relatively expensive and ends up being ruinous.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#87

Post by nicoburns »

toto444 wrote: post #83
buran77 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With $3-4k you can live more than decently in 99% of Europe. Sure, it might not get you very far in the most expensive cities like Geneva, but otherwise you can can have anything between a very comfortable and a very lavish lifestyle. This is subjective, after all a luxury car or a top of the line Mac are just as expensive wherever you go. But for the amenities of regular life you really shouldn't worry about missing…

£3,000 in London is comfortable if you don't have kids. Nursery fees are about £1,800 and a rent £1,500.

More than comfortable if you don't have kids and don't expect to have your own flat. I live in London, and probably spend around £1200-1500/month total. Which is more than what some of my friends earn.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#88

Post by Havoc »

germinalphrase wrote: post #82
Havoc wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t know what parent commenter meant but for me it’s multiple passport and qualifications that will fly anywhere. So when a country doesn’t work out I just go somewhere else.

Is your passport situation by luck of your birth or have you gone through the expense/hoop jumping of obtaining passports?

Two by birth. Third is still six months to go for sufficient years. (Currently perma res which is functionally the same for now)

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#89

Post by cheez »

arcsin wrote: post #24

Coming at it from a different perspective, I did something similar to this by saving money on a US salary and then moving to a low cost of living country. I spent years at a time not working or even thinking about how to make money. I think almost everyone has felt the pain of financial and social obligation, but very few people have experience a total lack of such obligations for years at a time which leads to thing…

Most people need structure and cannot provide it for themselves.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#90

Post by agustif »

tluyben2 wrote: post #40
WilTimSon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's always a healthy option in the middle. I'm not exactly up to speed on what the pay is like in the USA (which is where I presume most of the users here hail from), but getting at least $3-4k is enough to work remotely from some place like Thailand or a small European country. You still get the benefit of a traditional-ish social life, where you "go" to work every day, talk to people and then have some ti…

Or a big EU country, just not a in a city. In Spain(/Portugal) you can live like a king (villa, swimming pool, huge garden, cars etc) on 3-4k/mo. And if you are an 'ok' coder, 3-4k/mo is not very hard to get remotely.

Would yo mind helping someone find that? I think I might be an OK coder...

Maybe I'm not that good, but would love to find a remote job paying 3-4k...

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