Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money” • Hacker News Board

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

#91

Post by vertis » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:00 PM UTC

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…

Two can play that game, leaving the second there is a better offer is a just way to reward companies that are taking advantage of the current climate.

If you don't have a safety net though, the companies are right, it is better to be underpaid than unemployed (assuming the payment is still higher than any unemployment benefits you can get).

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

#92

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:00 PM UTC

scott_siskind wrote: post #74

tlarkworthy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno why your being so harsh. It's not a competition on who who had the most dreadful circumstances. FYI, the average life expectancy in Papua New Guinea is 64. Homelessness, even in a first world country, is objectively a bad situation to be in regardless. I am thankful to the author for sharing her reality with me. I appreciate her lucidity which is a huge asset I think.

I find it very easy to understand where parent commenter is coming from. Even though this may not be obvious, this is very much a competition. A competition for attention, for emotional support, or simply for validation. And when you've experienced the neglect, being ignored by society and generally the experience of homelessness or any other terrible circumstances, and see someone with better circumstances getting s…

[deleted]

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

#93

Post by ido » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:03 PM UTC

luckylion wrote: post #84

ido wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 re…

I also live in Germany! We're in Berlin and we only moved here in 2013 so we dont really care about the family/friends angle (we have no other relatives in Berlin & all of our friends here we've made in the last 7 years, so we could probably make new friends elsewhere easy enough).

You also don't have to go rural, there are plenty of mid sized towns with cheap housing prices (and often a university and/or other cultural institutes, like Halle or Cottbus).

My main concern is that while we don't really standout in Berlin, in a smaller town we will be considered more "exotic" & especially for our kids I'm afraid it will translate to mobbing in school.

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

#94

Post by nsl73 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:04 PM UTC

puranjay wrote: post #48

I'm 31 and have never had a job. I started freelancing when I was 18 - more by necessity than by choice - and continued doing that throughout my six years of college. There is something to be said about having "unordinary" experiences - it cuts you off from your peer group. My part-time freelancing through college meant that I was often too busy to do the things college kids do - party, join bands, etc. Later, when I…

If a job is the only thing holding your diet, habits, and exercise in place what will happen when you retire?

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

#95

Post by kerkeslager » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:13 PM UTC

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…

> There were two big problems. One is that you feel disconnected from society. This is hard to explain but being outside of normal social structures you lose a sense of context and meaning to your actions. Second is that when you don't have any social or financial pressures it's hard to avoid the path of least resistance. It's very easy to fall into bad habits, just watching youtube, reading reddit, bad diet, etc.

This strikes me as an extraordinary failure of imagination. There are other communities that have nothing to do with money, and other activities that have nothing to do with work, or sitting at home on the internet.

I'm living in my van currently and once I finish pay off my debts, I'll have few expenses. I spend my time rock climbing and volunteering, and both these have communities around them that I'm deeply connected with. My goals these days are around rock climbing, guitar, and helping underprivileged people in my community gain more agency over their lives. I'm in better shape and eat better than most of my friends who work more than I do.

Sure, doing nothing isn't very enjoyable. So maybe when you quit your job, don't do nothing.

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

#96

Post by mark_l_watson » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

nsl73 wrote: post #94

puranjay wrote: post #48

I'm 31 and have never had a job. I started freelancing when I was 18 - more by necessity than by choice - and continued doing that throughout my six years of college. There is something to be said about having "unordinary" experiences - it cuts you off from your peer group. My part-time freelancing through college meant that I was often too busy to do the things college kids do - party, join bands, etc. Later, when I…

If a job is the only thing holding your diet, habits, and exercise in place what will happen when you retire?

I can't answer for the parent comment, but after working just when I wanted to for 20 years (onsite at Google and Capital One were the only exceptions in a 20 year period), I finally decided to really retire March 2019 (except I still write).

My diet is even better now because I have time to cook real meals following a hybrid of Dr. Fuhrman/macrobiotic diets. I bought weights, and hike/walk an average of 90 minutes a day, and except for worrying occasionally about how family and friends are doing with covid-19, life is peaceful and fun.

One thing that I think is vital is having goals. For me that is spiritual development and studying specific tech, programming languages, etc. I have been an artificial intelligence practitioner since the 1980s but I have very little experience with probabilistic programming, graph models, etc. My goal for the next year is kicking my knowledge up a few levels. These are the only goals I have, and that is enough for me.

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

#97

Post by Wildgoose » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:26 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #76

Joeboy wrote: post #65

> I also really like the scene in Titanic where the rich guy tries to buy his way into a lifeboat and gets told his money won't be worth anything at the bottom of the ocean. In reality of course, first class passengers were more than twice as likely to survive as third class ones.

In reality of course, first class passengers were more than twice as likely to survive as third class ones. I'm reasonably sure that's because the gates to third class were locked to keep them off the decks and not because first class passengers were successfully bribing staff to let them onto the life boats. So, for me, it doesn't diminish the power of the scene. The original piece that this was based upon was writt…

No, that's a complete myth, probably propagated by the Titanic movie. Third-class women (& children of course) were MORE likely to survive than a male in First-class.

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

#98

Post by Kye » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:34 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #63

hcta wrote: post #57

The buymeacoffee link on https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/ is broken - it points at https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/2020/01/buymeacoff.... which 404s.

Thank you. I've updated it.

Related: how has your experience with buymeacoffee been? I used Ko-fi for a long time, but BMC keeps popping up.

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

#99

Post by DoreenMichele » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

Kye wrote: post #98

DoreenMichele wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. I've updated it.

Related: how has your experience with buymeacoffee been? I used Ko-fi for a long time, but BMC keeps popping up.

I actually mostly stopped using it because it wasn't getting results for me. I removed it from most of my sites and this link got overlooked.

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

#100

Post by granshaw » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 2:53 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #86

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 unexp…

Sounds like old age medical expenses is the biggest fear - have you all considered emigrating to a country with govt provides healthcare to address that possibility?