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

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101–110 of 160 posts

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

#101
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. Th…

it’s true it indicates a failure of imagination, but i wouldn’t be so quick to make a personal indictment.

i, too, have been financially independent for the past year. past employer IPO. modest take.

for the past couple months, i’ve struggled with the same issue described by the OP.

for me, it’s a challenge of community. i spent so long living the silicon valley engineer lifestyle, along with others on that same track.

now, i find myself without community. in college, i dated liberal arts majors who live in co-ops, prioritize relationships, etc. i know they’re all out there in the world living out the type of life that remains a projection for me.

it just feels challenging to jump out of my self and my habits to start living a very different type of life.

this is my daily task. i understand it’s in my hands. my responsibility.

but feeling the acute challenge on a daily basis, i understand where the OP is coming from.

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

#102
post #4

Poverty is shit. I recommend avoiding it if you can.

It’s understandable why a regular member of society would feel that way - but as someone recently wanting to go the entrepreneurship route I have a different take

I wish I could live on the bare minimum and not mind doing things like living off food stamps and clipping coupons, and had a partner in the same mindset. That would open up so many options and increase my runway so much!

But as it is, I’ve never had to go through that and would never want to put my partner through that, so I have to make do with a higher minimum bar

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

#103
post #54

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…

Fun Fact: Switzerland is not part of the EU.

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

#104
post #4

Poverty is shit. I recommend avoiding it if you can.

It’s understandable why a regular member of society would feel that way - but as someone recently wanting to go the entrepreneurship route I have a different take I wish I could live on the bare minimum and not mind doing things like living off food stamps and clipping coupons, and had a partner in the same mindset. That would open up so many options and increase my runway so much! But as it is, I’ve never had to go…

What you're saying is that frugality would open up options, which I am all for. Poverty would not.

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

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It promotes the idea that not only can beggars be choosers, they need to be if they are ever to resolve their problems. I wish you had said this directly in the article because I had a tough time figuring out your point.

Thank you. That's good feedback.

Here's some more:

> if you want to know the correct term with which to express your contempt while pretending to be respectful.

I didn't hear any contempt at all in what they were saying. Nothing like it. I was disappointed to read that, as you usually stay respectful, but that crosses way over the line well into Please don't do this on HN territory.

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

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

First-class men were about twice as likely to survive as third-class men, and first-class women were about twice as likely to survive as third-class women.

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

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the author. I'm disabled and the primary provider for my family of three, which includes two disabled sons. I absolutely didn't want to be poor. I'm still poor and I hate every minute of it. I wish desperately that I had more money and I am doing all in my power to resolve my problems and this has been true for years. "First world problem" or not, being homeless in a first world country is still a very real probl…

I am not discounting the fact that you have problems in your life. I know what it means to be poor because I have been poor in a 3rd world country . >> People who experience homelessness have an average life expectancy of around 50 years of age, almost 20 years lower than housed populations There are kids literally dying because they don't have access to healthcare. >> formal education on the topic of homelessness Th…

Even in a first world country: 1. Be homeless. 2. Have diarrhea 3. Try finding a bathroom. Don't forget that many people in populated cities are going to take one look at you and prejudices are going to shoot up.

Now throw in Covid.

Welcome to hell.

Being homeless is excruciating no matter the country.

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

#108
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…

Fun Fact: Switzerland is not part of the EU.

But it is part of Europe.

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

#109

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…

A more charitable way to look at it is that there are many companies that need programmers but can’t afford market salaries anchored by mega corps who make their money by outlying economies of scale.

Not saying that’s the truth of the matter, but it’s a perspective you might consider on a case-by-case basis.

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

#110

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…

A more charitable way to look at it is that there are many companies that need programmers but can’t afford market salaries anchored by mega corps who make their money by outlying economies of scale. Not saying that’s the truth of the matter, but it’s a perspective you might consider on a case-by-case basis.

I agree in general, but I should have made it more clear just how low some of these offers were.

If their full-time salary is too low for me to keep an average apartment in a slightly rural village, then I'm not sure who can do the work and have a normal life. Kids living in their parent's basement? But they would lack the requested experience...

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