Trading Time for Money

#1

Post by nicbou » Fri, Dec 25, 2020, 9:30 AM UTC

Trading Time for Money
nicolasbouliane.com

Re: Trading Time for Money

#2

Post by gotem » Fri, Dec 25, 2020, 6:46 PM UTC

This doesn’t make sense. If someone makes $10 an hour, then they would be better off if they made $20 an hour. That’s because $20 > (GREATER THAN) $10. However if it was only $5 (five), then they wouldn’t want to work for $5 an hour because $5 You can check it with your calculator if you’re skeptical.

$20-$10 = + number so $20 is grater

$5 - $10 = - number so $5 is less

Re: Trading Time for Money

#3

Post by dilippkumar » Fri, Dec 25, 2020, 8:25 PM UTC

So roughly, the author is saying something like:

  if ( outsourcing_cost * alpha     > opportunity_cost ) {
    outsource();
  }

and discusses how that alpha should be calculated. The author also mentions some side benefits of doing some tasks and getting better at them.

Does HN have any thoughts about living a smaller life by doing fewer things and having more time to just live and enjoy life? If spending time figuring out how to optimize money/time in more complicated ways could produce a more efficient path, wouldn’t such knowledge spread quickly and become common knowledge?

In other words, are there any real life hacks that are not obvious that result in significant quality of life improvements?

Re: Trading Time for Money

#4

Post by nicbou » Fri, Dec 25, 2020, 9:58 PM UTC

gotem wrote: post #2

This doesn’t make sense. If someone makes $10 an hour, then they would be better off if they made $20 an hour. That’s because $20 > (GREATER THAN) $10. However if it was only $5 (five), then they wouldn’t want to work for $5 an hour because $5 You can check it with your calculator if you’re skeptical. $20-$10 = + number so $20 is grater $5 - $10 = - number so $5 is less

I'm not sure if I understand your comment, or how it relates to the article.

Re: Trading Time for Money

#5

Post by nicbou » Fri, Dec 25, 2020, 11:08 PM UTC

dilippkumar wrote: post #3

So roughly, the author is saying something like: if ( outsourcing_cost * alpha > opportunity_cost ) { outsource(); } and discusses how that alpha should be calculated. The author also mentions some side benefits of doing some tasks and getting better at them. Does HN have any thoughts about living a smaller life by doing fewer things and having more time to just live and enjoy life? If spending time figuring out how…

> wouldn’t such knowledge spread quickly and become common knowledge

How to lose weight is open knowledge, but that doesn't make it easier, doubly so if you are also fighting other battles. Sometimes there is a solution, but it's just not attainable for everyone.

> are there any real life hacks that are not obvious that result in significant quality of life improvements?

I didn't want to make this post about my own lifestyle, but it might qualify as an answer:

1. I reduced my expenses. You don't need to earn the money you don't spend. I've always been frugal, but I recently took more drastic steps with point #2 in mind. For instance, I cut my rent by 42% by moving to the edge of the city into an older apartment. Well, actually 30% because I have a garage - a lifelong dream of mine.

2. I went freelance to have more control on how much time I sell. I didn't think this was possible, until a contractor at my old job said he took 3 month vacations between contracts. The more you earn and the less you spend, the longer you can go between contracts. At the average rate [1], I could cover my expenses in 3 months. The 4th month pays for a nice trip.

3. Decouple your income from your time. I built a website, and it grew enough to pay the bills. Now I live from it. I spend 20-30 hours a month on it (though it requires about 10). This was a stroke of luck. I couldn't reproduce that if you asked me.

That's about it. I'm well aware that this could only happen in specific conditions with a healthy amount of arbitrary luck. However, it did result in significant quality of life improvements. Anyone can appreciate the value of having so much free time. It's only a matter of using it well.

I don't know if there's any wisdom to extract from this, but I hope it helps.

[1] https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/freelance-developer-rate

Re: Trading Time for Money

#6

Post by greatgib » Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 12:19 AM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #4

gotem wrote: post #2

This doesn’t make sense. If someone makes $10 an hour, then they would be better off if they made $20 an hour. That’s because $20 > (GREATER THAN) $10. However if it was only $5 (five), then they wouldn’t want to work for $5 an hour because $5 You can check it with your calculator if you’re skeptical. $20-$10 = + number so $20 is grater $5 - $10 = - number so $5 is less

I'm not sure if I understand your comment, or how it relates to the article.

If I understand well the comment, I have the same feeling that the math of the article are wrong.

For exemple, it says that you spare money by doing the things and that this money will buy you time later.

But if you still work, and do not pay someone to do your chores, you will have to do them in week end and free time. So you lose free time now for potential free time later.

Also, it does not make any sense to compare fixed personal costs like groceries and co with the difference in costs between what you earn with your work compared to paying someone half of your salary.

Re: Trading Time for Money

#7

Post by pwarner » Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 6:34 AM UTC

I suggest finding something you like, and do it. I like gardening and cleaning so I do those, but don't like changing oil so I outsource that. I would change my oil it I could stand up doing it!

Re: Trading Time for Money

#8

Post by Thorentis » Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 7:11 AM UTC

> By comparison, my grocery bill is 5€ a day.

Do you live on rice and beans? That sounds like you're trading enjoyment for money. We (2 adults) spend about US$150 a week on groceries, and still eat out about once a week. Those groceries include three meals a day, with the leftovers of the night before being taken for lunch the next day. How on earth do people eat healthily and only spend $5 a day?

Re: Trading Time for Money

#9

Post by aphroz » Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 7:15 AM UTC

I would probably do what I am doing for a living if I wasn't getting paid for it tho

Re: Trading Time for Money

#10

Post by cko » Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 7:24 AM UTC

Thorentis wrote: post #8

> By comparison, my grocery bill is 5€ a day. Do you live on rice and beans? That sounds like you're trading enjoyment for money. We (2 adults) spend about US$150 a week on groceries, and still eat out about once a week. Those groceries include three meals a day, with the leftovers of the night before being taken for lunch the next day. How on earth do people eat healthily and only spend $5 a day?

Rice, beans, pasta, oats, eggs, nuts, chicken thighs, tomatoes, paprika, onions, potatoes, olive oil, etc. All quite cheap. Requires a bit of initial thought and planning, and maybe experimenting with ingredients.

Carbs and fat are both cheap, and protein can be in the form of chicken and eggs. Vegetables are kinda expensive so I go with mostly broccoli, cabbage, and stuff from the Asian supermarket.

As for groceries, things like hygiene and cleaning products bring up total "grocery" bill, but $5 a day is very possible if it's pure food expenditure.

German groceries are quite cheap actually. When I visited, I bought a kg of sauerkraut for 1 euro and a liter of soy milk for 1.5.