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Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#241

Post by samhw »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #226
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #87

I've always found that "living at my means" has paid dividends. To many folks, 'round these parts, they'd consider it "living below my means," but that's mostly because they "live beyond their means." I avoid personal debt like the plague. If that means living in a small house, and driving an old car, then so be it. I've also found that learning to deliver software, as opposed to just "writing" software, has made me…

I don’t understand how delivering software is related to “how can I prepare for hard economic times?” Let me tell you, as one of the highest performing team members in every organization I’ve been at: if a manager doesn’t care about you, no amount of performance will help you. It didn’t help me. And whether a manager cares about you is mostly luck of the draw. Sure, there’s politics at play. But the most common situa…

I would say performance is a (more or less) necessary but not sufficient condition. We've all heard of cases where managers promote useless schmoozers, but my sense is that performance is still very very useful for being someone your manager cares about. If only because it more easily allows them to justify their patronage to their manager.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#242

Post by avg_dev »

fasteddie31003 wrote: post #238

Learn how to do things yourself. Learn how to cook, fix your car and repair your house. I've saved so much money over the years by being a DIYer and it's very fulfilling. Some examples of me saving money: Replacing the transmission in my truck: shop wanted $7k, I did it all for $2.5k. Fixing my deck and expanding it: contractor wanted $55k, I did it for $7k. Leaky pipe in ceiling: plumber wanted $1k, I fixed it for $…

Do you have any resources for learning how to work on stuff? Any particular videos or books you'd recommend?

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#244

Post by lolinder »

nivenkos wrote: post #184
dmje wrote: post #74

Diversify in as many areas as you can. In income terms, diversify away from a single source by learning new skills, training up in areas you're a bit rusty in, learning totally new ones. In savings or investments: diversify where you put them, spread them around so you're not dependent on any one scenario. In eating: eat more interesting and cheaper things. Become vegetarian, if you aren't already. In exercise: drop…

> In exercise: drop any gym memberships, use things like body weight to train. Run one day, do yoga the next. This is a bit like the avocado toast nonsense though - a gym membership costs about $50 a month which is nothing compared to the near $2000 mortgage payments.

But how are you going to eliminate the $2000/mo mortgage? If you sell your house and go rent in the same area at the same home size, you're likely to end up with higher rent than you had mortgage. If your mortgage is outsized for the area or your house is bigger than you need, you're still not going to be saving $2000/mo, it'll be at most in the $100s.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#245

Post by fasteddie31003 »

avg_dev wrote: post #242
fasteddie31003 wrote: post #238

Learn how to do things yourself. Learn how to cook, fix your car and repair your house. I've saved so much money over the years by being a DIYer and it's very fulfilling. Some examples of me saving money: Replacing the transmission in my truck: shop wanted $7k, I did it all for $2.5k. Fixing my deck and expanding it: contractor wanted $55k, I did it for $7k. Leaky pipe in ceiling: plumber wanted $1k, I fixed it for $…

Do you have any resources for learning how to work on stuff? Any particular videos or books you'd recommend?

YouTube! I would not have the confidence or understanding on how to do anything without YouTube. Essential Craftsman is probably my favorite https://www.youtube.com/c/essentialcraftsman

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#246

Post by gwbas1c »

Short answer: Mostly keep doing what you've always been doing, unless you see a good opportunity for yourself or see clear risk for your family.

Now is probably not the time to quit your job to work on that startup that you've always dreamed about. But that's more about your family situation. I have young children and I wouldn't quit my job even in good times.

"see a good opportunity:" Perhaps a career move shows up that's "defense" related?

"clear risk for your family:" Maybe if you live near the Russian boarder consider moving.

"Mostly keep doing what you've always been doing:" Maybe avoid traveling to certain areas. Assuming you've always been responsibly saving, keep doing that. Investing is a good way to beat inflation.

The worst thing you can do is panic. That's when bad decisions are made.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#248

Post by flaviut »

statictype wrote: post #150
vishnugupta wrote: post #128

The following has served me well, regardless of economic conditions. 0. Empower and partner with your spouse to make all the financial decisions. They should know absolutely everything. You can’t do it alone. 1. Zero debt. For a while I had house mortgage that I repaid at the first possible availability of bulk cash. 2. Max out tax saving investments. Try not to pay one penny more tax than absolute minimum. 3. Max ou…

>3. Max out life insurance you can afford. Don’t combine life insurance with investment. Why not combine them?

When you combine them, you essentially get an investment product that's the same as investing in a diversified portfolio (because that's what the insurance company does with your money), but with a massive fee compared to the 0.05%-ish you'd be paying for that with a regular broker.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#249

Post by jonathanfoster »

avg_dev wrote: post #242
fasteddie31003 wrote: post #238

Learn how to do things yourself. Learn how to cook, fix your car and repair your house. I've saved so much money over the years by being a DIYer and it's very fulfilling. Some examples of me saving money: Replacing the transmission in my truck: shop wanted $7k, I did it all for $2.5k. Fixing my deck and expanding it: contractor wanted $55k, I did it for $7k. Leaky pipe in ceiling: plumber wanted $1k, I fixed it for $…

Do you have any resources for learning how to work on stuff? Any particular videos or books you'd recommend?

YouTube is an amazing resource for learning. There are so many professionals making high quality DIY videos. And they’re actually entertaining. I recently installed a Mini Split AC in my garage and these two channels were invaluable.

- Electrician U: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCB3jUEyCLRbCw7QED0vnXYg

- Home RenoVision DIY: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCnorhjQR4zJkT7AVNhu395Q

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#250

Post by wnolens »

fasteddie31003 wrote: post #238

Learn how to do things yourself. Learn how to cook, fix your car and repair your house. I've saved so much money over the years by being a DIYer and it's very fulfilling. Some examples of me saving money: Replacing the transmission in my truck: shop wanted $7k, I did it all for $2.5k. Fixing my deck and expanding it: contractor wanted $55k, I did it for $7k. Leaky pipe in ceiling: plumber wanted $1k, I fixed it for $…

Does the math pan out when compared against salary increases in tech?

I happily DIY things, but for the joy of self sufficiency.

USA software engineer bias: At several 100k raises possible (which you receive every year going forward), even 50k one time savings are drops in the bucket over the course of a career.

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