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How I live on $7,000 per year

earlyretirementextreme.com

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Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#61

Post by rubashov »

nirvana wrote: post #10

I've been living on $13,754 per year for the past 4 years. (Average as of last month.) There are two of us, so, double that and you have the average cost over that period. While we've been doing it, we've been traveling full time, spent the last year in europe living in AirBNB pads, and doing our startup. We buy a MacBook Pro each year and an iPad or iPhone each year as needed, with the old one going to the other per…

> eating out more, because I realized it was relatively cheap.

Relative to what? My experience is that eating out is extremely expensive.

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#62

Post by Locke1689 »

nirvana wrote: post #29
ahsanhilal wrote: post #15

Basic economics tells you that this is not a good growth strategy to adopt especially if you have a consumption-based economy, and not savings-based one (aka China, India). In short population is going to increase over time, resources are going to decrease over time, in order to keep GDP per capita in line with an increasing population, you cannot just decrease your spending (or tighten your belt). You have to grow b…

I'm sorry, that's not "basic economics". That's neo-keynesian economics. (They call themselves keynesians, but they aren't following what keynes said.) The word "capitalism" comes from the word Capital. You accumulate capitals so that you can invest it in productive assets. You could blow your money on a consumptive lifestyle, as you advocate. Or you could save that money, and use it to start a business. Notice, your…

Every Austrian economics school recommendation should immediately be followed by the caveat:

The Austrian school of economics is like the anti-climate change minority, but in economics. If you accept their premises you are in the minority of professionally recongized economics.

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#63

Post by ahsanhilal »

sycr wrote: post #46
ahsanhilal wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok let's all save money and try to be entrepreneurs, is that what you are advocating? Lets see, in your economy we are going to have a lot of producers, but who is going to consume these products if people are saving. Now if you say China does it, then I would answer back that China does it because it has the US and Europe as huge consumption bases for its produced goods. You are trying to give me an economics lesson…

The reason you are being down voted, just so you know, is because you're being flippant and dismissive.

I am not trying to be dismissive, but I am trying to talk with some theoretical base. Initially Nirvana derided my claims, in my opinion, without producing an actual theoretical base for his claims. He also said I should learn economics from Hazlitt's economic philosophy, rather than from a university, which is quite demeaning.

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#64

Post by dpatru »

ahsanhilal wrote: post #36
nirvana wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, that's not "basic economics". That's neo-keynesian economics. (They call themselves keynesians, but they aren't following what keynes said.) The word "capitalism" comes from the word Capital. You accumulate capitals so that you can invest it in productive assets. You could blow your money on a consumptive lifestyle, as you advocate. Or you could save that money, and use it to start a business. Notice, your…

Ok let's all save money and try to be entrepreneurs, is that what you are advocating? Lets see, in your economy we are going to have a lot of producers, but who is going to consume these products if people are saving. Now if you say China does it, then I would answer back that China does it because it has the US and Europe as huge consumption bases for its produced goods. You are trying to give me an economics lesson…

> who is going to consume these products if people are saving?

Peter Schiff tells the story of a six guys stranded on a deserted island: five Asians and an American. They divide up the work as follows: one Asian hunts, one Asian fishes, one Asian gathers vegetables, one Asian cooks, and one Asian tends the fire. The American has the job of eating.

Peter says that an economist would look at the situation and explain that the American is the key to the whole enterprise. Without the American, the Asians would not have jobs.

The truth is that supply is its own demand. Whatever you produce that is surplus, you can trade for another's surplus. The problem in economics is not how to increase demand, but how to increase supply: how can people produce more useful things so that they can trade their surplus for the surplus of others.

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#65

Post by tlogan »

When you have kids then you really live on $7000 per year. Believe me.

So maybe when you are younger it is good enjoy a little because when middle age crisis comes (and it will come) and if you didn't enjoy when you were young all kind of crazy shit can happen. Happen to my father in-law: all his millions are worthless...

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#66

Post by Locke1689 »

dpatru wrote: post #64
ahsanhilal wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok let's all save money and try to be entrepreneurs, is that what you are advocating? Lets see, in your economy we are going to have a lot of producers, but who is going to consume these products if people are saving. Now if you say China does it, then I would answer back that China does it because it has the US and Europe as huge consumption bases for its produced goods. You are trying to give me an economics lesson…

> who is going to consume these products if people are saving? Peter Schiff tells the story of a six guys stranded on a deserted island: five Asians and an American. They divide up the work as follows: one Asian hunts, one Asian fishes, one Asian gathers vegetables, one Asian cooks, and one Asian tends the fire. The American has the job of eating. Peter says that an economist would look at the situation and explain t…

This is clearly the "build it and they will come" bullshit. I had hoped the Hacker News crowd would be the first to recognize that demand doesn't just "appear."

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#67

Post by rorrr »

rick888 wrote: post #59
dgallagher wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus he has the shittiest $82 health insurance plan he could find, and he doesn't calculate the costs of what will happen if he gets sick. A bigger issue with the cheap health plans is they tend to have a very high deductible, usually in the $2000 - $3000 range (his is $3500! http://earlyretirementextreme.com/my-hdhp-hsa-and-some-comme... ). If you end up in the E.R. once for anything, like a fever, you have to pay t…

Yes, but you won't go bankrupt like so many people claim you will without health insurance. Why don't more people get this $80 plan?

Because you will go bankrupt if something serious happens while on this plan. Go see the details of his coverage, I bet it only covers basic things, and 50% of hospitalization drugs, and some crazy deductible. So if he gets cancer or heart disease (most common serious illnesses), he is fucked, and will be fucked every year, if he can still afford that insurance after the first year.

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#68

Post by cjy »

dhume wrote: post #8
6ren wrote: post #4

He doesn't seem to include rent or mortgage.

Nor does he seem aware of inflation (see his "grandparents" paragraph at the end). The site below suggets $7k in 1950 would be about the same as $65k today, and I would hope people aren't amazed at the notion of being able to live on $65k per year. http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

Nowhere in that paragraph does he say or imply that grandparents where living on 7K dollars in nominal terms. He simply notes that they lived simpler lives. That is supported by the data. Our grandparents had median incomes about 40% of what we have today (in real terms) see: http://www.stanford.edu/class/polisci120a/immigration/Median...

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#69

Post by ahsanhilal »

dpatru wrote: post #64
ahsanhilal wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok let's all save money and try to be entrepreneurs, is that what you are advocating? Lets see, in your economy we are going to have a lot of producers, but who is going to consume these products if people are saving. Now if you say China does it, then I would answer back that China does it because it has the US and Europe as huge consumption bases for its produced goods. You are trying to give me an economics lesson…

> who is going to consume these products if people are saving? Peter Schiff tells the story of a six guys stranded on a deserted island: five Asians and an American. They divide up the work as follows: one Asian hunts, one Asian fishes, one Asian gathers vegetables, one Asian cooks, and one Asian tends the fire. The American has the job of eating. Peter says that an economist would look at the situation and explain t…

I am not saying producing is not important, my point is that you cannot just demote consumption to an unnecessary side variable, because even when you trade your surpluses, you each are the market for the other.

Does that not make consumption as important? What if no one likes fish other than the one Asian? What happens in that scenario?

Re: How I live on $7,000 per year

#70

Post by rick888 »

rorrr wrote: post #67
rick888 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but you won't go bankrupt like so many people claim you will without health insurance. Why don't more people get this $80 plan?

Because you will go bankrupt if something serious happens while on this plan. Go see the details of his coverage, I bet it only covers basic things, and 50% of hospitalization drugs, and some crazy deductible. So if he gets cancer or heart disease (most common serious illnesses), he is fucked, and will be fucked every year, if he can still afford that insurance after the first year.

"So if he gets cancer or heart disease (most common serious illnesses), he is fucked, and will be fucked every year, if he can still afford that insurance after the first year."

I already looked. $3000 deductible, no lifetime limits, and it covers major surgery, doctor visits are $40. If you want prescription coverage, there are plans less than $200 (in the $190 range) that cover 80% of prescriptions.

Cable costs this much. I'm not saying this guy should pay for this, but many people that claim they will go bankrupt can easily get a plan like this and not.

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