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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

#201

Post by sixothree »

scarmig wrote: post #32
rorrr wrote: post #25

Sorry, but this story is garbage. Rent/mortgage, retirement completely ignored. 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. On average people after 65 spend $2,920 per year on medical out of pocket expenses (Source: http://www.newretirement.com/Planning101/Rising_Medical_Cost... ) Then his food comes from his garden, which…

I believe he does account for rent/mortgage, by doing an RV. And his idea is that he has handled retirement--he's living in retirement now. The catch is that he had six figures saved up beforehand (he lives off the investment income), which doubles as a rainy day fund in case of serious illness.

It's a lot easier to live on $7000 with significant savings than it is to live on two or three times as much.

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

#202

Post by TamDenholm »

sixothree wrote: post #199
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…

No offense, but $13,754 is not extreme living. It's what millions of people in this country take home to support their families.

He didnt say it was extreme. He merely stated thats what he lives on and then explained how.

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

#203

Post by sixothree »

erejacob wrote: post #83
tryitnow wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point and one of the frustrating things I find about an otherwise awesome blog. Living with a significant other is cheaper than living by yourself because I really doubt you're going to want to live in really close quarter with someone your not sleeping with.

I was living on 5-7k for five years before I got married. Being single or married doesn't materially affect the math. If you're single, you can live in a smaller space, but you'll spend slightly more on rent. This is nearly a wash. However, if you're single you don't have to go along/compromise with your partners less than frugal choices.

I live in New Orleans and you can barely get a 1 bedroom apartment for $7000.

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

#204

Post by erejacob »

sixothree wrote: post #198
rorrr wrote: post #25

Sorry, but this story is garbage. Rent/mortgage, retirement completely ignored. 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. On average people after 65 spend $2,920 per year on medical out of pocket expenses (Source: http://www.newretirement.com/Planning101/Rising_Medical_Cost... ) Then his food comes from his garden, which…

$270/month for my half of the rent+utilities $50/month for my half of the car $50/month for my half of the dog My wife spends a similar amount per year. HE doesn't live on $7000, THEY live on >$14000. Those are two completely different scenarios. I'm also willing to bet his wife is taking up a lot more slack than he admits or realizes.

And I lived on less than $7000 per year when I was single. Yes, one scenario has two persons and the other has one but economically it's the same. This is covered elsewhere in this thread.

BTW, I'll take that bet. We have a joint account, so it's pretty clear where the money is going.

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

#205

Post by erejacob »

sixothree wrote: post #203
erejacob wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was living on 5-7k for five years before I got married. Being single or married doesn't materially affect the math. If you're single, you can live in a smaller space, but you'll spend slightly more on rent. This is nearly a wash. However, if you're single you don't have to go along/compromise with your partners less than frugal choices.

I live in New Orleans and you can barely get a 1 bedroom apartment for $7000.

A quick search on craigslist reveals several places for less than that and that's just in the past few days.

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/search/apa?query=&srchT...

Usually underpriced places get snatched up within a day, much like any other good deal on craigslist, so set up an RSS feed and monitor it constantly.

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

#206

Post by gersh »

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…

If you are going to be a self-sufficient farmer, you need land. Otherwise, you need something you can trade for food. If you can't produce something that anyone wants, you are labor isn't worth much. If you labor isn't worth enough to eat, you starve.

China inflates its currency to buy dollars. Then, US consumers use those dollars to buy products from China, which requires employing lots of people.

The government could just hand out money to poor people, but that could just result in lots more corruption. They can also create useless jobs but that also has problems.

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

#207

Post by Muzza »

sliverstorm wrote: post #122
tryitnow wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It disappoints me, but I have to agree with you (at least in part, I wouldn't call his story garbage). I say it's disappointing because his blog really inspired me to make some changes and I agree with the overall thrust of what he's saying. But the problem I have is figuring out how he accumulated his wealth. Of course, being a former physicist you'd think spelling that out in a simple spreadsheet would be a trivial…

He is a former physicist? Good god, the waste... He attended a public school for free. I wonder if he has factored in the price his government paid for only 10 years of physiking out of him... Companies allegedly don't recoup the cost of hiring you for at least a year. Public schools are offered because it is seen as a worthwhile investment in the future, and graduates help pay for the next generation's schooling. In…

> He is a former physicist? Good god, the waste... He attended a public school for free. I wonder if he has factored in the price his government paid for only 10 years of physiking out of him...

So let me get this straight. The government builds "free" schools. The government then forces people - under threat of violence - to attend these schools. Therefore people owe the government a lifetime of work.

I'm appalled that anyone could hold such a view.

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

#208

Post by wazoox »

sixothree wrote: post #200
wazoox wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose the answer is that an used macbook lose very little value. Last time I checked my 2008 Macbook is still valued 75% of its original price.

Your 2008 MacBook has already lost more in value than the entire cost of my Lenovo.

Unlikely, it was about 1100 euros, so actually changing it once every 3 years is about the same cost as switching PCs once every three years, except that in the meanwhile I'm using much better hardware, and without Windows.

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

#209

Post by Lucadg »

h6165 wrote: post #133
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…

Is it really possible to do a startup while travelling? Don't people expect you to be sort of more stationary/accessible ? How has your experience been on this?

I'd say there even some advantages as you get to meet more people, get more ideas and generally your brain works better while on the road. (My theory for that is when we are in a foreign environment we need to be more careful)

I run an online business and live two kinds of life: 1) Travelling or staying a couple of months in each place. 2) Home, Italy, where I spend most of the time at my desk.

I was actually able start it (no funding) and run it while constantly on the road.

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

#210

Post by grogs »

h6165 wrote: post #133
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…

Is it really possible to do a startup while travelling? Don't people expect you to be sort of more stationary/accessible ? How has your experience been on this?

Being in a stable location is always useful - easier to contact, and makes it possible to have face-to-face meetings. However, a startup is about the best (tech) job for travelling (on your own terms). I imagine people fly out for meetings, doesn't matter where they're flying from.
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