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Actual is going open-source

actualbudget.com

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Re: Actual is going open-source

#81

Post by conductr »

samhw wrote: post #71
conductr wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty universal to all industries. You just don’t get paid well for the work you do in X hours. You get paid well became you’re expected to put in a high amount of effort that isn’t measured in time or stress, except by you. Mo’ money, mo’ problems

Also, speaking personally as someone doing £180k when I know my market salary is at most two thirds of that: I don't really spend the money, because I never want to be pinioned to my job, or to even feel like I'm locked into my job because I'd e.g. have to move out of my house if I quit. That limits you quite a bit, unless you're preternaturally confident in your jobseeking ability.

I do the same. I’m naturally frugal but have loosened up some as earnings increases but I don’t spend or leverage like my peers. They are prisoners to their jobs and I can (and have) said “enough” and walked away when jobs get too toxic. I don’t generally have a problem working long hard hours but I unplug at times where interruptions will not be fielded and I’ve been present during complete shit show management stuff that I just morally will not be associated with. It’s immensely helpful to my mental health knowing I can walk off anytime things go sideways.

I even negotiate my compensation in a manner that I’m not beholden like those with stock, options or anything where vesting periods are involved. It’s typically event based and more short term. But, I don’t work in a field where I’m turning down early Facebook equity or something like that.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#82

Post by Dayshine »

daenz wrote: post #49
mellosouls wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you can have a cushy tech job making 200K relatively easy Some of these claims seem to come from people living on a different planet to me. Yes you can make that, but only if you are in a tiny (and normally very privileged) set. The way it's breezily posted on this forum at times shows perhaps just a leeetle disconnect with the mainstream tech world

My read on that is that it is total comp, so it includes bonuses/RSUs/options. If you're not negotiating for those things, what are you doing. Though $200k base salary is not a crazy salary for a staff/principle/high-level engineer. I don't think people realize how corrosive to mental health a $200k engineering job can be though. I was making very close to that as a base salary, and the amount of responsibilities I h…

You realise people work jobs as vital and stressful as that for a quarter of the money right?

And that most people in the workforce don't get significant bonuses, and no shares.

Software engineering is an absurd bubble.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#83

Post by rmesters »

Shameless plug: OP mentioned Plaid as a way to sync bank accounts, but if anyone wants to use a Plaid alternative in Europe, check out Nordigen (it's free).

Full disclosure: I'm one of the founders.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#84

Post by runako »

mellosouls wrote: post #48
codegeek wrote: post #25

"I completely underestimated how much work it takes to build a business. There's so much overhead. I'm always figuring out why a build failed, taxes, how to triage issues, responding to support, designing UIs, responding to Apple's complaints, and more. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes. There's no way a single person can possible do this alone, especially as a side project." This is the part that resona…

you can have a cushy tech job making 200K relatively easy Some of these claims seem to come from people living on a different planet to me. Yes you can make that, but only if you are in a tiny (and normally very privileged) set. The way it's breezily posted on this forum at times shows perhaps just a leeetle disconnect with the mainstream tech world

$200k is increasingly a mid-career engineering salary in many parts of the US. Some quick examples taken from companies reported on levels.fyi, where pay around $200k was reported for people working outside the most expensive US cities plus Austin:

- Lowe's (Charlotte): https://www.levels.fyi/company/Lowe-s/salaries/Software-Engi...

- Equifax (Atlanta): https://www.levels.fyi/company/Equifax/salaries/Software-Eng...

- ExxonMobil (Houston): https://www.levels.fyi/company/ExxonMobil/salaries/Software-...

- T-Mobile (Dallas): https://www.levels.fyi/company/T-Mobile/salaries/Software-En...

TL;DR; look around and ask for more if you don't see $200k near you and you would like to earn more. I'm biased, but I think it's also worth noting that $200k in Dallas leaves a person with a lot more money left over after basic expenses than it does in SF.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#85

Post by jasonjayr »

Dayshine wrote: post #82
daenz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My read on that is that it is total comp, so it includes bonuses/RSUs/options. If you're not negotiating for those things, what are you doing. Though $200k base salary is not a crazy salary for a staff/principle/high-level engineer. I don't think people realize how corrosive to mental health a $200k engineering job can be though. I was making very close to that as a base salary, and the amount of responsibilities I h…

You realise people work jobs as vital and stressful as that for a quarter of the money right? And that most people in the workforce don't get significant bonuses, and no shares. Software engineering is an absurd bubble.

Maybe the problem is not that tech is overpaid.

Maybe the problem is that those other guys as vital and stressful are not being paid enough?

Re: Actual is going open-source

#86

Post by daenz »

Dayshine wrote: post #82
daenz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My read on that is that it is total comp, so it includes bonuses/RSUs/options. If you're not negotiating for those things, what are you doing. Though $200k base salary is not a crazy salary for a staff/principle/high-level engineer. I don't think people realize how corrosive to mental health a $200k engineering job can be though. I was making very close to that as a base salary, and the amount of responsibilities I h…

You realise people work jobs as vital and stressful as that for a quarter of the money right? And that most people in the workforce don't get significant bonuses, and no shares. Software engineering is an absurd bubble.

I'm not going to say people don't also have stressful and difficult jobs while making less. But I will say that I was paid what I was paid because the employer and I negotiated, and determined that my salary was mutually financially beneficial.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#87

Post by lhl »

bern4444 wrote: post #60

There are a lot of tools like Actual (YNAB, Monarch, Mint, Aspire google sheet etc). All are focused on budgets and mostly managing cash accounts. I've always wanted an equivalent but for investments. I know you can sync investment accounts to some of these, but that only reports the balance generally. I'd love to have the equivalent for investment accounts that answer these questions: What is my sector exposure? How…

The best open source app I've found that does much of this is: https://www.portfolio-performance.info/en/

Re: Actual is going open-source

#88

Post by e-clinton »

Dayshine wrote: post #82
daenz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My read on that is that it is total comp, so it includes bonuses/RSUs/options. If you're not negotiating for those things, what are you doing. Though $200k base salary is not a crazy salary for a staff/principle/high-level engineer. I don't think people realize how corrosive to mental health a $200k engineering job can be though. I was making very close to that as a base salary, and the amount of responsibilities I h…

You realise people work jobs as vital and stressful as that for a quarter of the money right? And that most people in the workforce don't get significant bonuses, and no shares. Software engineering is an absurd bubble.

Software engineering is a bubble like sports is a bubble

Re: Actual is going open-source

#89

Post by nerdjon »

I am curious, what do people use for budgeting?

Mint seems like the most feature rich, but not only do I not want to support their parent company because of their Tax lobbying... but I don't trust them from a privacy standpoint (Considering its free).

YNAB and Monarch both seem like really good options. But I have not looked into them much yet.

I currently use Copilot (iOS only... really just iPhone, no iPad app). I have found it really nice but the lack of a web or iPad app makes doing some tasks more of a pain.

I am curious if anyone has found any that work well for couples that don't have joint finances but do obviously share some expenses. My partner and me struggle with figuring this out and inevitably loose track of certain small things. Rent and standard expenses are easy. But going out, groceries, etc. those are the complicated ones.

I know there is an app you can use that you can mark transactions as shared, but I don't want to use that for privacy reasons. I would love if there was an app that had some functionality like that built in without making it so we have one account that just has all of our accounts in it.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#90

Post by adamarice »

bern4444 wrote: post #60

There are a lot of tools like Actual (YNAB, Monarch, Mint, Aspire google sheet etc). All are focused on budgets and mostly managing cash accounts. I've always wanted an equivalent but for investments. I know you can sync investment accounts to some of these, but that only reports the balance generally. I'd love to have the equivalent for investment accounts that answer these questions: What is my sector exposure? How…

I’ve been working on building this since January. We should have the first version up in a few weeks. Here’s the landing page: https://www.haystack.finance
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