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How to live on $432 a month in America

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Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#231

Post by fzeroracer »

xyzzy9563 wrote: post #191
energywut wrote: post #122

> any American could live an earlier iteration of the American Dream If (and only if) you aren't socially different from the communities you'd be moving to. Being gay or trans, for instance, might mark you out as a target in a lot of the places where you could live this cheaply. Plenty of race, religions, or political beliefs that would make it untenable. It's hard to claim that any American can achieve this.

[flagged]

There's a particularly funny anecdote I have in regards to your transphobic dogwhistle.

Back when I was living in Austin I was at the airport getting ready to visit my family for a flight. As I went to enter the male restroom, a woman from behind me yelled at me that I was entering the wrong restroom and sneered at me.

Do you know what my crime was? Being a cisgender male with long hair. That was all it took for someone to assume I was transgender and then proceed to be an asshole.If you're in a rural like that and you stand out in any way, people will notice. And if you're someone that is trans, it'll be far worse.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#232

Post by wredcoll »

orzig wrote: post #188

The author mentions they’re just about to have a baby, and it’s notable that they don’t talk about the quality of the schools. Even if they homeschooled, I imagine they want their kids to have some friends, and they didn’t talk about how that would work without a car. Once they get a car, they might get a little bit unlucky and live an hour away from their kid’s closest peer. I hope they get along!

Where are they going to go if the birth is complicated? Just bleed out on the floor of their hut?

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#233

Post by jppope »

I think a lot of people are missing the larger point. Yes its very possible to live quite inexpensively in the American Siberia... thats not what the author is really getting at. The Author is pointing out that there is a HUGE opportunity for young americans to live in places that aren't a handful of large Metros with outrageous housing costs lots of these places are the heartland, where it is socially unacceptable now for costal middle class adults go.

The authors point resinates for me, and I've seen a different but related model by friends - A couple (Dentist and small business owner) living in semi-rural Kansas (city pop ~40K). Their contention was that normal people in a normal week eat some food, go to work, do kid stuff (school, practices, etc), workout, watch some TV, and sleep a bunch... And theres really nothing about that that is needs to be in a major metro, so they moved to a place where college educated adults from the coasts dare not go- Kansas. The recognize the useful stuff from the metros are the food, culture, etc... and what they did was take a trip one a month to live like kings...

Can you imagine how much more fun you can have with ~400K of disposable income (after living expenses)? Seeing the trips they've taken and the adventures they were able to afford because their 7 bedroom 5 bath house cost ~400K (movie theater and all)... was mind boggling to me. It was all for the small cost of not being able to get access to the metros during the week. Seems worth it to me...

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#234

Post by stevenwoo »

Loughla wrote: post #147
TrackerFF wrote: post #134

I looked through those numbers, and immediately thought to myself - hope you don't need to see a doctor for anything serious, or go to a dentist for that mater. FWIW, I grew up in rural nowhere (population 150, nearest town 45 miles away) - and I honestly don't know how anyone can live out in the boonies without a car. Taking the bus that goes 3 times a day is one thing, needing to move stuff is another thing. I mean…

What small town even has a bus? The closest bus line to me is in the closest large town (40k) about an hour away. Are there bus lines in the middle of nowhere?

Some times, Boulder Creek is in the mountains between Santa Cruz and San Jose (it’s more remote than it sounds I think)and it gets regular bus service on winding two lane roads and there’s a stop at Big Basin State Park where there’s no cell service in wide swaths of valleys and mountain sides.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#236

Post by 999900000999 »

cozzyd wrote: post #214
999900000999 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once it gets cold you won't be walking much anywhere. I guess grocery delivery from Walmart can mitigate this, but that fundamentally changes the situation.

Why not? You can walk plenty in the cold with the right equipment. I walked 2+ km a day at the south pole ...

It's really dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I'm about .5 km from the closest supermarket.

If it's snowing or just cold out I'm still ordering food.

If I'm mildly sick, ordering food.

I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#237

Post by xp84 »

johnny22 wrote: post #198
xp84 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but we are reading this on HN. Anyone working for the past 10 years in tech should have that much saved up easily. If for the past 10 years you put just $400 a month into SPY and did nothing else, you'd have about $95,000. About 126k for QQQ. [0] And I don't think most people can't afford to save $400 a month. Lots of people save that much. [0]: https://dqydj.com/etf-return-calculator/

Why would you assume people are talking about themselves just because it's on HN? I'm reading these comments much more broadly.

I didn't mean to assume anything about the whole world, but we are talking about ourselves here, so our situations matter to us. I read the article as a thought experiment that is available to me personally and many others, even if it isn't practical for literally every human being.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#239

Post by titanomachy »

ars wrote: post #206
dangus wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will say, at this income level you're on Medicaid. It would be more than nothing but very basic, and if you're using government assistance than you aren't really "escaping" modernity, you're actually living off of the economic surplus of all the people working hard in the rat race. (Don't misinterpret me as saying that social safety nets are bad, I am all for them, but I'm just saying - if the author of this articl…

> But it is extremely important to point out that the American "rat race" cities 100% subsidize areas like this. It's even more important to point out that places like this grow the food and do the manufacturing that those "cities" you like would collapse without.

Yeah, but the farmers and factory workers are working more than one ten-hour shift per week.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#240

Post by lfowles »

jppope wrote: post #233

I think a lot of people are missing the larger point. Yes its very possible to live quite inexpensively in the American Siberia... thats not what the author is really getting at. The Author is pointing out that there is a HUGE opportunity for young americans to live in places that aren't a handful of large Metros with outrageous housing costs lots of these places are the heartland, where it is socially unacceptable n…

> The recognize the useful stuff from the metros are the food, culture, etc...

Probably most importantly, a thriving job market

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