Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to live on $432 a month in America

shagbark.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

461–470 of 764 posts

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

#461

Post by kingstoned »

owenversteeg wrote: post #305

Like other people here, I have my quibbles with the exact math. But the general premise is true: yes, you can live in rural poverty for cheap. The problem is the vibes. A hundred years ago, you would have a community, a place in society, and all of your family and friends nearby. In 2025, the only actual local job the author of the piece can come up with is at a gas station. Top ten occupations, 1920: Farmers, farm l…

  "Today, though, a young man working at a Walmart or a gas station will struggle to attract a stable partner or the respect of the world around him."
True if they are not good looking. If a guy is really handsome, he could attract a partner easily and people will like him due to halo effect.

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

#462

Post by Dylan16807 »

pyuser583 wrote: post #345
cjbarber wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The network effects/moats of places! There needs to be a Kickstarter for coordinating groups of people to move to the same place all at the same time.

Then the value of the place would go up fast. This is one way gentrification happens.

I'm sure there's a way to have more than 20 but less than 2000 people move to the same general area.

Also if your primary goal is a cheap lifestyle, you're much less likely to gentrify anything.

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

#463

Post by karafso »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #356
hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what people did in the great grandfather era Unfortunately the appeal to ancestry fallacy is always a terrible idea. You see this in the nutrition space where “influencers” go on and on about how our ancestors ate, forgetting that our ancestors died extremely early relative to modern humans. Similarly, our grandparents lived pretty terrible lives in many ways. The reason to complain about the high cost of living is…

>our ancestors died extremely early No they didn't, stop using averages.

https://ourworldindata.org/its-not-just-about-child-mortalit...

Childhood mortality is only one factor, and I think at this point we're all aware that the "life expectancy was 40 years" statistic has a huge asterisk next to it. But yes, our ancestors really did die much, much younger than us.

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

#464

Post by [deleted] »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #334
xp84 wrote: post #270

I've commented (probably too much) to argue with the harshest critics of this piece, but I am surprised to not have seen much this criticism which is my main one: Supposing I've made peace with the main gist of this: Cut living expenses to a point where you can work ¼ or so of the time most of us spend working by living somewhere cheap and not being so materialistic. The missing piece here is social connections. Fami…

Rural living also looks cheaper because most people do not even remotely consider the costs of transportation. The IRS estimates per-mile deduction at well over 60 cents per mile. If you have to drive 15 miles to the grocery store and back, your grocery bill goes up $18/trip. If you need to drive 15 miles to work and back, take $90/week out of your paycheck. Then there's the fact that whoever is The Employer in that…

[deleted]

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

#465

Post by JCharante »

renewiltord wrote: post #416
cjbarber wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The network effects/moats of places! There needs to be a Kickstarter for coordinating groups of people to move to the same place all at the same time.

It was pretty easy for me. We got enough friends to move to one neighborhood of SF. Once you get a few, the numbers start going up and the gravity of the network draws more.

that's what pieter levels did in portugal

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

#466

Post by fifilura »

fifilura wrote: post #318
8bitsrule wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it could work for some. And I think that's his point. Depending on how much meatspace socializing / culture one wants/needs. Library internet, meh ... but working 3 more hours at Stewart's would take care of that ... and access to a hyuge amount of entertainment, news, online spaces. Readers, writers, painters, DIYers. At $0.04 per kWh, keeping a small room warm in the winter is trivial ... could be worse!

> but working 3 more hours at Stewart's And working 5 more hours would get him a some better garden tools, and 20 more he could support a family of 3 And if he just got a higher paying job, he could even get a car!

(This was obviously a image of the slippery-slope most of us fall into)

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

#467

Post by keybored »

karafso wrote: post #463
nazgulnarsil wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>our ancestors died extremely early No they didn't, stop using averages.

https://ourworldindata.org/its-not-just-about-child-mortalit... Childhood mortality is only one factor, and I think at this point we're all aware that the "life expectancy was 40 years" statistic has a huge asterisk next to it. But yes, our ancestors really did die much, much younger than us.

> Childhood mortality is only one factor, and I think at this point we're all aware that the "life expectancy was 40 years" statistic has a huge asterisk next to it.

No, people who say that they “died extremely early relative to modern humans” mean the bunk dying at 40 due to old age myth. Not dying at 65 rather than 80.

Your link seems to show graphs going up but not why.[1] The medical breakthroughs have been, like first of discovering hygiene, vaccines and antibiotics. Which does exactly nothing to debunk what the OP[2] called “appeal to ancestry fallacy”. That we know medicine now (like hygiene, antiobitics) do not discredit claims like, you should eat like a hunter-gatherer or something like that.

[1] This seems typical of “data” outlets.

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44078093

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

#468

Post by pqs »

I like this proposition, but the article didn't mention health services in the area. I'm European and I don't fully understand the US health sector but I want to know what would happen in case of severe illness, living this way.

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

#469

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

rubitxxx15 wrote: post #381
xp84 wrote: post #270

I've commented (probably too much) to argue with the harshest critics of this piece, but I am surprised to not have seen much this criticism which is my main one: Supposing I've made peace with the main gist of this: Cut living expenses to a point where you can work ¼ or so of the time most of us spend working by living somewhere cheap and not being so materialistic. The missing piece here is social connections. Fami…

As an introvert, I believe I could live in a remote location without problem. I often wish I could switch off my hearing to just enjoy silence, and dream of getting a chance to spend time in an isolation chamber. That said, I don’t know if I’d want to live in a depressing small town, unless it had a good diner.

If you get a sense of relief from silence, I recommend Peltor ear defenders. The more expensive/better ones.

Seriously. I don't wear them a lot, but when I do the lack of stimulation is instantly relaxing.

Only downside is you can't sleep in them.

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

#470

Post by ZeroTalent »

permo-w wrote: post #448
tangjurine wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Massena, the place in the article, has an airport. An international airport. Just checked flights from sfo to there, 500 bucks. I don't get how this is different than moving to another state for work.

also, if you have a social "thing" like tennis or climbing or drugs or whatever thing you like that tends to have an active and welcoming social community that you're willing to engage with, then the social issue can be dampened somewhat

wait... drugs? I don't get it. the dark net is a thing. or do you mean doing them with other people?
Post reply on HN