Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt • Hacker News Board

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#11

Post by tekacs » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:30 PM UTC

grannyg00se wrote: post #8

"Plus, I was graduating with a degree in English and history, which, though valuable to me, is more or less monetarily worthless." I can't imagine spending tens of thousands of dollars on something that is monetarily worthless just because it is of personal value to me. That seems incredibly self indulgent.

I'm pretty sure food falls into that category. :P

Edge cases aside, surely 'learning how to think' or indeed just learning is tremendously valuable - surely the ultimate value that all other kinds are implicitly converted to (cf. heat in thermodynamics[1]) is 'personal value' such as satisfaction?

[1]: A simplistic view, please don't flame me. :/

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#12

Post by Avshalom » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:32 PM UTC

grannyg00se wrote: post #8

"Plus, I was graduating with a degree in English and history, which, though valuable to me, is more or less monetarily worthless." I can't imagine spending tens of thousands of dollars on something that is monetarily worthless just because it is of personal value to me. That seems incredibly self indulgent.

So uh. What do you eat? Any hobbies? Pay more than a couple grand for a car? Underwear, do you own any?

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#13

Post by tnorthcutt » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:39 PM UTC

benjamincburns wrote: post #7

mindstab wrote: post #3

More anecdotal evidence that the value of America arts degrees is far less than their over inflated cost

Value is only quantifiable in the context of a purpose. Is a liberal arts degree valuable as an instrument to garner income? Statistically, no. Is it valuable as a set of experiences which help to better understand the world we live in? Absolutely. But does that make it valuable enough to justify the cost? I dunno. Ask Ken Ilgunas.

How can you say for sure it has the second type of value?

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#14

Post by tekacs » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:39 PM UTC

mindstab wrote: post #3

More anecdotal evidence that the value of America arts degrees is far less than their over inflated cost

Points at his own comment elsewhere: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5795016

Essentially: surely that depends on your notion of value?

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#15

Post by dasil003 » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:45 PM UTC

grannyg00se wrote: post #8

"Plus, I was graduating with a degree in English and history, which, though valuable to me, is more or less monetarily worthless." I can't imagine spending tens of thousands of dollars on something that is monetarily worthless just because it is of personal value to me. That seems incredibly self indulgent.

Really? When I hear self-indulgent I tend to think of your average American couch-potato lifestyle. This type of self-indulgence where you engage your love of learning for learning's sake doesn't really seem so bad in the grand scheme of things.

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#16

Post by orangethirty » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #4

I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina. My entire expenses were $1200/mo, which is pretty much what I was spending before the trip just going to work every day. Not paying rent and cooking all your own meals is a great way to save money. [1] http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-adventure Coldfoot is not the northernmost truck stop in the world. I drove another 250 miles North from there. http://theroadc…

I would love to do that. Bookmarked the site for later reading.

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#17

Post by quackerhacker » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

I ALWAYS find the survival stories of college WAY more interesting than what you did to get your masters or what you majored in.

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#18

Post by 300bps » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:51 PM UTC

szx wrote: post #10

grannyg00se wrote: post #8

"Plus, I was graduating with a degree in English and history, which, though valuable to me, is more or less monetarily worthless." I can't imagine spending tens of thousands of dollars on something that is monetarily worthless just because it is of personal value to me. That seems incredibly self indulgent.

This: "I have little patience for critics who don’t see the value in a liberal arts education. We don’t mock people who have children -- and there’s no practical value to having children."

In many cultures children take care of the parents in their old age. Is that not practical value?

In farming cultures, the more children you have the more workers you have. That seems practical as well.

I think his analogy is flawed.

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#19

Post by vijayr » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:52 PM UTC

grannyg00se wrote: post #8

"Plus, I was graduating with a degree in English and history, which, though valuable to me, is more or less monetarily worthless." I can't imagine spending tens of thousands of dollars on something that is monetarily worthless just because it is of personal value to me. That seems incredibly self indulgent.

incredibly self indulgent

How? There are people who spend thousands of dollars on shoes, clothes etc. Heck, how many of us here spend tons of money on the latest gadget? Compared to these, spending money learning something just because he wanted to, is way better. And in any case, it is his money (well, it was a loan, still..), so he can spend however he wants (same goes for people who spend tons of money on the latest and greatest fad - it is their money)

Re: Extreme Saving: A Man, His Van and Five-Figure Debt

#20

Post by nchuhoai » Thu, May 30, 2013, 8:56 PM UTC

I have always been a proponent of a more vocationally-oriented system like we have in Germany, it was outragous for me to see how much money people spend on "monterily worthless" degrees. Yet, I point out America's college system as the single best competitive advantage over the rest of the world. I so far couldn't find the words for it, but he put it soo greatly:

"Plus, I was graduating with a degree in English and history, which, though valuable to me, is more or less monetarily worthless."

"I have little patience for critics who don’t see the value in a liberal arts education. We don’t mock people who have children -- and there’s no practical value to having children."