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

On Quitting

lindaeliasen.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 145 posts

Re: On Quitting

#101

Post by gregd »

cgearhart wrote: post #94
brnlsl wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kinda stuff just drives me nuts. No, they're not all trust fund kids. The OP quit her job at Dropbox(!), and it looks like her previous jobs were at Squarespace(!) and MailChimp(!). I can only assume that she is highly skilled and productive and has been well compensated for it for years. Perhaps she saved up? Some people have good jobs and save money. Is that hard to understand?

> Is that hard to understand? Yes. And I don't mean that in a dismissive sense. I have a well-compensated job in a moderate cost of living area. I have tried hard to live thrifty and to save money, but my obligations always seem to scale with income. From shifts in tax burden after marriage & children (AMT anyone?), unexpected health expenses, to rate increases for daycare that scale with income, I have never receive…

Thank you for this well written and thoughtful response. It's how I've been feeling and what I would have said, if I had taken the time to write it out.

Re: On Quitting

#102

Post by gregd »

purplelobster wrote: post #93
purplelobster wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Number are rough because of different currencies, but: Expenses: $1500 Children: none yet, but subsidized child care, paternity leave and other subsidies makes it pretty cheap Food: $500 Housing: $400 (own apartment with my SO) Student loans: $150 Car payment: no car, bike most places Income tax rate: 32%, but employer pays another 30%, so effectively 62% Sales tax: 25% Insurace: $15 Phone: $15 (cheapest possible pla…

@gregd Well of course, that's the entire point! I didn't just happen to have low expenses, I've been actively lowering them as much as I can! And you have to make some sacrifices to reach a 60% savings rate, but you also realize how much of this middle-class lifestyle doesn't actually make you happier. Why do you spend $1500 on food every month for one person for example?! That's insane. My expense is too high for my…

I have a wife who is in college full-time, 3 children that live with me (2 that do not)...that eats up (pun intended) my food budget. My rent on a 3 bedroom apartment is $1400/month and I had to sign a 14 month lease to get that (after already living here for over a year). They wanted to raise our rent $300/month if I didn't sign the 14 month lease.

I pay for health insurance out of my own pocket, which is over 8000/year.

Re: On Quitting

#103

Post by mhurron »

Killswitch wrote: post #91
mhurron wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But you choose where you live Given that it takes money to move, no, you do not always have a choice in where to live.

Bullshit. Nobody forces you to live in an expensive city. Nobody makes you buy a million dollar house. You chose your own destiny. Stop putting the blame on others. I lived in Chicago on a $800/mo salary for a year and a half. Yes eight hundred dollars a month, in the city of Chicago. I had no money, but I made it work, then I moved back home to small town Iowa and make a lot more now, and live a better life. Nobody…

> Nobody forces you to live in an expensive city.

It takes money move, to or from any city. It's nice that you were able to make it work, and yes, it means others could as well but you wold look like a little less of an asshole if you would consider not everyone is in the same situation as you were.

Were you single

Did you have kids

Did you have any medical conditions that needed care

Did you use to have a better job before

That's just a few things that are part of everyday, normal life that can make the cost of moving and living on very little somewhat difficult.

> Nobody makes you buy a million dollar house

I don't remember saying anything close to that.

Re: On Quitting

#104

Post by adevine »

ConfuciusSay wrote: post #86
mathgeek wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not to be a dick but it sounds like you just make a lot of money. I do not. I make just over $70k a year now (a lot more than a few years ago) and before we had kids, we cut back so that my wife's income at the time went entirely to paying off debts. Our home is worth ~135k (three bedroom in a nice cheaper US city), and our cars are nothing to write home about but they get us where we need to go. My total income no…

For what it's worth, you're in roughly the top 30% of earners globally. Whether that constitutes "a lot of money" depends on your definition, but we often forget just how little most people on this planet live on so I wanted to throw it out there.

Which is why I have a lot of sympathy for the majority of people on the planet. For the typical HN commenter, though, who is either highly compensated or at least in an industry with a lot of job security, I have to roll my eyes when people act so baffled as to how one can possibly save money.

I am well compensated now, but right after college I was making 15k a year (it was in the arts) and I still managed to save money.

Re: On Quitting

#105

Post by adevine »

gregd wrote: post #92
purplelobster wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Number are rough because of different currencies, but: Expenses: $1500 Children: none yet, but subsidized child care, paternity leave and other subsidies makes it pretty cheap Food: $500 Housing: $400 (own apartment with my SO) Student loans: $150 Car payment: no car, bike most places Income tax rate: 32%, but employer pays another 30%, so effectively 62% Sales tax: 25% Insurace: $15 Phone: $15 (cheapest possible pla…

My food budget is 3 times your food budget. My housing is 3 times your housing budget. My student loans are $200/month. My car payment is 300/month. Income tax rate 9%. Sales tax: 0 Medical insurance: $8000/year Auto (and other) insurance: 1200/year

Umm, I don't mean to sound crass, but if you have 5 kids, 3 who live with you and 2 who do not, and a spouse who isn't currently working, I am not surprised that you find it difficult to save money. At the same time, it's not hard to understand that people who chose to have fewer children would find it easier to save money and get by without needing a trust fund.

Re: On Quitting

#106

Post by Killswitch »

mhurron wrote: post #103
Killswitch wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit. Nobody forces you to live in an expensive city. Nobody makes you buy a million dollar house. You chose your own destiny. Stop putting the blame on others. I lived in Chicago on a $800/mo salary for a year and a half. Yes eight hundred dollars a month, in the city of Chicago. I had no money, but I made it work, then I moved back home to small town Iowa and make a lot more now, and live a better life. Nobody…

> Nobody forces you to live in an expensive city. It takes money move, to or from any city. It's nice that you were able to make it work, and yes, it means others could as well but you wold look like a little less of an asshole if you would consider not everyone is in the same situation as you were. Were you single Did you have kids Did you have any medical conditions that needed care Did you use to have a better job…

> Were you single

No.

> Did you have kids

Yes.

> Did you have any medical conditions that needed care

Not that I know of.

> Did you use to have a better job before

I moved to the city with a $100 loan from my step-father so I could afford gas to do the 4 hour drive taking nothing with me but what I could fit in my car, which took a 3rd of that $800/mo just to pay.

You know how I moved? I asked a friend, he came and helped me and packed his truck with what I couldn't fit in my car.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Re: On Quitting

#107

Post by icedchai »

brnlsl wrote: post #22
gregd wrote: post #4

I have never been in a position to just up and quit a job without having something else lined up. Are you all trust fund kids?

This kinda stuff just drives me nuts. No, they're not all trust fund kids. The OP quit her job at Dropbox(!), and it looks like her previous jobs were at Squarespace(!) and MailChimp(!). I can only assume that she is highly skilled and productive and has been well compensated for it for years. Perhaps she saved up? Some people have good jobs and save money. Is that hard to understand?

You know the average American is incapable of saving even 5% of their income, right? That's why this is so unbelievable to some.

Re: On Quitting

#108

Post by mandlar »

gregd wrote: post #4

I have never been in a position to just up and quit a job without having something else lined up. Are you all trust fund kids?

I'm not a trust fund kid, but I could safely quit my job any minute and be okay for at least a year.

I'm 28. I have a net worth over $130k and a $25k emergency fund. I make over $70k (web dev) in a low cost of living area. I am maxing out my 401k and Roth IRA every year and will be opening a taxable account this year to dump more money into. I'm a renter (2BR for $515/month not including utilities), but I am fully supporting my fiancée who is finishing her masters of accounting degree.

I still spend quite a bit of extra money on video games and board games and a few other luxuries that I could and probably should cut back on. But I don't eat out (we cook in every night) and I live a mile away from my work.

My ultimate goal is financial independence. I want to be able to live off the 4% returns of my investments and not have to work (although I probably would do something, but more for myself than a company).

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence and http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

Re: On Quitting

#109

Post by alexcp_ »

johnward wrote: post #44
NDizzle wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, 10 to 15 percent is a luxury? I left the bay area because I wasn't happy with a 20% savings rate! I'm currently at a 60% savings rate and I'm 3 hours away from SF. I'm mid 30s with 3 kids. Should I just blow it all on something ridiculous? Like what? Every single month?!

Maybe it's easy to save 60% if you make 200k per year?

Of course it's easier to save money when you make so much, however I think the lifestyle is more important than the actual salary.

It's easy to waste money on small things. Some people buy expensive coffee and eat out everyday for example. It adds up really fast.

Re: On Quitting

#110

Post by purplelobster »

gregd wrote: post #102
purplelobster wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@gregd Well of course, that's the entire point! I didn't just happen to have low expenses, I've been actively lowering them as much as I can! And you have to make some sacrifices to reach a 60% savings rate, but you also realize how much of this middle-class lifestyle doesn't actually make you happier. Why do you spend $1500 on food every month for one person for example?! That's insane. My expense is too high for my…

I have a wife who is in college full-time, 3 children that live with me (2 that do not)...that eats up (pun intended) my food budget. My rent on a 3 bedroom apartment is $1400/month and I had to sign a 14 month lease to get that (after already living here for over a year). They wanted to raise our rent $300/month if I didn't sign the 14 month lease. I pay for health insurance out of my own pocket, which is over 8000/…

Look, that sounds like a tough situation financially, but this is not the norm among people on this forum (whom I'm addressing). Also, good news! If your wife manages to find a nice job after graduation, and if you keep your lifestyle the same, you can now put an entire salary into your savings account (or pay off loans, which is the same thing) every month. That's basically what me and my wife are doing.
Post reply on HN