We aren't rich by any means... Don't start thinking about dropping off the face of the earth or going into philanthropy if you still only have a 6 figure bank account, like many of us do... Also don't forget about what happened in 2000. Engineers should probably work more but spend less money because things aren't so easy in less favorable conditions
Join the Engineering Leisure Class
121–130 of 197 posts
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#122It always drives me crazy when people that make 50k+ a year complain about not having money. I live on about $500-$600 a month and I'm fine. Granted, not everyone is ablebodied and living within biking distance of their school/work, but most certainly could be, especially with a little effort. Not needing money is incredibly liberating, I advise everyone to just try it for a year.
I agree with you. My current life style ends up around $7,000 a year. I live in a very affluent mid-east city. I don't own a car (15 minute walk to downtown), I don't eat out constantly (I prefer healthy meals), and I don't buy a bunch of luxury junk. I can honestly say that I do not feel like I'm struggling at all.
Having the 'standard' car, house, and family are unnecessary luxuries. It's fine if you choose to do these things but it's silly to me that people feel poor making 50k+. I would argue that if you are struggling with those types of income, your lifestyle is severely out of whack. You don't have to keep up the Jonses to lead a very happy, healthy life.
The benefits of living cheaply are pretty obvious and already pretty well covered. The ability to work on whatever I want, whenever I want all without ever having to think about the personal finance side of it, is just incredibly freeing.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
No income tax is because you live in Wyoming, or because you don't work and therefore don't earn a salary?
no state income tax in Wyoming (also Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Texas; Tennessee only has taxes on investment income)
Don't forget Washington state! :-)
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#124> Luckily, there’s a corner of the Internet dedicated to breaking the link between “comfort” and money. The problem with this is that it moves in the wrong direction. You spent all this time learning how to earn more money for your time. Then what do you do after you earn a bunch of money? Figure out how to trade your time for money again, just in different arenas? Why, so you can avoid having to spend more time doin…
"Also using single-blade razors." For me, single blade razors offer a better shave. The fact that it's cheaper is just a bonus.
Not for me. I got a safety razor a few years ago, never looked back until I found myself traveling, and, unable to bring my blades, just went to the grocery store and got a cheap three-blade razor. Night and day difference.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#125i have been pondering getting a high salaried job in sv for 1-2 years living out of my car and office and saving 90 percent of my salary to live nicely anywhere else in the country.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Also using single-blade razors." For me, single blade razors offer a better shave. The fact that it's cheaper is just a bonus.
Not for me. I got a safety razor a few years ago, never looked back until I found myself traveling, and, unable to bring my blades, just went to the grocery store and got a cheap three-blade razor. Night and day difference.
It depends a lot on the quality of the blades, and if you store them dunked in mineral oil between shaves. Some brands of blades I got were garbage out of the box. None of them were much good if they had been left out for a few days after use - same are disposables in that regard.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#127> Luckily, there’s a corner of the Internet dedicated to breaking the link between “comfort” and money. The problem with this is that it moves in the wrong direction. You spent all this time learning how to earn more money for your time. Then what do you do after you earn a bunch of money? Figure out how to trade your time for money again, just in different arenas? Why, so you can avoid having to spend more time doin…
"Doing these things properly requires learning more skills. But time spent learning these skills is time not spent engineering. It almost seems more of a irrational reaction against modernity than it does an actual path towards greater impact."
I don't think it was about the size of impact but about fixing your work/life balance. When it's skewing too much towards "all work/no play", most people burn out. By changing to learning something new and different, they get refreshed.
Personally I think I may have to write an article called "Join the Leisure Class, Leave the Engineering Class".
For me, I stopped working in engineering and life is awesome. Having made enough to pay off the mortgage and with leftover savings, I don't think I will need to work again. But when I was working I actually did get a certification in a completely different field of welding/machining.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#128I did this. I advise against this. I had money saved up, and for visa reasons had to spend a year outside the USA. Seemed like a perfect time to indulge in some risky ideas, especially those which were a little idealistic. It ended up being incredibly depressing and I got very little done. It's hard enough to build a product when you're in a startup or a smart team. In my opinion it's nearly impossible if you're goin…
Moreover.... if you are not in software, but say mechanical engineering (like myself), doing anything new and interesting usually costs a lot of money. And if you do not have that money - because you have quit your paying job - your ideas will never be built. And if you try to get funding from others... well that can be really disheartening, the VC scene in mechanical engineering is much much worse that in software.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#129Why should we assign "meaning" to leisure? Why does everything you do have to be meaningful? Reminds me of a lyric from Cat Power - Metal Heart: "How selfish of you to believe in the meaning of all the things you do."
I think we assign "meaning" to leisure so we give it as much value as our work. Gaming ourselves to respect leisure more.
I.e. The itch we instinctively don't bother scratching when we are too busy working. We need to value that itch so we take the time to scratch.
Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class
#130RATHER CLUELESS ADVICE since context matters in functional life/work design as well as Functional Programming. The Hacker mentality is complex due to artist/scientist/engineer contradictions. Engineer - slow, slow Haskell improvement Artist - take off time and just do it. Javascript hacker Scientist - Abstract everything. C code is a minor detail. THE PROBLEM WITH THE INDUSTRY is similar to ARTIST. We really have lit…
Was this comment written by a Markov Chain?
The word "expericne" somehow got into the Markov chain. Perhaps the words themselves are being generated by an algorithm?