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Join the Engineering Leisure Class

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Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#141

Post by sukilot »

MisterWalter wrote: post #108

It 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.

$600/mo is less than the price of a filthy studio apartment in the cities where most of HN's jobs are.

$100/mo for rice and beans, $70/mo for water,trash,electric,heat,telecom ; $400/mo for rent, ???

Do your kids have their own jobs? Your spouse doesn't, because someone has to watch the kids, and that is over $600/mo alone.

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#142

Post by tomjacobs »

solveforall wrote: post #93

I am currently doing this. I am much more productive compared to having a corporate job, but it is really hard on your family. There seems to be an arms race on doing everything for your kids these days. That means moving to a good school district (usually in very expensive places), paying for and driving to tons of activities, organic food, nice stuff. I have realized none of these things are possible while we are l…

Try telling us about your projects and updates on Glitch Club, this is exactly what it's for: http://glitchclub.com

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#143

Post by sukilot »

dionidium wrote: post #100
gohrt wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that "saving for college" means "saving to pay for their kid's tuition AND ALSO pay for the financial that goes to a family earning $50k/yr". And two cars (not necessarily new) because both parents are driving to work. And property tax that pays for public school for kids of less real-estate-wealthy folks Also marginal tax rate (Federal, state, social security) of ~30-40% on the difference in income.

You can't list those first three things and then also -in the last one. The last one encompasses the first three.

That is incorrect. Tuition and property tax is not the same as income tax.

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#144

Post by analog31 »

Something to consider is risk. Here's what goes through my head: I can plan for how much I need to earn throughout my life if everything is "normal" and predictable. But what if one of my kids is born in need of some monumental amount of care? What if something happens to my own physical / mental health, or that of my spouse? What if the economy goes into a long term downturn and we have to live on savings indefinitely? What if we have to leave the country due to political turmoil? (One of my parents is a refugee).

Thinking about these things made me kinda appreciate why the rich want to get richer. Even if I'm earning more than strictly necessary for subsistence under normal conditions, our economy / society is set up so that the only source of a safety net for my family is my own productivity right now. I wouldn't mind growing that safety net to infinity, so long as it imposes no externality on my own family. This is what keeps me in the rat race.

A better safety net would make people think less about going to such extremes.

I'm lucky to have a mentally rewarding job with minimal "price" in terms of things like office politics and bullshit. My opinion might change if this situation changes.

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#145

Post by rifung »

kzahel wrote: post #114
rifung wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey thanks for the advice. I actually have a digital. In fact I have something somewhat better than a digital: a hybrid (Yamaha N1). It has the action of a grand but I can still use it in an apartment. I also thought this would be good enough, but after taking lessons it's obvious that it's really not. Even though the action is supposed to be that of a grand piano, the reality is that when I actually try to play on a…

Check out the Kawai CA-65 or CA-95. They have extremely realistic action and I find them indistinguishable from a quality grand. The sound of course is not equal, however it is acceptable.

Hey I will! But the Yamaha N1 actually has the action of a grand and it still doesn't seem to be enough =/

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#146

Post by AwesomeGorilla »

twic wrote: post #99
angrybits wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So relocate to bumfuck, england and do your work there. I don't think the idea is to ditch your job and still pay $3000 a month for an apartment.

What work? There are no jobs in Bumfuck, and not enough companies that hire remote workers for this to scale. As i understand it, the situation in the US is that there is Silicon Valley, where the salaries are high and the rents higher, and then half a dozen other places where there are significant concentrations of software jobs, and more reasonable living costs. This is not really the case in the UK. There's London…

Having worked for years in software in Scotland I can confirm this is bullshit.

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#147

Post by nick_urban »

Living comfortably on little money is a skill. MMM calls it the "frugality muscle". If you don't understand how to do it, it's not because it's impossible. It's just that you haven't learned how.

In parallel to the skill acquisition there is a change in mindset, replacing the ideal of comfort with the ideals of strength and self-sufficiency.

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#148

Post by hudibras »

jonas21 wrote: post #123
liveoneggs wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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! :-)

shhh, you'll queer the deal!

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#149

Post by aidenn0 »

balls187 wrote: post #76
zrail wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not really what MMM espouses, from what I've been able to tell (I've actually spent the better part of the last month devouring his blog and the forums). MMM's point is that, if you live well within your means and can save 50% of your income (however you choose to define that, but most people do after-tax), you can "retire" after a short number of years. "Retirement" is very much however you want to define it,…

What is the point of retiring early, if you're stuck having to pinch-pennies, cut-coupons, all to living within a very modest budget? I have to do something with my time, so I might as well get paid handsomely for it.

MMM is living off an effective annual budget of $40k per year for a family of 3. That's roughly 45th percentile, so not that modest.

Re: Join the Engineering Leisure Class

#150

Post by aidenn0 »

candu wrote: post #84
rifung wrote: post #16

This is actually exactly what I want to do, although I just started working so for obvious reasons it isn't a reality yet. How long does it take to save up enough money that you wouldn't need to work though? Also, it seems like eventually you'd run out of money unless you can just retire early, in which case, you have the issue of explaining why you've been out of work for so long and proving you still are up to the…

Re: piano - for most use cases, mid-to-high range digital pianos are more than good enough nowadays. They don't require tuning, they fit in even fairly small apartments, and they can be moved with relative ease. It's not uncommon to see professional musicians using digital; the action and sound are at least comparable to the real thing. Someone in my area sold me an old Roland RD-500 in excellent condition, two amps,…

Many serious teachers won't accept students without an acoustic piano, as the action is too different. I'm not a pianist, but every single one I know whom I asked about this said that the difference is too great, at least to learn on.
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