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How to live on $432 a month in America

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

#451

Post by herbst »

cjbarber wrote: post #311
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…

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.

Organized gentrification. Nice

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

#452

Post by herbst »

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…

I don't know about America. But for me here in Switzerland additional transportation cost is actually cheaper in a rural area than parking costs in any city. A standard parking space about 100$ a month (not including going anywhere and park there, which is also es expensive closer to the city).

Every round trip ads maybe $5 right now. We don't have to drive to the city every second day.

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

#453

Post by troupo »

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

> if you have a social "thing" like tennis or climbing

Then you wouldn't be able to cut down expenses to "nothing"/month.

Social thing assumes expenses. Hobbies assume expenses.

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

#454

Post by troupo »

kiba wrote: post #402
jvanderbot wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any discussion of staying near family and friends on a forum predominated by startups out of the bay area is completely disingenuous. But that aside, I suggest this is front page and meaningful not because it brings up a third option (to stay home, move to a city, or move to rural NY), but instead because it advocates accidentally for just staying home . Your family probably already lives in an area that is more affo…

I am substantially happier that I moved into the big city because I built social connections and I don't want to live with my parents anymore. Driving down there is insane and I wish there was decent transportation option. I can use electric scooter to move around most days. It's a lot more fun than driving my car. Really, what these places really need is major policy reform to make them more livable. There's a reaso…

> donate to two non-profit that works to improve transportation

Unless those nonprofits work with local government to improve transportation, you're donating to scammers

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

#455

Post by margalabargala »

iammrpayments wrote: post #400
dangus wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will say, at this income level you're on Medicaid. It would be more than nothing but very basic, and if you're using government assistance than you aren't really "escaping" modernity, you're actually living off of the economic surplus of all the people working hard in the rat race. (Don't misinterpret me as saying that social safety nets are bad, I am all for them, but I'm just saying - if the author of this articl…

I’m not sure if the “rat race” actually produces real wealth to subsidize this. If anything you could say we’re able to subsidize this despite the “rat race”.

The "rat race" refers to the economic engine that is American society.

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

#456

Post by flicken »

cjbarber wrote: post #311
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…

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.

The Free State Project[1] had 20k libertarians pledge to move to New Hampshire, talking 15 years to reach the total number.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Project

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

#457

Post by johnnyanmac »

bruce511 wrote: post #392
johnnyanmac wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone has a home to go to. Broken families, dead families, there may no longer be room at a home, etc. Everyone's circumstances are different. And honestly, based on some cultures, home isn't free either. The moment I got back home, I was given a few months to find work, but had to pay rent in 3 months no matter what. I was doing temp work for one month while interviews finished

Of course you are right, not everyone has the option to move back in either their parents, and of course that option (when available) is often not rent free (nor should it be.) However I don't think that's what the parent poster meant. I think he meant "home" is the "home town" sense. There's a perception that young people (for probably 60 years now) see "getting out of this town" as a major life goal. Small towns fi…

>There's a perception that young people (for probably 60 years now) see "getting out of this town" as a major life goal.

It sort of is. Opportunities in the small towns is limited compared to urban areas. As well as other social aspects like night life, entertainment, the culture of the residents, etc. The people argument of being irreplaceable works both ways; you're simply going to get more options when you're around more people.

> if you have a job which can be done remotely, then Starlink allows you to do that from your home town.

Perhaps. Both Starlink and jobs in general really don't want us to have such options, as seen in the last few years of layoffs and crashouts. Add in the cable monopolies and you see how WFH really isn't stable right now without a good connection.

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

#458

Post by xboxnolifes »

999900000999 wrote: post #236
cozzyd wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? You can walk plenty in the cold with the right equipment. I walked 2+ km a day at the south pole ...

It's really dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I'm about .5 km from the closest supermarket. If it's snowing or just cold out I'm still ordering food. If I'm mildly sick, ordering food. I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

> I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

Most Americans would be able to do it if it became a regular occurrence for them. 2km of walking is not much even if you sit around 24 hours a day.

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

#459

Post by johnnyanmac »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #421
bruce511 wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course you are right, not everyone has the option to move back in either their parents, and of course that option (when available) is often not rent free (nor should it be.) However I don't think that's what the parent poster meant. I think he meant "home" is the "home town" sense. There's a perception that young people (for probably 60 years now) see "getting out of this town" as a major life goal. Small towns fi…

There are many parents who allow their kids to live rent free. First job can then DCA the near entire salary and what you save early on compounds like crazy for life. Parents telling kids in this world to "go work 24/7 on the treadmill without being able to save" should wonder if having kids wasn't something selfish they did like having a pet. I was always welcome at my mother's home and she told me there would alway…

>Parents telling kids in this world to "go work 24/7 on the treadmill without being able to save" should wonder if having kids wasn't something selfish they did like having a pet.

Like I said, it's cultural. Some parents literally need extra income just to keep the roof over their heads, and having an adult dependent at home is still an expense. . Some parents simply don't want to facilitate a full on NEET lifestyle and want to encourage a proper work ethic.

I agree that a kid won't just figure everything out the moment they turn 18, but I can empathize with a child also needed to leave their nest one day. Uniersity was the perfect environment for that transition, but we decided to cut funding for decades and move the costs to the 18YO's with no financial sense. A "party school" just doesn't make sense anymmore so if we don't treat it as a vocational school, you may as well have saved money and let them be a NEET for 4 years.

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

#460

Post by littlestymaar »

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…

This!

Ans it's also why there are homeless people un big cities when from a material point of view they could be living a half-decent life in a rural place instead.

Humans are social animals, and most of our behavior are shaped by this characteristic, even if some people don't seem to realize that.

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