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Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

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Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#71

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #66
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>1. Live below your means. Take this seriously. Make sure you invest the surplus cash in an index fund. In time you'll have enough money to not fear a job loss. There's a lot of freedom in that. Keep in mind that most of the stuff you want ends up in the trash or on some shelf collecting dust. So, think twice about what you buy.

> Make sure you invest the surplus cash in an index fund. That depends on what you eventually want to use the money for. Don't put your 6 month emergency fund in stocks or index funds! If you get laid off along with everyone else, stocks will be down, and that means the money you set aside for an emergency is gone!

Good point, a six month emergency fund needs to be easy to access and in a safe savings' place.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#72

Post by Stealthisbook »

I worked with some telecom techs who could've literally written their own ticket to some extent just because they knew how to deal with extremely esoteric local problems. They were blue collar guys who stuck with their boss come what may because they were buds but when he left the company... they all eventually evaporated.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#73

Post by SkirlockJones »

0x008 wrote: post #67
mikrl wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the trap of thinking that social skills are "bullshit" At some point I thought this way because I wasn’t good at them and was too anxious to even attempt to work on them. Then I realized - ‘programming’ humans is really fun, especially when you can improve them :) - everything else you and I do in our lives is related (directly or indirectly) to social status, so why not eliminate inefficiencies by using social skil…

Do you have any resources you might recommend?

Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39330937-the-laws-of-hum...

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#74

Post by jacknews »

jen729w wrote: post #55
not_the_fda wrote: post #7

1. Live below your means. 2. Have 6+ months living expenses in cash equivalent. 3. Build retirement / investment savings. 4. Build skills and be able to demonstrate you can ship product. I've seen many co-workers get laid off in my career, they all landed back on their feet.

> 1. Live below your means. Advice from someone who didn't do this and should now have waaaaaaaay more savings than he does: don't reduce your spending on experiences (dinner, drinks with friends, holidays), but try to reduce your spending on objects. It is so true that the dopamine hit from buying a thing is short-lived. Now you have that thing, which you probably won't use all that much, and you have to carry it ar…

I agree experiences are what make a life, but things are relatively cheap, and services are expensive. The best thing to save on is paying less rent, better financed mortgage, shop around for cheaper insurance, etc, etc.

For things, focus on tools that help you do more, save time, etc, not bling, and buy the best quality you can afford. Specifically go for quality, not just the most expensive, which will have often have added bling and exclusive price tags to attract people with more money than care.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#75

Post by FreakLegion »

TylerE wrote: post #70
rr808 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> only about $67k/year. Which is >100k/year before tax which is well above median household earnings.

Not to mention I see no mention of healthcare costs. I - a single 30-something with some chronic issues, easily spend $5k on healthcare a year - more if I get hospitalized, which has happened 3 times in the decade. That’s not even counting the portion that comes out of my check.

What kind of answer are you looking for? There are people who live on less than $40k without even meaning to. It's not an outrageous number, but sure, would be harder with chronic health issues and so-so insurance.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#76

Post by jen729w »

jacknews wrote: post #74
jen729w wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Live below your means. Advice from someone who didn't do this and should now have waaaaaaaay more savings than he does: don't reduce your spending on experiences (dinner, drinks with friends, holidays), but try to reduce your spending on objects. It is so true that the dopamine hit from buying a thing is short-lived. Now you have that thing, which you probably won't use all that much, and you have to carry it ar…

I agree experiences are what make a life, but things are relatively cheap, and services are expensive. The best thing to save on is paying less rent, better financed mortgage, shop around for cheaper insurance, etc, etc. For things, focus on tools that help you do more, save time, etc, not bling, and buy the best quality you can afford. Specifically go for quality, not just the most expensive, which will have often h…

I might even disagree with 'less rent' (although better finance for sure, yes).

Living somewhere nice, that isn't old and moldy, that doesn't leak, that isn't cold in winter and hot in summer, that is close to amenities, is a massive quality of life improvement.

Things might be relatively cheap as single items, but the cost of them all adds up. And I'd still say, question every purchase. I mean don't agonise over it, but if you can get in to the habit of generally not just buying shit all the time, I think you'll be better for it.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#77

Post by kthejoker2 »

rr808 wrote: post #62
kthejoker2 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

40 might be a bit of a stretch with inflation, but even with 4 kids and a dog my yearly expenditures to live in a very nice (3800 sqft) house with 2 (paid for) cars is only about $67k/year. $37k mortgage $15k bills - electric, water, Internet, car insurance, cell phones, etc. $15k - food, gasoline, clothing, haircuts, other "necessities" (many of which are not) Then of course there's vacations, Christmas/birthdays, a…

> only about $67k/year. Which is >100k/year before tax which is well above median household earnings.

Right, but we're also an above median family size (again: 4 kids.)

I could easily drop 20-25k from that spending if we didn't have kids - in fact, at the time I had my first kid, my mortgage was $24k/year, my bills were nearly 40% lower than they are now, and I didn't track food and clothes budgets back then but even if they were 80% of present day levels (I suspect it was much lower) that'd put us right around $40k/year.

But I also am on the real estate property ladder, so I think it'd be foolish for me to spend any less of our income on our housing than I do, so counting it as pure "expenditure" is a bit misleading.

Also since someone asked this year I paid $2,200 in healthcare distributions on top of $750 annual premiums.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#78

Post by sshine »

kelnos wrote: post #21

I do feel that I have "FU Skills", and probably have for a good 10+ years (I'm in my early 40s now). However, getting jobs is more than that. Or, rather, getting and keeping a job is more than that, and that's where I worry I'm lacking sometimes. While I wouldn't flat-out say I don't work well with others, my patience has gradually gotten worse and worse over the years. At my last company, I think I likely developed…

> At my last company, I think I likely developed a reputation as someone who preferred to isolate himself, someone who should be exempt from any established company processes

This may be, in part, caused by the dynamics of that one particular workplace. It does not have to mean that “you are that guy” from not on. You may want to engage more the next place because the people and the culture is different.

> I question how many of those people would really want to hire me at their new company

Whatever the impression you left is, this is not you. It’s a footprint of you interacting with particular individuals under a particular context. The real you is not constrained to repeat.

> having technical skills is great, but it's not the whole picture when it comes to being easily employable.

This is great advice.

Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills

#80

Post by scarface74 »

mjfl wrote: post #79
scarface74 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is statistically the worse advice you can give anyone. A new grad working at any BigTech company could be more secure in a few years.

and you won't get FU skill or FU money. I answered the question.

You can definitely get FU money by making $160K+ straight out of college up to a quarter million a year plus three years later. How much do you think most people make “starting their own business?”
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