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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

#741

Post by therealdrag0 »

bombcar wrote: post #163
999900000999 wrote: post #87

>Though I and my wife do not presently live in Massena, we live nearby, and we’re doing exactly this — we do not have an automobile, nor do we want one. We use the rural county transit bus, which we have found to be extremely cheap and quite reliable; and it has certainly saved us thousands and thousands of dollars by liberating us from the onerous expense of keeping a car. This part has me screaming shenanigans. Unl…

That’s obviously not true, if you change what you “have” to go to. There are thousands of American towns that are about 10k population - large enough to have a Walmart and other stores, small enough to walk across in an hour or so.

And 10k is not even that small. I have family in a town of 4K and it has 2 full grocery stores and a Walmart super center.

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

#742

Post by K0balt »

returningfory2 wrote: post #688
K0balt wrote: post #667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but I’m having a hard time understanding how developing nations the world over can afford to do this, but the USA cannot lol. I’ve used the healthcare systems in many developing nations, and while it’s not really fun, it is adequate and free for 80 percent of the issues that a person encounters. For the other 20 percent, it’s best to go to a private clinic, where the care is as good if not better than many US c…

I think there's a bunch of different things going on in the US healthcare system. I think for sure part of it is inefficiency. But I don't really buy the argument that healthcare quality is the same elsewhere. Like, do you really think you're going to get the same care for, say, long term multiple sclerosis in the United States versus Guatemala? I feel a lot of the "the care is the same" comes from younger people who…

You can absolutely get the same standard of care for common things, but you might not get it for free. Where the standard of care does vary is where there are only a few specialists in the world for your condition.. they probably will be in the USA or Europe.

You have two elements in healthcare , for the most part: expertise, starting with basic medical education, then gained by reading and being exposed to patients, going to conferences and other experiential factors. People are ill, injured, or old everywhere, so this opportunity is well distributed.

Apart from that, you have technology, and people with money pay to have access to it, and people with money are also everywhere, so that too tends to be distributed.

There are also a lot more doctors per person in many developing nations, because education of doctors tends to be highly subsidized in those countries. You get a lot more of a doctors time and focused attention with your consult.

It’s when things are rare that it can be harder, but even then, sometimes the leading specialists start out off the beaten path.

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

#743

Post by [deleted] »

testing22321 wrote: post #734
dangus wrote: post #728

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming your vehicle got around 25mpg you spent about $8000 CAD on gasoline over those 50,000km of driving. Where did that money come from? How much did your legally required car insurance cost? The median rate seems to be around $200 a month from a quick google. Just adding in the most modest vehicle completely destroys the author’s budget. I believe your reality, but I don’t believe in the amount you are romantici…

> Assuming your vehicle got around 25mpg you spent about $8000 CAD on gasoline over those 50,000km of driving. Where did that money come from? Vehicle got 32-35 mpg. 1.8ltr 4 cyl with selectable 4x4. I had a job. > How much did your legally required car insurance cost? The median rate seems to be around $200 a month from a quick google. $550 a year. > Just adding in the most modest vehicle completely destroys the aut…

[deleted]

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

#744

Post by Loudergood »

kemotep wrote: post #90
dmonitor wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that means you don’t get the latest iPhone Why do people always have to call out "the latest iPhone". Most people can't afford the latest iPhone, nor do they try. You might as well say a Lamborghini. Why can't you be honest and just say "a smartphone".

Even a brand new iPhone 16 is “only” $800. Plans for unlimited internet can be had for less than $40 a month. Using that phone for 5 years would only add like $60 to their total monthly expenses. Is that truly unattainable? Is that really what is keeping people from buying a house?

You can easily cut that in half by buying last years model from someone who does insist on having the latest one.

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

#745

Post by stickfigure »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #678
stickfigure wrote: post #580

On one hand I agree with the general premise of the article, which is that you can live a lot cheaper than you choose to. Homes in the passably-cute downtown of Massena are under $100k; you could live on $40k/yr comfortably and if you're here on HN you can probably earn at least than that with a remote job. Cutting it to $5k/yr is just trying to prove something. The missing thing is health care. If you're young and i…

This works if you’re young and healthy. Which is possible. I didn’t have health insurance for the first 45+ years of my life and saw a doctor maybe 4-5 times before my mid-50s. Must not have spent more than $5k total on medical in 30 years including dental. If you live a healthy lifestyle (much easier out there than in the city) and are relatively lucky genetically then lack of health insurance isn’t the bugaboo that…

Right, you might get lucky. Or you might not. Young healthy people used to die in childbirth all the time. It still happens. And how was your last colonoscopy?

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

#746

Post by dangus »

ars wrote: post #740
dangus wrote: post #732

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural subsidy for agriculture and other purposes makes a ton of sense. And not all rural areas are subsidy areas, many involved in energy and mineral extraction are economic surplus contributors. I have no problem with rural subsidy. I think part of my objection to this lifestyle is that the author is essentially a burden on their community by their own choice. The community would be healthier economically if this pe…

> The community would be healthier economically if this person wasn’t in it. Not everything is about money. A healthy rural society has a variety of people in it, some bring in more money that others, but the mix is necessary. Otherwise people will leave. This guy for example seems to be able to write, and has lots of spare time. Perhaps he helps his neighbors. There's no money involved, but the entire community is b…

You’re right, money isn’t everything.

Let’s say you’re in a collectivist community. No money is involved. Everyone contributes to the community by providing both needs (infrastructure, maintenance, etc) and wants (culture, arts, beautification, etc).

Would the person who chooses to contribute to community duties 1/10th the time and effort of the amount the rest of the community puts in face social consequences?

I think in most tightly-knit communities of this sort, they would. Money is just the exchange mechanism we use to enable more complex exchanges.

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

#747

Post by dangus »

sarchertech wrote: post #738
dangus wrote: post #732

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural subsidy for agriculture and other purposes makes a ton of sense. And not all rural areas are subsidy areas, many involved in energy and mineral extraction are economic surplus contributors. I have no problem with rural subsidy. I think part of my objection to this lifestyle is that the author is essentially a burden on their community by their own choice. The community would be healthier economically if this pe…

Excluding the possible exception of healthcare I’m not sure what you mean. The hypothetical person is paying property taxes on the house they own. He’s paying income tax on his income. He’s paying sales tax on the food and necessities he buys. I live in state with no income tax. If I decide to live in a cheap house, eat cheaply, and save most of my income does that mean I’m a burden on my community because I’m not pa…

While they are paying all required taxes, and he’s maybe even doing positive things as you describe, the “community” (federal, state, and local levels) is investing more money into him than he is returning to the system.

That in itself is a simple fact that you can verify with basic publicly available government budget/taxation statistics numbers.

It only really works out okay because not everyone is doing what the author does. If everyone did what the author does we would have to drastically change how we organize our society.

A shorter way to say it is that the people who build the roads, fill potholes, and pick up garbage tend to work a full time job. If they all decided to only work one or two days a month (current unemployment rate: 4%) we’d have an instant crisis.

And maybe that realignment is okay and we could do that, but that’s not how it’s set up now.

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

#748

Post by snapplebobapple »

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…

I think it's actually the other way around. History is full of people essentially saying goodbye to their family and friends permanently because communication took months and was expensive and moving for a better life. What you're saying is your familial and other social connections is worth more to you than the suffering you are experiencing in other aspects of your existence. I think what is actually going on is the modern economy has gotten really good at pricing things just below the pain point where most of us will actually do something about it, rather than your social relationships not being fungible, especially with modern communications technology making it easy to keep in touch with people if you really want to.

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

#749

Post by therealdrag0 »

fzeroracer wrote: post #231
xyzzy9563 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

There's a particularly funny anecdote I have in regards to your transphobic dogwhistle. Back when I was living in Austin I was at the airport getting ready to visit my family for a flight. As I went to enter the male restroom, a woman from behind me yelled at me that I was entering the wrong restroom and sneered at me. Do you know what my crime was? Being a cisgender male with long hair. That was all it took for some…

We might be giving rural vs urban a bit too much credit. Lots of mean people like this in urban areas too.

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

#750

Post by owenversteeg »

testing22321 wrote: post #572
owenversteeg wrote: post #305

Like other people here, I have my quibbles with the exact math. But the general premise is true: yes, you can live in rural poverty for cheap. The problem is the vibes. A hundred years ago, you would have a community, a place in society, and all of your family and friends nearby. In 2025, the only actual local job the author of the piece can come up with is at a gas station. Top ten occupations, 1920: Farmers, farm l…

> a young man working at a Walmart or a gas station will struggle to attract a stable partner or the respect of the world around him. From personal experience I can tell you confidently you are wrong. The part you are missing is you only need to work 10-20 hours a week MAX. That means you have an enormous Amount of leisure time to do what you want with your life. Trust me when I say plenty of young women love the ide…

I've been the unemployed/underemployed guy having wilderness adventures with a beautiful girlfriend before. It's great (for a time.) But we're not talking about having wilderness adventures. We're talking about moving far away from anywhere you know to live in rural poverty in far upstate New York and work at a gas station in a depressed area, in a dilapidated building on land that virtually nobody wants, for good reason.

That specific solution is what the author of this piece proposed for the woes of the young people of America, not wilderness adventures or anything else.

Only on HN would I have to explain why this might affect your romantic life, but here goes. Statistically speaking, for men aged 25-54 in the US, being poor [1] nearly halves your chances of finding a partner. Chances which, I might add, are already not great, and certainly not improved by your lack of car, reliable heat, social connections et cetera.

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/10/05/rising-...

[1] men earning 150% of federal poverty level for a one-person household

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