8 ms·

Well you got a remote job, so you did a little locational arbitrage. Most people leave the small towns because of lack of opportunity. The cost of living is low

Well you got a remote job, so you did a little locational arbitrage. Most people leave the small towns because of lack of opportunity. The cost of living is low because incomes are low. Can someone come up with a model that's sustainable and applicable to the majority of people?

toomuchtodo 11y ago
My remote job pays the same I'd make locally in my tech niche. The benefit comes from no longer having to own a car for myself to commute, gas, insurance on that car, etc. It freed up the $20K in equity I had in the vehicle, and saves me $5-8K/year in commute costs. If I lived in SF, I would pay at least $2-3K/month for rent alone (that's $24K-$36K/year after tax money you're just burning up). Yet, you can spend under $1K in almost any non-major metro in the US. > Can someone come up with a model that's sustainable and applicable to the majority of people? Make more than you spend and save combined, live frugally, spend judiciously. This is not rocket science.
- hueving 11y ago
  Right, you have a high paying job so it's easy for you to sit on a perch well above the median and tell people how simple it is.
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    It's simple the same way exercise is simple: knowing what to do is easy, having willpower to do it is hard. Being financially independent can be done on a median wage, full stop. https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ "Is that all too fluffy and philosophical? OK, fine. Here’s how to cut your life costs in half. Start by getting rid of your Debt Emergency if you have one. Live close to work. Move to another city if you enjoy adventure. Don’t borrow money for cars, and don’t buy stupid ones. Ride a bike wherever you can. Cancel your TV service. Stop wasting money on groceries. Give your kids the opportunity to achieve greatness without being pampered. Lose the overpriced cell phones. Learn to appreciate the life-boosting joy of using your own body to get things done. Learn to mock convenience. Practice optimism." http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-made-ten-bucks-at-a-time/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-m... "A family of four in the US can live comfortably on about 24k per year plus having a paid-off house. With an nice conservative 4% annual withdrawal/return rate on your investments, you need $600k invested to generate this cashflow, inflation-adjusted, forever, plus your $200k house. $800k total. Or, if you want to get off your butt and work very occasionally to earn $12k per year, you can slice the $600k number down to $300k! Or you can save the $600k AND work, and keep saving more and more over the years – ending up a multimillionaire all while doing very little paid work." You will never get ahead if you live in SF, period (maybe if you strike a startup lottery ticket; with those odds, might as well buy a traditional lottery ticket and save the nights and weekends). I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You can view it as an adventure, but you'll eventually need to dig out financially (overcompensate retirement savings) when you decide to move somewhere else.
    - ahh 11y ago
      This works once you have a (supportive) partner. It requires living in nice rural communities where you will never, ever meet a new person, though, so if you start it single you'll stay that way forever. So I'm in a major metropolitan center, burning cash at a way higher rate, so I can hopefully find a wife. If I'm very, very lucky, that wife will want to move with me to rural Colorado. Sadly, this insane plan is about the best I can imagine.
      - toomuchtodo 11y ago
        Have you tried online dating? I know that sounds silly, but it might help optimize your search for a partner who shares your interests. > It requires living in nice rural communities where you will never, ever meet a new person, though, so if you start it single you'll stay that way forever. I live 15 minutes from the beach in the Tampa area. Low cost of living area.
        ahh 11y ago
        Online dating still requires you to be in a location with an extremely large population of single women. It doesn't matter if you visit the one bar or OKCupid if you've already asked out and been rejected by the only three eligible people in your zip code. You need a large enough population to successfully find a match, and the only place to find large populations of single women are major cities. (And a tiny fraction of cities at that--I chose poorly here and very much regret it.) Basically, when it comes to dating it doesn't matter if you live in Issaquah (15 miles from Seattle) or Othello (180 miles from Seattle.) In neither case would anyone who lives in Seattle be bothered to go out on a date with you.
        jes 11y ago
        With respect, I'm struggling a bit with your last paragraph. I live in Kirkland and I'm dating a woman who lives in West Seattle. We're older, but it's not like we're people who couldn't easily date other people who lived closer if we wished to do so. I wish you success.
- charlesdm 11y ago
  + invest your savings, so they can start compounding and make you more money
- d4rkph1b3r 11y ago
  But depending on your level, you could probably make waaaay more than 30k more being in SF.
wavefunction 11y ago
@toomuchtodo >>applicable to the majority of people? >Have job that pays median US wage or above. This requirement and solution are a mis-match.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Updated to: "Make more than you spend and save combined"
  - rdiddly 11y ago
    Wait, why? Where does the money go that is neither spent nor saved?
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      Income - savings - spending = 0. If you're spending and saving (combined) more than you're income, that's debt. Your goal should be to maximize the savings section of the equation, and minimize spending.
  - thedufer 11y ago
    What does that mean? Where does the extra money go? Under normal definitions, income = spend + save. That's not an equation to be optimized; it's a tautology.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

My remote job pays the same I'd make locally in my tech niche. The benefit comes from no longer having to own a car for myself to commute, gas, insurance on that car, etc. It freed up the $20K in equity I had in the vehicle, and saves me $5-8K/year in commute costs. If I lived in SF, I would pay at least $2-3K/month for rent alone (that's $24K-$36K/year after tax money you're just burning up). Yet, you can spend under $1K in almost any non-major metro in the US. > Can someone come up with a model that's sustainable and applicable to the majority of people? Make more than you spend and save combined, live frugally, spend judiciously. This is not rocket science.

hueving 11y ago
Right, you have a high paying job so it's easy for you to sit on a perch well above the median and tell people how simple it is.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  It's simple the same way exercise is simple: knowing what to do is easy, having willpower to do it is hard. Being financially independent can be done on a median wage, full stop. https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ "Is that all too fluffy and philosophical? OK, fine. Here’s how to cut your life costs in half. Start by getting rid of your Debt Emergency if you have one. Live close to work. Move to another city if you enjoy adventure. Don’t borrow money for cars, and don’t buy stupid ones. Ride a bike wherever you can. Cancel your TV service. Stop wasting money on groceries. Give your kids the opportunity to achieve greatness without being pampered. Lose the overpriced cell phones. Learn to appreciate the life-boosting joy of using your own body to get things done. Learn to mock convenience. Practice optimism." http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-made-ten-bucks-at-a-time/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-m... "A family of four in the US can live comfortably on about 24k per year plus having a paid-off house. With an nice conservative 4% annual withdrawal/return rate on your investments, you need $600k invested to generate this cashflow, inflation-adjusted, forever, plus your $200k house. $800k total. Or, if you want to get off your butt and work very occasionally to earn $12k per year, you can slice the $600k number down to $300k! Or you can save the $600k AND work, and keep saving more and more over the years – ending up a multimillionaire all while doing very little paid work." You will never get ahead if you live in SF, period (maybe if you strike a startup lottery ticket; with those odds, might as well buy a traditional lottery ticket and save the nights and weekends). I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You can view it as an adventure, but you'll eventually need to dig out financially (overcompensate retirement savings) when you decide to move somewhere else.
  - ahh 11y ago
    This works once you have a (supportive) partner. It requires living in nice rural communities where you will never, ever meet a new person, though, so if you start it single you'll stay that way forever. So I'm in a major metropolitan center, burning cash at a way higher rate, so I can hopefully find a wife. If I'm very, very lucky, that wife will want to move with me to rural Colorado. Sadly, this insane plan is about the best I can imagine.
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      Have you tried online dating? I know that sounds silly, but it might help optimize your search for a partner who shares your interests. > It requires living in nice rural communities where you will never, ever meet a new person, though, so if you start it single you'll stay that way forever. I live 15 minutes from the beach in the Tampa area. Low cost of living area.
      - ahh 11y ago
        Online dating still requires you to be in a location with an extremely large population of single women. It doesn't matter if you visit the one bar or OKCupid if you've already asked out and been rejected by the only three eligible people in your zip code. You need a large enough population to successfully find a match, and the only place to find large populations of single women are major cities. (And a tiny fraction of cities at that--I chose poorly here and very much regret it.) Basically, when it comes to dating it doesn't matter if you live in Issaquah (15 miles from Seattle) or Othello (180 miles from Seattle.) In neither case would anyone who lives in Seattle be bothered to go out on a date with you.
        jes 11y ago
        With respect, I'm struggling a bit with your last paragraph. I live in Kirkland and I'm dating a woman who lives in West Seattle. We're older, but it's not like we're people who couldn't easily date other people who lived closer if we wished to do so. I wish you success.
charlesdm 11y ago
+ invest your savings, so they can start compounding and make you more money
d4rkph1b3r 11y ago
But depending on your level, you could probably make waaaay more than 30k more being in SF.

wavefunction 11y ago

@toomuchtodo >>applicable to the majority of people? >Have job that pays median US wage or above. This requirement and solution are a mis-match.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
Updated to: "Make more than you spend and save combined"
- rdiddly 11y ago
  Wait, why? Where does the money go that is neither spent nor saved?
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Income - savings - spending = 0. If you're spending and saving (combined) more than you're income, that's debt. Your goal should be to maximize the savings section of the equation, and minimize spending.
- thedufer 11y ago
  What does that mean? Where does the extra money go? Under normal definitions, income = spend + save. That's not an equation to be optimized; it's a tautology.