6 ms·

10K is indeed unreasonably low. Could you describe where in Japan you live, what kind of work you do now, and the transformation you possibly experienced when y

10K is indeed unreasonably low. Could you describe where in Japan you live, what kind of work you do now, and the transformation you possibly experienced when you decided to work for curiosity / interest rather than money? I have had a reverse path - I spent my early career working for a research lab, where the the work was immensely intellectually satisfying and fun for the most part. However, the pay was so ridiculously low that my industry salary was a few integer multiples of my researcher pay.

i336_ 10y ago
Note: I think this comment was intended for this comment chain: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12274389 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12274389 (Maybe a mod could move it over - if that works, this reply can be deleted)
- mailshanx 10y ago
  Not really - I read that comment and realised he lives in Japan, but the comment you are referring to was in response to its parent.
  - i336_ 10y ago
    Ah, woops. Thanks for the clarification.
mikekchar 10y ago
It's hard to answer this without writing my life story :-) I live in Shizuoka prefecture, right on Suruga bay. We live in what I think is the most expensive apartment in town -- it costs $600 a month. It's a concession to my wife who put up with the $120 a month shack that I loved to death (but that she called a haunted house -- they tore it down after we moved out ;-) ). I work as a software developer on contract to an English company. We spent 2 years in London, before moving back to Japan. Before that I worked as an English teacher in the high school in this city. Before that I was a software developers for 20 years or so. I actually started in research labs too. I worked my way through school (or rather, I got free tuition because my father was a prof, and I paid for my other living expenses by working for various departments while I was in school). I didn't always have this idea of living cheaply... I had a house, a car, 2 dogs, the works... I've had a few times in my career where I absolutely hated my job. One day I just quit. I had no prospects and no idea what to do. I was just done with the place I was working at. The next day, not knowing what to do, I started fixing some bugs on free software projects. I just kept doing that every single day, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 8 months. It was at that point that I realised that I liked programming ;-) I've been very, very poor a couple of times in my life. Once in my early twenties I spent a few months in London. I had enough money for either meat or beer, so I became vegetarian (which lasted... until I got married ;-) ). I remember being happy every day despite being unbelievably poor. There were a couple of times that I ran out of money on a Thursday and was unable to eat until I got paid on a Monday. That taught me the importance of budgeting ;-) Other times have been like I described above. I got paid a good salary as a programmer, but was often unhappy. I decided to quit my job (or the companies I worked for decided to run out of money) and I took a sabbatical to write free software. One day I met a guy who suggested I go teach English in Japan. I only meant to go for a year in order to learn Japanese and improve my presentation skills. I stayed for 5 years. At that point, I asked my wife, "What should we do? Do you want me to make a lot of money? I'm sure I could as a programmer. Or we could open a brewery. Or I could become a tour guide. Or I could..." And then it dawned on me. I could do anything because we had learned over the years to live on tiny amounts of money. It's freedom more than anything else. These days we spend quite a bit more than we used to. My wife even has a car (bleh...). Getting the balance right is tricky ;-)
- canada_dry 10y ago
  "I had enough money for either meat or beer, so I became vegetarian" LOL!! So... now that you're back in the black are you enjoying beef and beer again - just as god intended??
pc86 10y ago
The problem is the early years are when it's most important to save as much as possible for retirement. You probably make enough now to correct for it, but running the numbers on retirement savings started at 22 v. 25 v. 30 is terrifying, especially if you have nothing saved in your late 20's.

i336_ 10y ago

Note: I think this comment was intended for this comment chain: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12274389 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12274389 (Maybe a mod could move it over - if that works, this reply can be deleted)

mailshanx 10y ago
Not really - I read that comment and realised he lives in Japan, but the comment you are referring to was in response to its parent.
- i336_ 10y ago
  Ah, woops. Thanks for the clarification.

mikekchar 10y ago

It's hard to answer this without writing my life story :-) I live in Shizuoka prefecture, right on Suruga bay. We live in what I think is the most expensive apartment in town -- it costs $600 a month. It's a concession to my wife who put up with the $120 a month shack that I loved to death (but that she called a haunted house -- they tore it down after we moved out ;-) ). I work as a software developer on contract to an English company. We spent 2 years in London, before moving back to Japan. Before that I worked as an English teacher in the high school in this city. Before that I was a software developers for 20 years or so. I actually started in research labs too. I worked my way through school (or rather, I got free tuition because my father was a prof, and I paid for my other living expenses by working for various departments while I was in school). I didn't always have this idea of living cheaply... I had a house, a car, 2 dogs, the works... I've had a few times in my career where I absolutely hated my job. One day I just quit. I had no prospects and no idea what to do. I was just done with the place I was working at. The next day, not knowing what to do, I started fixing some bugs on free software projects. I just kept doing that every single day, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 8 months. It was at that point that I realised that I liked programming ;-) I've been very, very poor a couple of times in my life. Once in my early twenties I spent a few months in London. I had enough money for either meat or beer, so I became vegetarian (which lasted... until I got married ;-) ). I remember being happy every day despite being unbelievably poor. There were a couple of times that I ran out of money on a Thursday and was unable to eat until I got paid on a Monday. That taught me the importance of budgeting ;-) Other times have been like I described above. I got paid a good salary as a programmer, but was often unhappy. I decided to quit my job (or the companies I worked for decided to run out of money) and I took a sabbatical to write free software. One day I met a guy who suggested I go teach English in Japan. I only meant to go for a year in order to learn Japanese and improve my presentation skills. I stayed for 5 years. At that point, I asked my wife, "What should we do? Do you want me to make a lot of money? I'm sure I could as a programmer. Or we could open a brewery. Or I could become a tour guide. Or I could..." And then it dawned on me. I could do anything because we had learned over the years to live on tiny amounts of money. It's freedom more than anything else. These days we spend quite a bit more than we used to. My wife even has a car (bleh...). Getting the balance right is tricky ;-)

canada_dry 10y ago
"I had enough money for either meat or beer, so I became vegetarian" LOL!! So... now that you're back in the black are you enjoying beef and beer again - just as god intended??

pc86 10y ago

The problem is the early years are when it's most important to save as much as possible for retirement. You probably make enough now to correct for it, but running the numbers on retirement savings started at 22 v. 25 v. 30 is terrifying, especially if you have nothing saved in your late 20's.