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Fuck. I'm 30, and I just went through this. I quit a bad job to try to do my own thing; after a few months without a paycheck - despite having plenty of saving

Fuck. I'm 30, and I just went through this. I quit a bad job to try to do my own thing; after a few months without a paycheck - despite having plenty of saving six ways from Sunday - I clammed up almost completely, not wanting to spend a dime. I was miserable. It's the same feeling as item hoarding in CRPGs. Seems like I either need to never retire, or set up a trust for myself so I have a guaranteed allowance. (Or deal with the implicated fear....)

djsumdog 9y ago
It is tough. I've taken a sabbatical before: http://khanism.org/perspective/minimalism/ http://khanism.org/perspective/minimalism/ ..and I'm about to take another one: http://penguindreams.org/videos/taking-a-sabbatical/ http://penguindreams.org/videos/taking-a-sabbatical/ I think I'm in better shape this time. I'll take a tech job if I drop below $10k (just savings, not retirement). Last time I was on fumes. I mean why wait till you retire? You could be hit by a truck or slip in your tub and die (or with my luck die of liver failure). Better to spread a year break ever few years.
- cableshaft 9y ago
  Do you mind sharing how much you're starting out with, and how little you plan to spend each month? Curious how feasible this could be for me.
zeroer 9y ago
I've thought before that CRPGs are decent training for how to handle money (emotionally speaking).
- RangerScience 9y ago
  Maybe they could be, but for me, I don't think they were. I'd avoid spending any and all money. Part of this was definitely the issue that the items for purchase were either so hugely out of budget, or so very much not worth it, that there wasn't any point to spending the cash.
bamboozled 9y ago
Assuming you're a US citizen? If so vote for politicians who support better welfare systems and free healthcare (if you don't already), it would help take the edge of this stress.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  I agree, if America had real health care, people would be less apprehensive in taking time off and caring for their mental health. Unfortunately voting in America doesn't really do squat. We're first past the post and the corruption runs so deep no politician can stand against the health care industry. Elections here are a joke.
  - zanny 9y ago
    It isn't just first past the post, either. * It is gerrymandered districts, setup over decades to guarantee seats go to one or the other party. The number of actually competitive elections is at historic lows every cycle. * Representation per person is at historic lows. The population rises, but the seats in state and federal houses doesn't change. Even in the best case scenario, Wyoming still has over 250k people per senator. Nobody can actually represent the interests of that many people (albeit, given the original intent of senators they shouldn't, but that is a different can of worms). House seats are no better. The information era has siloed people into ideological extremes. Coupled with the fptp disaster you pointed out, the corrupt media owned by centralized interests keep the poor at war with themselves. * The obvious loopholes and exploitation of the constitution is blatant and apparent. Either anti-corruption clarification amendments are required, or a modernized rewrite maintaining the principles of separation of power and explicit rights and liberties but updated to insure things like freedom of privacy are necessary. It is a chicken and egg problem to fix, of course. Regular people cannot rewrite laws or constitutions without the ample resources to wage a revolutionary war. However, the powers that be won't either, because the current rules set them up for power and give them their legitimacy. They are a product of the system as it exists and will fight to protect it, not change it. Historically the best answer was to sail or caravan to the unsettled and unclaimed lands and try it over again, but we have run short on those options.
blhack 9y ago
This is tough, man. Some things I did when I was younger that helped me with this: 1) Go for a period of time (I did a month) living off of rice and beans (as far as I can find, the cheapest way to get close to a complete meal)[1] 2) Pare down everything in your life that isn't absolutely necessary. I put my bed in storage and lived in a hammock for a year. Cut out hot water for a period, stuff like that. Once you do some of those things and realize that you can do it, living on a small income (or savings) in order to work on something becomes a lot easier. I'm really lucky in that my runway is infinite, and a big part of it is because of the things that I listed. I know exactly how much the minimum I need to live off of is, I know what its like to live on that amount of money, and I know that it isn't scary. [0]: A lot of the world lives off of this. I'm not saying that this is a path to complete nutrition. It isn't. Everyone should eat a balanced diet.
- RangerScience 9y ago
  This is pretty brilliant. Definitely part of my stress was my rent; and I never felt bad spending money on groceries. I'm always tempted to do something like this anyway; the minimalist approach really appeals to me.
  - blhack 9y ago
    Don't get too bogged down in being a minimalist, though. You definitely don't have to get rid of everything in your house or anything.
    - RangerScience 9y ago
      Will do. I feel it as a pull rather than a drive, a nice counterbalance to the hoarding instinct. It's almost more about making sure everything's in the rest of my life, rather than where I sleep, if that makes any sense?
      - blhack 9y ago
        That makes complete sense.
Artlav 9y ago
That is familiar... I'm 30 and i tend to think of my savings in terms of lasting the rest of my life, even though i don't plan to live on them. I quit a falling apart job a year ago, and was staying above break even on odd opportunities and contracts. At first i pretty much stopped spending anything extra at all, and it was rather unpleasant. A few months in, it kind of passed - as an engineering person it was quite fun for me to make things on minimal budget and fix broken stuff off cheap garage sales. So, it takes some time to adapt to the change.
- RangerScience 9y ago
  This is enheartening. I got a job again (a cushy Rails job), but I'll keep this attitude in mind if it comes up again.

djsumdog 9y ago

It is tough. I've taken a sabbatical before: http://khanism.org/perspective/minimalism/ http://khanism.org/perspective/minimalism/ ..and I'm about to take another one: http://penguindreams.org/videos/taking-a-sabbatical/ http://penguindreams.org/videos/taking-a-sabbatical/ I think I'm in better shape this time. I'll take a tech job if I drop below $10k (just savings, not retirement). Last time I was on fumes. I mean why wait till you retire? You could be hit by a truck or slip in your tub and die (or with my luck die of liver failure). Better to spread a year break ever few years.

cableshaft 9y ago
Do you mind sharing how much you're starting out with, and how little you plan to spend each month? Curious how feasible this could be for me.

zeroer 9y ago

I've thought before that CRPGs are decent training for how to handle money (emotionally speaking).

RangerScience 9y ago
Maybe they could be, but for me, I don't think they were. I'd avoid spending any and all money. Part of this was definitely the issue that the items for purchase were either so hugely out of budget, or so very much not worth it, that there wasn't any point to spending the cash.

bamboozled 9y ago

Assuming you're a US citizen? If so vote for politicians who support better welfare systems and free healthcare (if you don't already), it would help take the edge of this stress.

djsumdog 9y ago
I agree, if America had real health care, people would be less apprehensive in taking time off and caring for their mental health. Unfortunately voting in America doesn't really do squat. We're first past the post and the corruption runs so deep no politician can stand against the health care industry. Elections here are a joke.
- zanny 9y ago
  It isn't just first past the post, either. * It is gerrymandered districts, setup over decades to guarantee seats go to one or the other party. The number of actually competitive elections is at historic lows every cycle. * Representation per person is at historic lows. The population rises, but the seats in state and federal houses doesn't change. Even in the best case scenario, Wyoming still has over 250k people per senator. Nobody can actually represent the interests of that many people (albeit, given the original intent of senators they shouldn't, but that is a different can of worms). House seats are no better. The information era has siloed people into ideological extremes. Coupled with the fptp disaster you pointed out, the corrupt media owned by centralized interests keep the poor at war with themselves. * The obvious loopholes and exploitation of the constitution is blatant and apparent. Either anti-corruption clarification amendments are required, or a modernized rewrite maintaining the principles of separation of power and explicit rights and liberties but updated to insure things like freedom of privacy are necessary. It is a chicken and egg problem to fix, of course. Regular people cannot rewrite laws or constitutions without the ample resources to wage a revolutionary war. However, the powers that be won't either, because the current rules set them up for power and give them their legitimacy. They are a product of the system as it exists and will fight to protect it, not change it. Historically the best answer was to sail or caravan to the unsettled and unclaimed lands and try it over again, but we have run short on those options.

blhack 9y ago

This is tough, man. Some things I did when I was younger that helped me with this: 1) Go for a period of time (I did a month) living off of rice and beans (as far as I can find, the cheapest way to get close to a complete meal)[1] 2) Pare down everything in your life that isn't absolutely necessary. I put my bed in storage and lived in a hammock for a year. Cut out hot water for a period, stuff like that. Once you do some of those things and realize that you can do it, living on a small income (or savings) in order to work on something becomes a lot easier. I'm really lucky in that my runway is infinite, and a big part of it is because of the things that I listed. I know exactly how much the minimum I need to live off of is, I know what its like to live on that amount of money, and I know that it isn't scary. [0]: A lot of the world lives off of this. I'm not saying that this is a path to complete nutrition. It isn't. Everyone should eat a balanced diet.

RangerScience 9y ago
This is pretty brilliant. Definitely part of my stress was my rent; and I never felt bad spending money on groceries. I'm always tempted to do something like this anyway; the minimalist approach really appeals to me.
- blhack 9y ago
  Don't get too bogged down in being a minimalist, though. You definitely don't have to get rid of everything in your house or anything.
  - RangerScience 9y ago
    Will do. I feel it as a pull rather than a drive, a nice counterbalance to the hoarding instinct. It's almost more about making sure everything's in the rest of my life, rather than where I sleep, if that makes any sense?
    - blhack 9y ago
      That makes complete sense.

Artlav 9y ago

That is familiar... I'm 30 and i tend to think of my savings in terms of lasting the rest of my life, even though i don't plan to live on them. I quit a falling apart job a year ago, and was staying above break even on odd opportunities and contracts. At first i pretty much stopped spending anything extra at all, and it was rather unpleasant. A few months in, it kind of passed - as an engineering person it was quite fun for me to make things on minimal budget and fix broken stuff off cheap garage sales. So, it takes some time to adapt to the change.

RangerScience 9y ago
This is enheartening. I got a job again (a cushy Rails job), but I'll keep this attitude in mind if it comes up again.