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A Google employee lives in a truck and saves 90% of his income (2015)
- squegles 9y agoOld, from 2015.
- 5706906c06c 9y agoWhere is Brandon now?
- uiri 9y agoAccording to his most recent blog post[0] (last week!) he is working on a different team in a different Alphabet subsidiary. [0] https://frominsidethebox.com/post/the-switch-up/5670405876482048 https://frominsidethebox.com/post/the-switch-up/567040587648...
- uiri 9y agoThanks for pointing this out. I was about to say that Google doesn't offer corporate housing to their interns (anymore; the 2014 cohort may have ruined it for the rest of us). They do offer a generous relocation stipend which covers flights and rent for the summer though.
- heedlessly2 9y agothanks, i didn't notice it from the title's parentheses
- jwtadvice 9y agoCoworker at Fortune 500 does this. Old housemate at different Fortune 500 did basically this (slept on the floor, only owned cardboard boxes, one week of clothes and a car). Both of these people are incredibly rich. One came from parents with oil and financial sector money. The other has multiple real estate properties. Both have six figure incomes. Other people I know in the tech sector are less extreme, but nonetheless have various plans for exiting the corporate world so that they can feel financially independent enough to retire early and then work on problems they find enriching/bring value to people rather than shareholders/etc. Though one of them was obsessed with immortality and saving up for when cryogenics and Kurzweil's singularity were figured out. So I guess it's not all about the rat race for everybody.
- chucky_z 9y agoI would add that they are incredibly lucky as well. If given the choice I would live like this. I do not have that choice.
- imustbeevil 9y agoYou are an adult. You can choose to do whatever you want.
- bdcravens 9y agoTrue, though sometimes that choice may involve something paying for necessary medical care or caring for a child. You could choose to do neither, but not in practicality.
- lucaspiller 9y agoBecoming rich (assuming it’s not handed to you by your parents) isn’t about how much you earn [0], but about how much you save. If you earn $120k/year, but only spend $20k/year, after five years you will have half a million in the bank. The hard part is convincing yourself (and your family) that you don’t need to go that resturant or you don’t need that new car. Obviously younger people have the advantage here, as they typically have less attachments. There’s a point where this can get a bit too extreme, but it depends on what’s important for you. Having that house within walking distance of your office, or cycling 10 miles to work and retiring at 35? If this is interesting to you, take a look at the various financial independence/early retirement communities. [0] After a certain point, but I’d argue pretty much everyone working in tech is there.
- thesmallestcat 9y agoI hate to split hairs, but you'll take home about $80k on a $120k salary, so the plan you've proposed would require over eight years of slumming it, not five. More on topic, imagine that you try to retire with $500k in the bank at 35. Even if you're willing to slum it at $20k/year for the rest of your life, you'll only make it to 60! And that's ignoring the elephant in the room, inflation. With mandatory health insurance, $20k/year's going to be tough to clear too. You're probably going to have to seek disability status to qualify for government assistance at some point if you are fixed on the "early retirement" goal. Now, it's not like you're going to throw the $500k in a mattress. Surely some combination of bonds, index funds and specie can spare you from the worst of outcomes. I don't know about you, but all of this sounds like a mean and tentative existence to me, babysitting a nest egg. There's not much wiggle-room for taking risks, like starting a business that's more interesting than "freelance programmer." In summary, I doubt that one can retire early with any comfort off of a decade of decent earnings. That's not really controversial, but it disagrees with your financial advice, which I suspect is dangerous. I think it's a bit irresponsible to suggest that somebody spend the prime of their life squeezing out every last penny. I think it's unrealistic to suggest that the difference in rent between a convenient walking commute and a safe, 10-mile bicycling commute can equal the budgeting difference you've proposed. Lastly, you're ignoring the opportunity cost of living like a monk when it comes to professional networking, or more important things like having a varied and healthy social life.
- adamnemecek 9y agoLocal computer wiz digs food out of a dumpster and saves 100% on food. Walmart hates him!
- marsrover 9y agoI'm not sure I'd want information like this public. Doesn't seem safe.
- jrockway 9y agoI doubt he keeps his savings in the truck, and very few people are going to risk going to prison over stealing a bed and dresser.
- ocdtrekkie 9y agoAnd his truck's parked in a Google parking lot. Where you can assume almost every inch of pavement is on camera. This is probably, disclosure included, one of the safest places to live in the US.
- Kuiper 9y agoFrom this guy's perspective, the biggest risk of publicizing his living situation is that maybe someone on Google's legal team learns about it, decides it's a liability concern, and kicks him out of the lot. The article is from 2015 so kind of moot at this point.
- ocdtrekkie 9y agoFWIW, for the same reasons above, it's safe to assume nobody lives on Google's campus without Google knowing about it. (And of course, the article mentions Google security checked out the trailer.) Google's employee perks are heavily built around the idea of keeping their employees on campus as much as possible, an employee living there is almost arguably the penultimate goal.
- cerealbad 9y agoa redesign of the internal space of personal transportation vehicles was inevitable this century. flat-packed open-topped convertible electric mover rented for sleeping, sex and middle journeys (500-2000 miles).
- transverse 9y agoThis is not so easily done in a cold or hot climate where air-conditioning or heating are needed. It is the reason why most people outside of the SV bubble can't do it.
- deckar01 9y agoYou would need to buy a refrigerated truck to pull this off in the south.
- transverse 9y agoYes, and a heated+refrigerated truck for most of the north. It would be unacceptable to have the engine running the whole time. I think it's doable in theory with a truck that has giant electric batteries, e.g. a Tesla Powerwall or two. Maybe a specialized RV cwould have it.
- T2_t2 9y agoOr a diesel generator. But that's an ongoing vs capital cost question I guess.
- transverse 9y agoDiesel exhaust is never good for you. It also risks being noisy. The noise attracts unwanted attention too. Imagine an RV with sufficient batteries that can be charged at an electric fast charging station. That's all you need, but I don't think it exists.
- greglindahl 9y agoThere are propane-powered appliances intended for RV use.
- ckdarby 9y agoHow does anyone ever sustain a relationship let alone hooking up with something like this?
- disposable_123 9y agoI really hope he finds a partner who appreciates such a sacrifice and attitude !!!
- Kuiper 9y agoFor a similar story, see this MLB pitcher who lived in a van on a Walmart parking lot (even after signing a $2 million contract): http://www.businessinsider.com/daniel-norris-lived-in-a-van-2016-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/daniel-norris-lived-in-a-van-...
- pvinis 9y agoWasn't he fired?
- pvinis 9y agoDon't you need an address for most things?
- nnfy 9y agoI did something like this making six figures and working for a non tech industry. My plan wasn't to retire early, but to save enough to quit for 1-3 years and work on my own ideas. I'm at the own ideas part and things are going well. I had acquaintances who didnt understand why I lived so far below my means. But most people reluctantly agreed once I explained my plan. Worst case if this all comes to nothing I can go back to a job. For perspective, I did this in Houston, was able to buy a house and have a social life. Lower living costs will push that six figures a lot further than it would go in a place like SF.
- sparrowtales 9y agoAnyone knows where this guy is from?