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>Steve Coleman, a saxophonist who won last year at age 57, said he had created a life over decades that required little money to maintain and could be supported

>Steve Coleman, a saxophonist who won last year at age 57, said he had created a life over decades that required little money to maintain and could be supported with even less when times were tough. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about this but it doesn't appear to be a solveable problem for people with kids/family even if their earnings as an IT/SDEV person are well above average.

njarboe 9y ago
Check out Mr Money Mustache[1] for one example of solving this problem. [1]https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
- humanrebar 9y ago
  One half of his solution is having two professionals earning good money for a while. His initial savings rate would have been very different if his initial circumstance was more blue collar, there was a serious illness in the family, and any number of other things. The principle of not wasting money is well taken, though.
- pc86 9y ago
  MMM is a charlatan whose entire ethos can be boiled down to "make a lot of money initially to pay off all your debt (debt is an emergency), then do little things that make very little difference (no air conditioning), then make a ton of money off of credit card affiliate offers (his entire business)." Yes his stuff works in the same way that Amway works for the people making a lot of money off of it - it's not realistic for the majority of people who want to do it.
  - njarboe 9y ago
    Have you read his blog entries? He did not start out making money on his blog. Maybe he is a bald faced liar and is drinking bottles of Dom Perignon in a secret penthouse apartment in NYC, but he reports his spending for 2015 for a family of 3 was $23,941 and ballooned up to $30,193 in 2016 due to Obamacare caused rises in healthcare costs[1]. He is almost the antithesis of an Amway salesperson. His philosophy is mostly don't buy stuff you don't need and you need way less than our consumerism based world tells you to need. He also is very much "find your own way". [1]http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/05/19/2016-spending/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/05/19/2016-spending/ PS - When you are trying to live on $25,000 a year so you can choose what you work on, a $200-$500 a month air conditioning bill some people have for half the year is significant.
tonyedgecombe 9y ago
Your partner is really key, if you are both thinking off the same page then it makes a huge difference.
jdietrich 9y ago
Renowned indie games developer Jason Rohrer raised his family for several years on a budget of $10,000 per year. It's possible to live on very little if a) you're prepared to move to somewhere cheap and b) you're prepared to examine your definition of the word "essential". Possible, but not necessarily pleasant. http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/jason-rohrer/simpleLife.html http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/jason-rohrer/simpleLife.ht...
- ComradeTaco 9y ago
  Doable as long as nobody gets sick and requires the attention of a doctor.
  - humanrebar 9y ago
    And as long as you don't plan on retiring, paying for college, leaving town to survive a hurricane, etc. "Living on" 10k typically doesn't include responsible levels of savings.
    - mgiannopoulos 9y ago
      So being poor is not responsible?
      - humanrebar 9y ago
        Most of my family living in or near poverty aren't saving responsibly, no. Most because they don't have a choice, but I wouldn't call it a sustainable or exemplary lifestyle.
    - pc86 9y ago
      You don't think it's possible "living on" refers to day-to-day expenses and retirement/emergency savings are in addition to that?
      - astura 9y ago
claudiulodro 9y ago
Why do you think that's so? I have a wife and kids and I've been working towards something like this. The difficult part is getting debt-free (no student loans and paid off mortgage), but once you've accomplished that you really just need to be able to afford health insurance and food.
- blinkingled 9y ago
  I think it takes lots of compromises and some luck to get there. Housing is another costly thing you need to factor - depending on your current and future job prospects that may be a significant source of expenditure. Buying also limits your job choices unless you want to live separately / travel. (In our case we bought a decent 2800sq.ft. house where we could afford it but the house was older and so we have had significant expenses maintaining it (roof, hvac, other stuff). Renting is very expensive in this city - we pay less mortgage than renting a smaller town home in a nice area where the public schools are decent. Two working people == two cars in most places where public transportation is unavailable or very inconvenient. There's insurance, taxes and maintenance. Health insurance - I probably don't need to say much but it's insanely expensive for most people. I guess for a couple without kids and the right jobs at right places some things are simplified. You could rent a 1BR without worrying about the school districts, have decent health insurance for two, use public transportation and keep your entertainment needs limited. That might get you to a semi comfy retirement at not very old age but it feels like anything else is just going to be a constant hustle.
  - claudiulodro 9y ago
    Yeah that makes sense. I agree with you, and I'm not sure it's feasible living a regular middle-class lifestyle. Me, my wife, and our two kids all live in a 720 sq ft, 2 bedroom house in a worse part of town. We have one car (1999 minivan bought in cash). Right now I work remotely, but I take the bus to work when I'm not remote. It's definitely not living large, but I like the freedom and low-stress.

njarboe 9y ago

Check out Mr Money Mustache[1] for one example of solving this problem. [1]https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

humanrebar 9y ago
One half of his solution is having two professionals earning good money for a while. His initial savings rate would have been very different if his initial circumstance was more blue collar, there was a serious illness in the family, and any number of other things. The principle of not wasting money is well taken, though.
pc86 9y ago
MMM is a charlatan whose entire ethos can be boiled down to "make a lot of money initially to pay off all your debt (debt is an emergency), then do little things that make very little difference (no air conditioning), then make a ton of money off of credit card affiliate offers (his entire business)." Yes his stuff works in the same way that Amway works for the people making a lot of money off of it - it's not realistic for the majority of people who want to do it.
- njarboe 9y ago
  Have you read his blog entries? He did not start out making money on his blog. Maybe he is a bald faced liar and is drinking bottles of Dom Perignon in a secret penthouse apartment in NYC, but he reports his spending for 2015 for a family of 3 was $23,941 and ballooned up to $30,193 in 2016 due to Obamacare caused rises in healthcare costs[1]. He is almost the antithesis of an Amway salesperson. His philosophy is mostly don't buy stuff you don't need and you need way less than our consumerism based world tells you to need. He also is very much "find your own way". [1]http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/05/19/2016-spending/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/05/19/2016-spending/ PS - When you are trying to live on $25,000 a year so you can choose what you work on, a $200-$500 a month air conditioning bill some people have for half the year is significant.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

Your partner is really key, if you are both thinking off the same page then it makes a huge difference.

jdietrich 9y ago

Renowned indie games developer Jason Rohrer raised his family for several years on a budget of $10,000 per year. It's possible to live on very little if a) you're prepared to move to somewhere cheap and b) you're prepared to examine your definition of the word "essential". Possible, but not necessarily pleasant. http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/jason-rohrer/simpleLife.html http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/jason-rohrer/simpleLife.ht...

ComradeTaco 9y ago
Doable as long as nobody gets sick and requires the attention of a doctor.
- humanrebar 9y ago
  And as long as you don't plan on retiring, paying for college, leaving town to survive a hurricane, etc. "Living on" 10k typically doesn't include responsible levels of savings.
  - mgiannopoulos 9y ago
    So being poor is not responsible?
    - humanrebar 9y ago
      Most of my family living in or near poverty aren't saving responsibly, no. Most because they don't have a choice, but I wouldn't call it a sustainable or exemplary lifestyle.
  - pc86 9y ago
    You don't think it's possible "living on" refers to day-to-day expenses and retirement/emergency savings are in addition to that?
    - astura 9y ago

claudiulodro 9y ago

Why do you think that's so? I have a wife and kids and I've been working towards something like this. The difficult part is getting debt-free (no student loans and paid off mortgage), but once you've accomplished that you really just need to be able to afford health insurance and food.

blinkingled 9y ago
I think it takes lots of compromises and some luck to get there. Housing is another costly thing you need to factor - depending on your current and future job prospects that may be a significant source of expenditure. Buying also limits your job choices unless you want to live separately / travel. (In our case we bought a decent 2800sq.ft. house where we could afford it but the house was older and so we have had significant expenses maintaining it (roof, hvac, other stuff). Renting is very expensive in this city - we pay less mortgage than renting a smaller town home in a nice area where the public schools are decent. Two working people == two cars in most places where public transportation is unavailable or very inconvenient. There's insurance, taxes and maintenance. Health insurance - I probably don't need to say much but it's insanely expensive for most people. I guess for a couple without kids and the right jobs at right places some things are simplified. You could rent a 1BR without worrying about the school districts, have decent health insurance for two, use public transportation and keep your entertainment needs limited. That might get you to a semi comfy retirement at not very old age but it feels like anything else is just going to be a constant hustle.
- claudiulodro 9y ago
  Yeah that makes sense. I agree with you, and I'm not sure it's feasible living a regular middle-class lifestyle. Me, my wife, and our two kids all live in a 720 sq ft, 2 bedroom house in a worse part of town. We have one car (1999 minivan bought in cash). Right now I work remotely, but I take the bus to work when I'm not remote. It's definitely not living large, but I like the freedom and low-stress.