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As a personal anecdote, I had to sit down a friend who was driving Uber for a few months - to break down his costs and the money he made - turns out that in his

As a personal anecdote, I had to sit down a friend who was driving Uber for a few months - to break down his costs and the money he made - turns out that in his case, after all expenses (car, personal - like child care etc) -- on most days, he was losing money, and he made a max of 3-4 dollars on a few days. He was aghast, and now does not drive. Many people who do not have jobs get suckered in to the promise of 'working' but end up in a worse situation. I believe that we in the tech community need to self-police ourselves about these predatory practices that we have engendered on the society and call out those who suck the very last blood drops from the general population, that does not have the skills to analyze their situation. This is no different from the various regulations around pay-day loans, etc.

dogruck 9y ago
What was the biggest gap in his understanding of his own accounts? Suppose I work a regular office job. If I make $X, but pay out $Y in child care and other expenses (commute/car), then it won’t take me long to notice if $X =~ $Y. Was the biggest gap unaccounted expenses for his car?
- foolinaround 9y ago
  in his case, he never put together all of the numbers. For instance, it did not even strike him that if he stayed at home, he would not have to incur the childcare expense. That was the biggest change. Also, he factored in the petrol, but not the vehicle depreciation cost. Also, there was lost opportunity in studying and improving his skills, and we just did not put a price to it. He had this nagging doubts, but the pressure of a male sitting at home and not earning - lead to family esteem issues, and so he went along.
  - dogruck 9y ago
    Interesting, thanks for replying with the details. What would happen if people fully quantified other activities. For example, the full cost of drinking, while watching your favorite sport, with friends. You initially think, “so what, it’s just 3 hours, plus $25 in beer and food.” Most don’t account for the missed opportunity cost.

dogruck 9y ago

What was the biggest gap in his understanding of his own accounts? Suppose I work a regular office job. If I make $X, but pay out $Y in child care and other expenses (commute/car), then it won’t take me long to notice if $X =~ $Y. Was the biggest gap unaccounted expenses for his car?

foolinaround 9y ago
in his case, he never put together all of the numbers. For instance, it did not even strike him that if he stayed at home, he would not have to incur the childcare expense. That was the biggest change. Also, he factored in the petrol, but not the vehicle depreciation cost. Also, there was lost opportunity in studying and improving his skills, and we just did not put a price to it. He had this nagging doubts, but the pressure of a male sitting at home and not earning - lead to family esteem issues, and so he went along.
- dogruck 9y ago
  Interesting, thanks for replying with the details. What would happen if people fully quantified other activities. For example, the full cost of drinking, while watching your favorite sport, with friends. You initially think, “so what, it’s just 3 hours, plus $25 in beer and food.” Most don’t account for the missed opportunity cost.