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I'd like to point out that OP is from Russia. I wonder if he still lives in Russia? In 2018, the minimum wage in Russia was 11163 rubles per month, which is $1

by agota 7y ago

I'd like to point out that OP is from Russia. I wonder if he still lives in Russia? In 2018, the minimum wage in Russia was 11163 rubles per month, which is $174.6 per month. So, it would take a person working for a minimum wage 10.8 months to earn $1900. For comparison, the minimum wage in California is $11/hour, so assuming a 40 hour work week, in 10.8 months a minimum wage worker in California would make $19,008. I'd guess that you would consider $19k to be a significant amount of money to spend on a project like this? My point is, while you are right that $1900 is not "stupid money", it might still be a significant amount of money if the OP lives in Russia. In fact, I'd think that a lot of people living in the United States would think that $1900 is a significant amount of money, especially for a risky side project.

adventured 7y ago
You correctly point out the non-trivial nature of $1,900, including for many millions of Americans, based on duration just to earn the $1,900 in terms of income. It's even more dramatic than that however. The person earning minimum wage in Russia will never possess $1,900 in loose capital to spend on such a venture, as they don't have enough buffer beyond expenses to accumulate it. At $174 per month, saving 20% of that, it would take five years, and during those five years something would inevitably happen to consume the savings base (stray emergency need or other life event). It's one aspect of the brutality of being poor, whether in Russia or the US or wherever. You rarely have breathing room above basic life expenses to accumulate anything. Opportunity almost always has a financial cost associated with it, a get-through-the-door dollar cost (whether that's buying equipment, renting commercial space, or just affording the free time to do a thing). For the majority of the world $1,900 is more savings in terms of liquid cash (eg in a bank account), than they will ever have at a given point during their lifetimes. It's exceptionally hard for the majority of people to put that together.
- Kaiyou 7y ago
  Which isn't saying much. For the majority of the people in the world $100 would tick the same box.

by agota 7y ago

adventured 7y ago

You correctly point out the non-trivial nature of $1,900, including for many millions of Americans, based on duration just to earn the $1,900 in terms of income. It's even more dramatic than that however. The person earning minimum wage in Russia will never possess $1,900 in loose capital to spend on such a venture, as they don't have enough buffer beyond expenses to accumulate it. At $174 per month, saving 20% of that, it would take five years, and during those five years something would inevitably happen to consume the savings base (stray emergency need or other life event). It's one aspect of the brutality of being poor, whether in Russia or the US or wherever. You rarely have breathing room above basic life expenses to accumulate anything. Opportunity almost always has a financial cost associated with it, a get-through-the-door dollar cost (whether that's buying equipment, renting commercial space, or just affording the free time to do a thing). For the majority of the world $1,900 is more savings in terms of liquid cash (eg in a bank account), than they will ever have at a given point during their lifetimes. It's exceptionally hard for the majority of people to put that together.

Kaiyou 7y ago
Which isn't saying much. For the majority of the people in the world $100 would tick the same box.