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Some thoughts on this. First, thought certainly not a Billion dollars, I came into a substantial (relative to my normal circumstances) bit of cash soem time ag

by ErrantX 16y ago

Some thoughts on this. First, thought certainly not a Billion dollars, I came into a substantial (relative to my normal circumstances) bit of cash soem time ago. His #1 point is dead on, it was a mistake I made and regret a lot (see: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1511200 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1511200 ) In fact all of the advice looks good. Except: "The No-Friends Rule" The premise is sensible, do not donate to your mates, and definitely not to new mates, or old ones you forgot you had. But I don't buy that loaning to friends is a generally bad idea. I lent a fairly substantial amount to a friend because they had run into financial hardship. We called it a loan because they refused to take it as a gift, but I'm not going to ask for it back. One of my other mates has a fairly mad idea for a business that he always (for years) wanted to try. I funded that about 18 months ago and it is currently in the balance between outright failure and setting him up with a business for the next 20 years. Again, not expecting the money back. It is only fucking money. You can enrich other peoples lives with it, so why not. No one needs a Billion dollars, but I know most of my friends could have awesome life changing experiences with a tiny portion of that. So, yeh, don't become a charity... but always give to your friends.

citricsquid 16y ago
You don't mention the amount you got, but I suspect it's much more than I ever got or currently earn (which is a lot for me (19, always been unemployed)) but I feel this line relates to me: "there was no sense of ownership on the expensive items" This is something that I absolutely hate. I have money I don't feel I deserve because it wasn't through hard work and because of this when it comes to buying something I don't think "I have to work x hours for this, is it going to return enough value to me that I am willing to work x hours for this?" as I do when I earn money, I think "I have money why not?" and this really causes problems. I bought an iPhone a few days ago because they seem cool, I already own a nexus one that works perfectly fine, but because I didn't invest any time into buying it I don't really care for it. Humans are weird...
- ErrantX 16y ago
  Oh, there's no secret, it was a couple of hundred thousand. I never gave the figure because it still feels like bragging. Enough to make me not worry if I lose my job, not enough to live the high life. You're right about the ownership - and the earning of money. I made a sum total of about £25 from a single book sale this month, but it feels worth more than the money I got from my job. I'm damn well spending that money on something specific. I could have got a decorator in to paint my spare room (turning it into an office) but I did it myself, it looks a bit crappy in places, but it feels awesome :) To me the cost of a decorator is ultimately valueless, even though he could do a much better job. On the other hand I hate washing my car so I pay to get it done. "Value" and "Worth" are strange concepts.
- qw 16y ago
  "there was no sense of ownership on the expensive items" I have never had much money, but had the same experience 10 years ago when I downloaded lots of games for "free". I never had any patience with the games and most of them were uninstalled the same evening. Games simply didn't interest me much. Now I only play games that I have bought and have a much better experience with them because I can focus on a few games at a time. If I was wealthy and the price of games meant less I would probably end up in the same situation as I was 10 years ago
csomar 16y ago
The point here is to know your friends. The ones you have had good times with, and that might have been a cause of your success. They certainly deserve it. You are also going to give a tiny portion and it's going to be a loan/investment.
deleted 16y ago
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by ErrantX 16y ago

citricsquid 16y ago

You don't mention the amount you got, but I suspect it's much more than I ever got or currently earn (which is a lot for me (19, always been unemployed)) but I feel this line relates to me: "there was no sense of ownership on the expensive items" This is something that I absolutely hate. I have money I don't feel I deserve because it wasn't through hard work and because of this when it comes to buying something I don't think "I have to work x hours for this, is it going to return enough value to me that I am willing to work x hours for this?" as I do when I earn money, I think "I have money why not?" and this really causes problems. I bought an iPhone a few days ago because they seem cool, I already own a nexus one that works perfectly fine, but because I didn't invest any time into buying it I don't really care for it. Humans are weird...

ErrantX 16y ago
Oh, there's no secret, it was a couple of hundred thousand. I never gave the figure because it still feels like bragging. Enough to make me not worry if I lose my job, not enough to live the high life. You're right about the ownership - and the earning of money. I made a sum total of about £25 from a single book sale this month, but it feels worth more than the money I got from my job. I'm damn well spending that money on something specific. I could have got a decorator in to paint my spare room (turning it into an office) but I did it myself, it looks a bit crappy in places, but it feels awesome :) To me the cost of a decorator is ultimately valueless, even though he could do a much better job. On the other hand I hate washing my car so I pay to get it done. "Value" and "Worth" are strange concepts.
qw 16y ago
"there was no sense of ownership on the expensive items" I have never had much money, but had the same experience 10 years ago when I downloaded lots of games for "free". I never had any patience with the games and most of them were uninstalled the same evening. Games simply didn't interest me much. Now I only play games that I have bought and have a much better experience with them because I can focus on a few games at a time. If I was wealthy and the price of games meant less I would probably end up in the same situation as I was 10 years ago

csomar 16y ago

The point here is to know your friends. The ones you have had good times with, and that might have been a cause of your success. They certainly deserve it. You are also going to give a tiny portion and it's going to be a loan/investment.

deleted 16y ago

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