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Equipment costs are not exactly costs. They are investments that can be amortized over many years. Cooking utensils are not free but they last a lifetime, somet

by bambax 5y ago

Equipment costs are not exactly costs. They are investments that can be amortized over many years. Cooking utensils are not free but they last a lifetime, sometimes longer. I have pans and pots from my grandmother; and old gear is often better than new gear. If one has money then spending it is good, of course. The question is, what are we willing to give up to get more money, and for what. I would argue time is infinitely more precious than money, above a threshold -- but the threshold is very low.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> Equipment costs are not exactly costs. Yes, they are. > They are investments that can be amortized over many years. So, they are capex rather than opex costs. > I would argue time is infinitely more precious than money, Were that true, the market clearing price of people's time denominated in money would be infinite. Which would be inconvenient, since largely money exists to enable the indirect exchange of time for time (largely, as labor).
- bambax 5y ago
  Yes, that's the reason why we are having this discussion, and the point of TFA. Some people think one should work for as long and as hard as possible in order to maximize their revenue. Others think that once their basic needs are covered, doing more work is pointless. This difference has existed for a long time. It's discussed at length in Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism for example, which has funny things to say about the philosophy developed in Ben Franklin's autobiography.
edanm 5y ago
I mean, that depends. Equipment costs are certainly investments, and things like cooking utensils can be handed down... But if you're a software developer like OP, then you need a computer. You probably want a second (or third) monitor. The computer probably needs to be replaced every few years, and you're probably getting a relatively expensive machine. Add to that an office - desk, good chair, etc. If you're trying to save money, yeah, you might not be getting a fancy expensive chair. But if you have the money to spend, I'd argue it's still a good investment for your back. Etc. Now you can consider all of these as investments, but then how much you make as a contractor has to take that into account. (Btw, didn't get into this, but the article is missing a lot of things you need to think about as a contractor, e.g. there's often downtime between projects, sick days, insurance is usually a good idea, etc. I've been doing this kind of thing for basically 10 years, it's not as simple as OP makes it sound.)

by bambax 5y ago

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Equipment costs are not exactly costs. Yes, they are. > They are investments that can be amortized over many years. So, they are capex rather than opex costs. > I would argue time is infinitely more precious than money, Were that true, the market clearing price of people's time denominated in money would be infinite. Which would be inconvenient, since largely money exists to enable the indirect exchange of time for time (largely, as labor).

bambax 5y ago
Yes, that's the reason why we are having this discussion, and the point of TFA. Some people think one should work for as long and as hard as possible in order to maximize their revenue. Others think that once their basic needs are covered, doing more work is pointless. This difference has existed for a long time. It's discussed at length in Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism for example, which has funny things to say about the philosophy developed in Ben Franklin's autobiography.

edanm 5y ago

I mean, that depends. Equipment costs are certainly investments, and things like cooking utensils can be handed down... But if you're a software developer like OP, then you need a computer. You probably want a second (or third) monitor. The computer probably needs to be replaced every few years, and you're probably getting a relatively expensive machine. Add to that an office - desk, good chair, etc. If you're trying to save money, yeah, you might not be getting a fancy expensive chair. But if you have the money to spend, I'd argue it's still a good investment for your back. Etc. Now you can consider all of these as investments, but then how much you make as a contractor has to take that into account. (Btw, didn't get into this, but the article is missing a lot of things you need to think about as a contractor, e.g. there's often downtime between projects, sick days, insurance is usually a good idea, etc. I've been doing this kind of thing for basically 10 years, it's not as simple as OP makes it sound.)