3 ms·

It was surprising to only recently learn how little money Gwern makes and lives off of. And then beautiful to see how the internet responded. https://x.com/Su

It was surprising to only recently learn how little money Gwern makes and lives off of. And then beautiful to see how the internet responded. https://x.com/Suhail/status/1857102763249004655 https://x.com/Suhail/status/1857102763249004655

kelvinjps10 2y ago
Where it was mentioned?
jaggederest 2y ago
For posterity, what's the current ballpark? I enjoyed that when I looked for it I found his comments from 2013 on HN talking about it.
- niceice 2y ago
  From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42key59cZQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42key59cZQ Dwarkesh Patel How do you sustain yourself while writing full time? Gwern Patreon and savings. I have a Patreon which does around $900-$1000/month, and then I cover the rest with my savings. I got lucky with having some early Bitcoins and made enough to write for a long time, but not forever. So I try to spend as little as possible to make it last. I should probably advertise the Patreon more, but I'm too proud to shill it harder. It's also awkward trying to come up with some good rewards which don't entail a paywall. Patreon and Substack work well for a lot of people like Scott Alexander, because they like writing regular newsletter-style updates but I don't like to. I just let it run and hope it works. Dwarkesh Patel Wait if you’re doing $900-1000/month and you’re sustaining yourself on that, that must mean you’re sustaining yourself on less than $12,000 a year. What is your lifestyle like at $12K? Gwern I live in the middle of nowhere. I don't travel much, or eat out, or have health insurance, or anything like that. I cook my own food. I use a free gym. There was this time when the floor of my bedroom began collapsing. It was so old that the humidity had decayed the wood. We just got a bunch of scrap wood and a joist and propped it up. If it lets in some bugs, oh well! I live like a grad student, but with better ramen. I don't mind it much since I spend all my time reading anyway.

kelvinjps10 2y ago

Where it was mentioned?

jaggederest 2y ago

For posterity, what's the current ballpark? I enjoyed that when I looked for it I found his comments from 2013 on HN talking about it.

niceice 2y ago
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42key59cZQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42key59cZQ Dwarkesh Patel How do you sustain yourself while writing full time? Gwern Patreon and savings. I have a Patreon which does around $900-$1000/month, and then I cover the rest with my savings. I got lucky with having some early Bitcoins and made enough to write for a long time, but not forever. So I try to spend as little as possible to make it last. I should probably advertise the Patreon more, but I'm too proud to shill it harder. It's also awkward trying to come up with some good rewards which don't entail a paywall. Patreon and Substack work well for a lot of people like Scott Alexander, because they like writing regular newsletter-style updates but I don't like to. I just let it run and hope it works. Dwarkesh Patel Wait if you’re doing $900-1000/month and you’re sustaining yourself on that, that must mean you’re sustaining yourself on less than $12,000 a year. What is your lifestyle like at $12K? Gwern I live in the middle of nowhere. I don't travel much, or eat out, or have health insurance, or anything like that. I cook my own food. I use a free gym. There was this time when the floor of my bedroom began collapsing. It was so old that the humidity had decayed the wood. We just got a bunch of scrap wood and a joist and propped it up. If it lets in some bugs, oh well! I live like a grad student, but with better ramen. I don't mind it much since I spend all my time reading anyway.