I live on $15k/year in silicon valley and consider at least 2/3 of my spending to be on luxury goods, so this is definitely possible.
Why do I do it? Well, for one, I don't care too much about having a porsche or some armani suits or filling my belly with $80 filet mignon and lobster every night. I'd much rather save my hard-earned dollars so that one day (in the near future) I won't have to work at all if I don't want to. Or I can start my own company or do whatever the fuck I want really and never have to worry about anything. I wholeheartedly believe that stress and worry are the causes of unhappiness, and they in turn are caused by spending money on stupid shit
The cost of living analysis represents pampered first-world luxury living. Bare necessities are $5000/year per person. I live on 15k/year myself in the bay area, and I consider myself to be a big spender. I share a 1200 sq foot house with one other person, I drive a 2008 prius, and i have all the modern amenities in plentiful amounts. People like Jacob from ERE (http://earlyretirementextreme.com/) are real world examples of living well below the poverty line.
Regardless, the only legitimate concern over how much we pay BART employees is supply and demand of their skills which the market will handle on its own. Unions are horrible for society
If you want an upper class lifestyle, say modest 3/2 1200 sq foot house in the peninsula, and want to support a wife that stays home with your kids, you'll likely never make enough as just a programmer. You need minimum 250k+ salary to support that lifestyle. Sure some programmers make that much, but most don't
it's nowhere close to 10x in practice. With no bureaucracy and complete control over your own work, perhaps the best are 3-5x better than the typical. In the bureaucratic bullshit that is modern corporate environments, it's maybe 2x
the problem is that my satisfying activity would be beach sitting, margarita drinking, and orgy-having with hot women. Unfortunately, this life is far from income generating (quite the opposite)
Honestly the truth is that any startup that will pay you with options to compensate for a below market rate (either in salary or combined salary + cash bonus) is a scam and should be treated as such.
Startups are great if you are a founder or if you are paid equally to what you could get in total current comp at a bigger company. If not, stay far, far away!
I made the mistake of joining a startup once thinking I'd be getting rich off the options. Never again will I be so naive. Now the only two things I consider when joining a new company is 1. total current compensation (salary + benefits + bonus) and 2. potential for career growth. Options and startup equity should always be valued at 0 and not weigh at all to any job choice.
The answer is simple. Read MMM and ERE. Save that big Silicon Valley paycheck and retire at 35 to spend the next 60 years doing whatever the fuck you want all day and laughing at the rats. That's what I'm doing. Already saved $125k in 1.5 years and just got a 20% raise. Should hit $1 million by 32 or so, move to a less costly area and freedom awaits!
someone on HN believes in God? No judgments, I just thought hacker and atheist were deeply intertwined. Perhaps I just picked up the wrong impression from Reddit.
Why do I do it? Well, for one, I don't care too much about having a porsche or some armani suits or filling my belly with $80 filet mignon and lobster every night. I'd much rather save my hard-earned dollars so that one day (in the near future) I won't have to work at all if I don't want to. Or I can start my own company or do whatever the fuck I want really and never have to worry about anything. I wholeheartedly believe that stress and worry are the causes of unhappiness, and they in turn are caused by spending money on stupid shit