How do people afford to live?

[Enkhidu]

Man, why didn't I pay more attention in math??? I have a wife, FOUR daughters, and THREE female cats. No WONDER I can't pay my bills...

Man, we all know that the reason you can't pay your bills is that you're too busy putting the toilet seat down.

 

[ragboy]

You'd be happier with $60k/month.

And he could hire a proofreader...

I've been on either side of the income spectrum over the last 5 years. Went from a $75k a year job to $0K a year. We not only managed to hold on to our house (by me working about 300 odd jobs a week and writing technical books), but we also didn't accrue a lot of crazy debt. After about a year and half, I managed to get a job that was a little more than half the income of the previous, and we've struggled, but managed to keep from sliding back into a hole of debt. I think it's all about what you think 'lifestyle' means. I can spend hours playing cars with my four year old, or D&D with my older kids, or going to the lake to throw in a line, or just sitting in the park and enjoying the day. The way I see it, if all of your essentials are taken care of (housing, transport, food, health insurance, and utilities - with some buffer cash for emergencies) then everything else is gravy. Just depends on how much gravy you want. And how much you want to pay for it. Other than my passion for books and addiction to gaming junk, I have very few 'gravy' expenses.

 

[ragboy]

It aggrivates me that ANYONE feels that they are owed anything just becuase they did some work in college. A degree without continuing drive and determination gets to no further than someone without a degree that also has no drive or determination.

And a CS degree provides you nothing that you can actually use in the working world. Hell, the draw of the IT industry is that anyone can pick up books and software, figure them out, and start working (though now you have to take a handful of tests to be competetive). Like you said, all it takes is drive. IT is all about on-the-job training.

 

[shaylon]

Well, look at the lifestyle in question. Do I need two brand new Lexus's, a boat, and swimming pool? Nah. Id live just fine with a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in a nice neighborhood and that certainly wouldnt cost 200k.

In the NorthEast U.S.? Yeah it would cost every bit of that.

As someone who has lived in NJ/NYC area, it is a large difference from living in Ohio. My home, which is by no means glamorous would cost 5-7 times what I paid if it were in North Jersey.

As far as getting a 105,500 dollar a year job, I will let you know when I get one. That isn't what everyone makes there. New York City has it's fair share of waitresses, writers, artists, and more that struggle (but DO) get by each month.

-Shay

 

[drothgery]

As someone who has lived in NJ/NYC area, it is a large difference from living in Ohio. My home, which is by no means glamorous would cost 5-7 times what I paid if it were in North Jersey.

Heck, there's a large increase in cost for approximately the same house from Dayton (a very cheap place to live) to a nice suburb of Cleveland or Columbus. And another large increase from that to a nice (but not too distant) suburb of Chicago. Yet another large increase from that to LA or San Diego or Washington, DC. And still another to the San Fransico area or the New York City area (the most expensive places to live in the US).

 

[drothgery]

And a CS degree provides you nothing that you can actually use in the working world. Hell, the draw of the IT industry is that anyone can pick up books and software, figure them out, and start working (though now you have to take a handful of tests to be competetive). Like you said, all it takes is drive. IT is all about on-the-job training.

I don't think there's a better way to learn the theory behind programming than from a good Computer Science degree program (a good Software Engineering degree program would be better, but there just aren't many of them). And knowing the theory does matter.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Heck, there's a large increase in cost for approximately the same house from Dayton (a very cheap place to live) to a nice suburb of Cleveland or Columbus. And another large increase from that to a nice (but not too distant) suburb of Chicago. Yet another large increase from that to LA or San Diego or Washington, DC.

When I moved from Xenia (a town near Dayton) to DC, I thought myself very clever for negotiating a $30k/year salary. Imagine my surprise at the increase in cost-of-living expenses.....

 

[Kanegrundar]

When I moved from Xenia (a town near Dayton) to DC, I thought myself very clever for negotiating a $30k/year salary. Imagine my surprise at the increase in cost-of-living expenses.....

The government set your pay scale based on where you work. My best friend's wife works for the EPA in DC. She's at the same wage grade that I am and makes several thousand dollars more a year than I do. The coasts are far too expensive to live. Get me the Midwest with it's reasonably affordable housing and food costs anyday.

Kane

 

[Hijinks]

the morale of this story is that women are the root of all evil, and if you want to retire wealthy, never marry.

I would disagree (yes, yes, I know it's tongue-in-cheek), not just on the basis of being female but on the basis of being a 30-year-old female who's never married. I've had to take care of myself, work 2 jobs to put myself through college part time, and am just now on my feet and able to (though budgeting closely) have a few nice things, all on myown salary. I think I've definitely learned the value of a dollar, and I don't expect any man to take care of me - I take care of mySELF. I think if I were to get married now, I wouldn't "expect" a certain lifestyle, and I would make sure to know just how much is coming into the marriage and how much is required for basic living expenses, and budget accordingly.

So I adjust your saying: Young women who have never lived on their own and can't take care of themselves are the root of all evil

 

[Simplicity]

I don't think there's a better way to learn the theory behind programming than from a good Computer Science degree program (a good Software Engineering degree program would be better, but there just aren't many of them). And knowing the theory does matter.

Going off-topic a bit... Hmmm... A software engineering degree can help you to earn money. I don't know that it's the best way to learn the theory. I would personally
prefer a program that has more even coverage. OS, compiler, theory, software engineering, architecture.

The "theory" of software engineering gets silly at times. What if we took win-win design and combined that with spiral models... to get win-win spiral models! Everybody is happy and you take risks in an ever-expanding spiral! Yay! It's all just philosophy at some point.