Right? I keep reading these stories of people who up and just quit jobs at dream companies, which I can totally understand. But what I'm absolutely gobsmacked about is, "then I took 13 months off and roamed the country". Da fuq?
I've been working since I was in 9th grade and have NEVER had enough money saved up to take 3 weeks off, much less 13 months.
> I've been working since I was in 9th grade and have NEVER had enough money saved up to take 3 weeks off, much less 13 months.
If you save 6% of your take-home income for one year, you'll have saved enough to take three weeks off. So if you take home, say, $500/week, put $30 each week into a savings account. You won't even notice that it's gone.
If you want to take 13 months off, the best strategy is to move from high ground to low ground. Eg, take a job in a city like SF, Denver, Seattle, NYC, etc that pays well, get a cheap place, get rid of any vehicles and use public trans, etc. Taking home $75k and socking away 1/3rd each week, you'll end up with $25k in savings - which is more than enough to spend 13 months roaming the country.
(In the past few years I've spent > 13 months roaming the country)
What exactly is it that you are feigning surprise over? That people on high salaries can save a significant sum of money? What's counterintuitive or surprising about this?
I don't get this mentality at all - if you don't have savings to cover 3 weeks, what are you going to do if you become unemployed? I "only" have about 4 months worth of salary saved and I feel like I need to watch my expenses, cause that is not enough.
gregd|10 years ago
I've been working since I was in 9th grade and have NEVER had enough money saved up to take 3 weeks off, much less 13 months.
hunterloftis|10 years ago
If you save 6% of your take-home income for one year, you'll have saved enough to take three weeks off. So if you take home, say, $500/week, put $30 each week into a savings account. You won't even notice that it's gone.
If you want to take 13 months off, the best strategy is to move from high ground to low ground. Eg, take a job in a city like SF, Denver, Seattle, NYC, etc that pays well, get a cheap place, get rid of any vehicles and use public trans, etc. Taking home $75k and socking away 1/3rd each week, you'll end up with $25k in savings - which is more than enough to spend 13 months roaming the country.
(In the past few years I've spent > 13 months roaming the country)
frou_dh|10 years ago
tomjen3|10 years ago