[sloopy543]

Where does your money go? Do you regularly audit your finances and account for it all?

I have a bigass spreadsheet I use to track every last dollar, and I ruthlessly optimize everything.

Cell phone plan, down to $30/month. Health insurance, just $300/month. No tv. No subscriptions. No commute. Even if I did, I own my car outright so no car payment. No B.S. pre-packaged food. I cook pretty much everything at home. Have done so for years. Minimal eating out, once a month or so at inexpensive restaurants. No debt. Of any kind. So therefore no interest payments.

A few small "luxury" expenses here like a ski pass because you only live once.

All of this is completely within the realm of someone who makes $70k per year or more, the bottom rung of software development.

You should be able to hit $100K in savings in five years if you are smart with your money. Likely more if you really hustle and audit every dollar. Maybe a little less if you're supporting kids, but you can optimize how you spend your money on them too.

[perl4ever]

There are a lot of people who are programmers but aren't "software developers", particularly not "full stack" buzzword enabled types. If you've been programming for a decade or two, and haven't had that title, you're likely not going to get that $70K that fresh grads will. Likely not even hired, for "cultural fit".

Hope you don't fall off the treadmill, because if you do, you'll find out there is no way back and no pity.

[sloopy543]

Oh I've had plenty of struggles myself. I've gone six months without work and had to spend several years just building my skills to the point where others would find them valuable.

On top of that, I was super stubborn about always working remotely, which I got but only after rejecting one place after another. I would have kept employment easily had I just been more willing to drive into an office every day.

I happen to be young, but I work with plenty of people who are much older than me and greyer too, so I don't really buy the ageism argument. The market is hot and if you can deliver the goods, chances are you can get a job.

[PenguinCoder]

Congrats on having no debt of any kind. I have debt. I also strictly budget my income and expenses (also with a big ass spreadsheet). Healthcare costs me more than $300/mo. Daycare (1.8k/mo), housing (1.2k/mo), car ($600/mo all inclusive) and food ($550/mo for a family of 4), are my largest expenses. Don't tell me to get rid of the car; I don't live in a city or area with ANY public transportation. The car is literally, it. No I'm not moving to CA. I don't have luxuries to cut. I don't go out to eat, I don't have Netflix, Spotify, Amazon prime, or the latest phone (my phone is a One Plus 3). I use a service provider that costs me $60/mo for two lines (TOTAL - $60/mo) for cell phone. TV is friends Plex or free Roku apps.

I won't say how much I have in savings, but your 100k in five years (20k saved a year?! SERIOUSLY?! that's more than min wage full time job, PRE TAX!) is not at ALL realistic. No I don't work a Min Wage job, but I'm not SF/Bay/SV area salary wither.

[frequentnapper]

100k in savings is not FU money, especially with a mortgage and a family...

[sprflyprgrmrguy]

100k in accessible funds is "FU, I'm going to go get another job, even if it takes 6-12 months" money.

I have an emergency fund of roughly 3-6 months of necessary bills. It's not really enough to say "FU", but it's enough to give me an emotional buffer of, "I could leave if things got bad enough"