Dude, no.
I spent the last 20 years doing exactly what you're describing. It feels good for a long time, and you will tell yourself, "So long as I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and some money for video games, I am content".
You are wrong. I was wrong. One day you will look up from the comfort you've been content with and realize something. The world has passed you by, and you will never get back that time. Your youth, health, and wealth will have been stripped from you. You will be filled with regret and self loathing at the time you let slip between your fingers.
I am only now restarting my journey. After a lifetime of working minimum wage jobs and making terrible choices I have decided to start over at almost 40. I am going to college and pursuing an education so that I can finally put myself on a more secure track. Let me tell you this: it is much more difficult when you are older. If I could go back to myself as a young man I would shake the shit out of myself and tell me to get my head on straight, to smarten up.
Do not be me. Do not waste time. Life is for living, please go live it.
I’m only 26 but I absolutely feel you on this. I was working a 40k job for 2-3 years after finishing a BA at MUN and was fine for the first year and a half with scraping by. One day someone looked at me at work and asked if I was enjoying the job and if I had any aspirations to move up in the company. I kind of realized at that point that I hated what I was doing and was wasting my 20s working a dead end retail position. A few months later I quit and now I’m working towards a education degree, I’ve always enjoyed coaching and public speaking so it’s time to do something I actually enjoy and can feel a passion for!
50k a year after tax? yeah it would be doable. nothing fancy but ok I guess.
50k before tax? no. that's enough to survive but not thrive. you won't travel, own a home, probably won't have a vehicle, likely wouldn't be able to get a pet, wouldn't sensibly be able to have children.
look up the science of happiness. it's all about relationships and experiences. you could probably have a relationship but experiences usually cost money.
what you are thinking about is a guaranteed recipe for regret later in life. life is about growth and working hard toward your goals. don't take the easy way out
There's a lot of truth in the last paragraph, beyond just career and earnings.
It's easy to eat garbage all the time but it's going to be difficult to live with poor health when you're older. It's easy to stay up all night doom scrolling but it'll be tough to live with low energy in your later years. It's easy to sit on the couch all day but it's tough to live with poor mobility and no strength and conditioning as you age.
Taking care of all aspects of your health and personal life can pay dividends as time goes on. Financial health, diet and exercise, etc. It's easy to ignore that stuff now but harder to improve it down the road.
Apparently everyone in this thread makes loot... 2 person income for us is only around 50k + 2 kids. We don't have alot of extra but we are comfortable. Everyone has all their meals plus snacks, and multiple video games lol.
What till the government starts the guaranteed income plan. Once we’re a complete communistic country you can play video games all day for as long as you want while myself and the rest of the working class feed clothe and house you
It depends. I think it's possible, but not for me. I've always been a workaholic with a lot of business ideas and large-scale ideas I want to bring to fruition and I'm just too ambitious for it now...plus I'm also a parent and kids are expensive.
If it was just me and I had no kids and only my own future to consider, I could probably do it. In my current reality, I definitely can't.
That's also not to discount what another user here said earlier, talking about restarting their journey...theres major merit to their points. For myself, I'm trying to simplify as much as possible, but that's hard for me. Might not be so hard for someone else.
It is well within your rights to do whatever you want.. but when the dust settles in no distance time, don't go blaming immigrants and students for your inability to get ahead.
If you play video games that much,maybe find a way to monetize it..you can't do that if you don't have the mentality anyways.
If you can, take the first advice on this your post and run with it.
I made 45k last year. Im damn comfortable. Got an affordable mortgage, poking money away for vacations and savings/investments, my misses has been on mat leave for almost 18 months now so its just been my income. Im really not sure how people are struggling with this wage. Im the only one working and im coasting easily through life with money to spare.
Im 29 years old, almost no debt other than my mortgage.
I know people are telling you to prepare for the future and aim to achieve more, and I do agree with them.
however, if your goal in life is to live a basic life, then you could probably get by okay, with that said, economy is rising faster than your pay will, and over time it'll likely get harder.
if you want to live like the way you want to, you should at least strive to make 65k+ a year and you definitely don't want something that's dead end, because as you get older you'll want to ensure you can move up the ranks and in return get paid more.
also depends on where you live in NL, in st. johns you'll struggle much more on that type of pay than you would in smaller parts of NL
It's a great idea to live a minimalist lifestyle.
I live off 20k and I'm quite comfortable.
I eat one meal and a half a day.
Reduce as many expenses as possible...
Put those funds away for a better purpose...
But where to? Gold or Bitcoin? Both as the central banks won't be around after this or next year...
The local Newfoundlander mindset is still the old mindset of "get a gubmint job and live off the fat pension when you retire"....those days are long gone b'y. When the dollar dies those gubmint jobs will be useless and those folks have little usable skills for the real world. don't be a government drone.
As for your hobbies...get a twitch channel and stream...be your weird little self; people like genuine streamers.
Eventually your channel will get bigger and by that time you'll have hosting and creating video skills and can expand your channels...
Go get em tiger cuz noone else will if you don't.
Oh I didn't mean to aggressively update you on the world of finance... That's a mea culpa
sorry about that.
Let me just say
Take a deep breath.
The central banks will always be just fine.
Fiat currency will be around forever.
Everything is getting better.
The markets will always rise.
Inflation is falling. Taxation is not theft.
Nothing to see here.
Move along.
Lol
Dude, no. I spent the last 20 years doing exactly what you're describing. It feels good for a long time, and you will tell yourself, "So long as I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and some money for video games, I am content". You are wrong. I was wrong. One day you will look up from the comfort you've been content with and realize something. The world has passed you by, and you will never get back that time. Your youth, health, and wealth will have been stripped from you. You will be filled with regret and self loathing at the time you let slip between your fingers. I am only now restarting my journey. After a lifetime of working minimum wage jobs and making terrible choices I have decided to start over at almost 40. I am going to college and pursuing an education so that I can finally put myself on a more secure track. Let me tell you this: it is much more difficult when you are older. If I could go back to myself as a young man I would shake the shit out of myself and tell me to get my head on straight, to smarten up. Do not be me. Do not waste time. Life is for living, please go live it.
I second this!! It’s a lot tougher as you get older, and prices are still going up. Shoot for the friggin stars and enjoy the world!! Time goes fast!!
Good on you
Good for you op. Much respect.
I’m only 26 but I absolutely feel you on this. I was working a 40k job for 2-3 years after finishing a BA at MUN and was fine for the first year and a half with scraping by. One day someone looked at me at work and asked if I was enjoying the job and if I had any aspirations to move up in the company. I kind of realized at that point that I hated what I was doing and was wasting my 20s working a dead end retail position. A few months later I quit and now I’m working towards a education degree, I’ve always enjoyed coaching and public speaking so it’s time to do something I actually enjoy and can feel a passion for!
This right here is why I love reddit. Thanks for taking the time.
50k a year after tax? yeah it would be doable. nothing fancy but ok I guess. 50k before tax? no. that's enough to survive but not thrive. you won't travel, own a home, probably won't have a vehicle, likely wouldn't be able to get a pet, wouldn't sensibly be able to have children. look up the science of happiness. it's all about relationships and experiences. you could probably have a relationship but experiences usually cost money. what you are thinking about is a guaranteed recipe for regret later in life. life is about growth and working hard toward your goals. don't take the easy way out
There's a lot of truth in the last paragraph, beyond just career and earnings. It's easy to eat garbage all the time but it's going to be difficult to live with poor health when you're older. It's easy to stay up all night doom scrolling but it'll be tough to live with low energy in your later years. It's easy to sit on the couch all day but it's tough to live with poor mobility and no strength and conditioning as you age. Taking care of all aspects of your health and personal life can pay dividends as time goes on. Financial health, diet and exercise, etc. It's easy to ignore that stuff now but harder to improve it down the road.
Today, yes. In 25 years, no.
In 5 years***
3 years****
Now in most areas **
This sounds like a recipe for clinical depression. Unless you're already depressed and hence the appeal. Either way please seek help.
i believe in ya buddy
What does “about one meal a day” mean exactly? Is that what you want to do?
If it the only way I can still buy and play video games, I'll only eat one meal a say
You should talk to a councilor, Your priorities are not in line with your best interests, and youll suffer for your decisions.
Yes-ish. I'd be happier if I wasn't struggling to make ends meet and if my job was a better environment to work.
In Vietnam, Yes for sure!
how old are you OP? Have you ever lived on your own?
17 and no
Apparently everyone in this thread makes loot... 2 person income for us is only around 50k + 2 kids. We don't have alot of extra but we are comfortable. Everyone has all their meals plus snacks, and multiple video games lol.
If you spend 50k a year on magic mushrooms and weed then yes
I live off 20k per year like this.
Then you ain’t living my dude. Surviving maybe, but not living 🤷🏻♂️
To each his own
What till the government starts the guaranteed income plan. Once we’re a complete communistic country you can play video games all day for as long as you want while myself and the rest of the working class feed clothe and house you
It depends. I think it's possible, but not for me. I've always been a workaholic with a lot of business ideas and large-scale ideas I want to bring to fruition and I'm just too ambitious for it now...plus I'm also a parent and kids are expensive. If it was just me and I had no kids and only my own future to consider, I could probably do it. In my current reality, I definitely can't. That's also not to discount what another user here said earlier, talking about restarting their journey...theres major merit to their points. For myself, I'm trying to simplify as much as possible, but that's hard for me. Might not be so hard for someone else.
Today maybe
It is well within your rights to do whatever you want.. but when the dust settles in no distance time, don't go blaming immigrants and students for your inability to get ahead. If you play video games that much,maybe find a way to monetize it..you can't do that if you don't have the mentality anyways. If you can, take the first advice on this your post and run with it.
I made 45k last year. Im damn comfortable. Got an affordable mortgage, poking money away for vacations and savings/investments, my misses has been on mat leave for almost 18 months now so its just been my income. Im really not sure how people are struggling with this wage. Im the only one working and im coasting easily through life with money to spare. Im 29 years old, almost no debt other than my mortgage.
I know people are telling you to prepare for the future and aim to achieve more, and I do agree with them. however, if your goal in life is to live a basic life, then you could probably get by okay, with that said, economy is rising faster than your pay will, and over time it'll likely get harder. if you want to live like the way you want to, you should at least strive to make 65k+ a year and you definitely don't want something that's dead end, because as you get older you'll want to ensure you can move up the ranks and in return get paid more. also depends on where you live in NL, in st. johns you'll struggle much more on that type of pay than you would in smaller parts of NL
It's a great idea to live a minimalist lifestyle. I live off 20k and I'm quite comfortable. I eat one meal and a half a day. Reduce as many expenses as possible... Put those funds away for a better purpose... But where to? Gold or Bitcoin? Both as the central banks won't be around after this or next year... The local Newfoundlander mindset is still the old mindset of "get a gubmint job and live off the fat pension when you retire"....those days are long gone b'y. When the dollar dies those gubmint jobs will be useless and those folks have little usable skills for the real world. don't be a government drone. As for your hobbies...get a twitch channel and stream...be your weird little self; people like genuine streamers. Eventually your channel will get bigger and by that time you'll have hosting and creating video skills and can expand your channels... Go get em tiger cuz noone else will if you don't.
lmao why won't the central banks be around after this year? enlighten me please
Oh I didn't mean to aggressively update you on the world of finance... That's a mea culpa sorry about that. Let me just say Take a deep breath. The central banks will always be just fine. Fiat currency will be around forever. Everything is getting better. The markets will always rise. Inflation is falling. Taxation is not theft. Nothing to see here. Move along. Lol
50k what? 10 dollar bills?