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Comment by Andre_Wanglin | Hacker News Reader

I can leave cheaply, hustle remotely, and use my (technically - thanks, Solo 401K!) low AGI to go on Obamacare. Why should I get a "career" in a major city and live hand to mouth while never being able to afford real property?

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If you're in tech there is no reason to live hand to mouth in a major city. Maybe in San Francisco that's the case, but I make a very decent living in Atlanta (not suburbs) and save a huge chunk of my income. I'm sure I'm not the only one and that this isn't the only city.

I'm a cowboy. Hence the hustle. Even if I passed a corporate sniff test, could I put away 60% or more of my income every year? And why would I want to live in Atlanta or someplace like it? I hate commuting. That's a major reason I work from home in a small city and take whatever remote gigs I can wrangle.

Fwiw, this is definitely possible. I've saved about 80% of after-tax income for the last decade or so in SF. I don't consider my life very ascetic either; in fact, it's pretty awesome. If I wanted to cut down further for some reason, the number of wonderful free/cheap things you can do in popular cities is insane.

(Though bear in mind that I'm not yet in the phase of life where I have a kid, where this stuff gets a lot more complicated)

Yeah, I have a six bedroom four bath house because of the kids. Bought it for cash. I shudder to think what that would cost in SF.

You could definitely put away more than 60% every year. In regards to commuting, I don't do that at all.

If you're in tech there is no reason to live hand to mouth in a major city.

If you're in America, sure.

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