Profitably Unemployed

blogofjake.com

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> People’s general focus on the hose rather than the hole is well demonstrated by the fact that anyone you ask will be able to tell you how much money they make by some unit of time but almost no one will be able to tell you the same in terms of their costs.

I mean, this is just because most people have 1-2 income sources and way more expense sinks, so this is just rhetoric.

Yes, the income is usually straightforward, but measuring the expenses requires some work and discipline.

It is not that difficult, though -- the greatest problem is to develop the habit. You need to make a note whenever you pay for something (there are smartphone apps for that), and have some simple categories defined (that you can refactor later). At the end of the month put your notes together with your online banking reports in a spreadsheeet... and you have the entire picture, which you can later compare to other months.

People who did this usually found some surprises, and were able to save some money. But it takes some time, and if you are employed and have kids at home, time is scarce; it is better to develop the habit sooner.

When you do get back your time, you also don’t feel the need to spend so much. What happens is that after being stuck 8h at a job, you tend to overcompensate and spend money to gain some of that time back.

The more you hate your everyday life, the more you are willing to spend on a vacation that would take you far away from it all. (Sometimes you really want to visit a specific place, but often the motivation is just "anywhere but here, the further the better".)

Also, many expenses are directly caused by having a job: commute to the work and back, or the lunch you eat with your colleagues (which sometimes costs more that cooking a meal for your entire family would).

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