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Comment by angarg12 | Hacker News Reader

On 5): The most transformative step in my journey up the class ladder was when money stopped being a source of problems and instead became a way to solve problems.

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I have plenty of money (relatively speaking, I don't make FAANG money but I don't worry about paying the rent or saving for a rainy day). I have real trouble spending it though. It almost causes me physical pain to spend money on something I don't regard as essential. I don't like to travel, or eat expensive meals, or go to movies, concerts, shows, etc because I hate to spend the money on it. Don't know what the root of that is, but it bothers other people more than it bothers me.

The hobbies I have are similarly frugal: fixing stuff, repairing old cars, where I feel I've gained some value for the time spent.

I'm similar, but it has probably cost me more in happiness then the money is worth. I am trying to counter it by framing more things as investments into myself (happiness as its own goal, but also the ability to more easily make that money back).

This is awesome! Your attitude and values are only recently "out of date"; previous to the current generation of zero percent financed lifestyles many people achieved success through slow growth savings. I think it's great that you reject the value derived from common consumption because it's less than the cost. I wish more people felt this way

It isn’t tho. You don’t win in life by having the biggest number in your investment account when they put you in the ground. Typical advice here is to spend money on experiences and not “stuff” but it sounds like gp cant even do that

Thank you so much for those words, they are wise and re-fill my confidence level so much for today. Everybody should find it’s own way of “wining in life” as peer said, but probably not by listen and follow “typical advices” as a sole trueness.

I think feeling it painful to spend when you have lots of money is not a good thing.

I save money by not buying much stuff in general. So when I do have to spend it’s not a big deal. It’s not like saving $80 by not going to a concert would have some profound impact on my future financial situation. Same with vacations or buying clothes. I don’t do that stuff often, so when I do, whatever. Why ruminate so much on it.

I used to be more of your mindset but realized it was stupid. And you end up missing out on opportunities if you’re too frugal just for the sake of it (rather than necessity). People I’ve met on trips, random books I’ve bought, etc have changed my life in lots of positive ways.

Set aside a fun budget, and then spend it frugally. Just don't carry over from one year to the next. Developing non-monetizable skills is the best kind of fun there is ;)

> Don't know what the root of that is, [...]

Let me guess: Could it be coming from a poor family?

I know some people with similar tendencies. One also has trouble getting rid of things.

I wonder if this makes it harder to find a partner?

Also, is it easier to spend money with a credit card than in cash?

There's a saying in my language that goes like "he'll be the richest person in the graveyard". Spend that surplus money, have fun, enjoy it. What else are you going to do with it anyway?

I think a lot of people are like you described (say 5 per cent), but not many dare to admit, fearing of coming across too boring or greedy or whatever.

I think being content with what you have and what you buy, the fulfillment of fixing things has much more value than fancy stuff that is fancy today but gets outdated quickly.

Also "experiencing things" seems overrated these days. As if scratching things off a bucket list has lots of value.

Sam Altman went to a high school that costs $32,800 per year. His "journey up the class ladder" started on a rung where money isn't an issue.

https://www.jburroughs.org/admissions/tuition-affordability

Does that make his journey any less valid?

No, it's great. I hope to help my kids start on the same rung, but I think I'll caution them against giving advice about "having enough money so that you don’t stress about paying rent," something a person who started in that income bracket has never once had to meaningfully worry about, obviously.

For himself? No.

But, a lot of this advice like “take risks” is much easier to do when your failures don’t result in losing everything. If a poor person starts a business and fails they might not be able to afford to eat. If Sam Altman failed would he have been pushed to a similar place on the socioeconomic ladder? My guess is no. It’s much easier to fail when your failure state is that you can rely on your well off family with relatively little hardship.

I don't think anyone is suggesting to start tech startups directly from poverty. Once you are in tech it doesn't really matter what your parents make; you can save enough from the generous paycheck at your corporate job to buy a laptop and pay the rent for a while. When your startup fails, you go get one of those again.

See Bill Gates.

Also on 5)

> Whether or not money can buy happiness, it can buy freedom

This is true outside of your work but not so much during it:

- when you makes lots of money you feel less free to resign than for a shitty interchangeable job. It’s even more true as the shitty job has less chance to be intellectually interesting

- building your own business usually means you’re even less free mentally as you got more responsibilities

- if you’re got employee it’s even worse : you’ve got more legal obligations and probably moral implications.

Money can buy a lots of thinks but certainly not freedom.

It gave me the freedom to buy whatever monitor I wanted and cart it into work. Forget the 19" dell everyone else is stuck with! :)

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