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> public transport ticket, food

Don't care, don't care, don't care. Unless the IRS is taxing it, I don't care about it.

I care about these things specifically because the IRS doesn't tax it. I save about 6k per year because my startup feeds me 5 lunches/3 dinners per week and pays for my public transportation. That's probably ~8k pre-tax dollars.

You don't, but others do. There are more people in this world than just you.

I think he means that they might as well be included in the salary, unless there's a tax or bulk buying discount.

I find that relying on my employer for everyday stuff isn't conducive to building future proof systems: am I alone in finding it hard to budget for expenses when my employer is providing a large chunk of my expenses?

Whenever possible, I prefer taking a cash equivalent and buying my own. Insurance, food, living quarters, public transportation..whatever.

Well employers get discounts for getting a large amount of these expensive. Food might not be true, but if an employer would give you the exact amount of money he pays for insurance, you would get an insurance a lot crappier, simply because the employer gets discounts.

I am currently paying insurance out of the pocket, it sucks. When I'll reach 30 (no more catastrophic plans), I'll definitely will find another employer with health insurance.

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