On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't

Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by andromeduck on Monday March 01, 2021 @12:38PM (#26305504)

This is my experience too - almost everyone who hung out with me in the library, computer lab or metal shop seemed to do fairly well for themselves - not like 200k tech job well but like 80k blue collar or white collar when most of us grew up with less than 40k combined household income. Half of us first or second generation immigrants and refugees, lots of broken families, lots of substance abuse, lots from Romania, Serbia, Irab, Iraq, China.

IMO it was passion for reading and building things with our hands that that seperated our cohort from the rest - that and the bond between those of us who knew we hadn't much of a safety net to rely on.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by cammikebrown on Monday March 01, 2021 @02:14PM (#26306869)

I’m not sure of your age, but for instance, my dad, the sole breadwinner at the time, made $40k/year in 1989 when I was born, which is equivalent to $84k today. So, making $80k now and being raised on $40k/year then are the same thing if you adjust for inflation. (Furthermore, I’d argue healthcare, college, and housing are much more expensive now than they were then.)

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by andromeduck on Monday March 01, 2021 @03:58PM (#26308315)

I'm 28 now so this was about a decae ago. I personally never expected to make much more than 50k out of college, 100k by 35 career wise until my first internship. I think I can still live quite happily with ~60k by myself or ~90k with a loving family.

Good books and good company were all I had and all I think I'll ever need - that and the satisfaction of a job well done be it a piece of code well written, a field well groomed and raked or a McDonalds well wiped and scrubbed.

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