9 ms·

Remember, not everyone lives in the Bay Area. ;-) Depending on where you live and if you have roommates, the $2k per month may be enough to pay rent, bills, co

by etm117 16y ago

Remember, not everyone lives in the Bay Area. ;-) Depending on where you live and if you have roommates, the $2k per month may be enough to pay rent, bills, college loans and leave some left over for spending money.

patio11 16y ago
When my business first made $2k profit two months in a row (late March 2009), I did some math in my project notebook and wrote down a thought I had literally never had before: "Could quit the day job!?!" It took almost twelve months to the day from there.
- cageface 16y ago
  $2k is plenty for a thrifty, healthy single, but what about kids or health insurance or retirement money? I guess ideally $2k is just a starting point.
  - patio11 16y ago
    Yeah, I wasn't quite intending on putting the business into park and then going fishing for the next forty years.
jasonkester 16y ago
Don't you mean "not everybody lives in Honduras"? There aren't many places in the US where you can live for $2k/month all in, and the Bay Area would be the last place I'd expect to do so. I meant "pays your rent" quite literally. As in, taking the biggest of your financial worries away and leaving you only needing to deal with the spending money part. So you still can't live on your income, but you can coast along for an entire year on $10k savings. Up to that point, $10k in the bank meant you'd better start scrambling to pick up a contract in the next couple months before you run out of money.
- patio11 16y ago
  There aren't many places in the US where you can live for $2k/month all in $2,000 / 160 = $12.50, which is substantially higher than the minimum wage in all fifty states of the Union, so I'm guessing that there exist at least a few people who are somehow making do...
  - bkmartin 16y ago
    I'm guessing you've never tried to live on $12.50/hr. And if you take that as a gross number not a net number its even worse. Sure, people are "making it work" but if you aren't single without kids and have zero college debt then you aren't doing it without some sort of assistance. Just because the minimum wage is $7.25 or up to $8.55 (depending on the state you live in), doesn't mean you can live on it.
    - patio11 16y ago
      I'm guessing you've never tried to live on $12.50/hr. Please don't make me do division with regards to my last salary, it would just depress me.
    - Retric 16y ago
      10 years ago, a friend worked his way through school making 7.50$ an hour working as a cook at Shonies, by the time he graduated he had a stay at home wife, two kids and almost zero debt. In the summer he worked 80 hours a week and during school he worked 40. PS: He did get an internship that played 13.50 his senior year, but he did not quit Shonies until he graduated.
      - bkmartin 16y ago
        80 hours a week plus 40 hours a week during school is ridiculous. I'm truly surprised he had time for a wife and kids. Kuddos for him if it all worked out and the family unit is still together, but I'm just pointing out that under the vast majority of situations its not feasible. There are exceptions to every rule, but lets not make this sound like the norm.
Stwerner 16y ago
Yeah, really, here in Pittsburgh $2k/month is enough to live pretty comfortably.
- etm117 16y ago
  Also, if you are married (or committed to your SO) and you have 2 incomes in the household, then $2k/month is actually a good amount of dough. It is probably getting in the zone of quit your day job money if you have further plans for your startup that require more focus and time.
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  Yep. When my salary bumped up to $2k/month, I was ecstatic; I could finally start putting some money in the bank. It's the most I've ever made, in my last 5 years of financial independence.
absconditus 16y ago
Several of you seem to be confusing profit with revenue.
dgroatdrex 16y ago
Doesn't anyone pay taxes? $2k in revenue, minus expenses, then shave off 40% for taxes since this is self-employment income, and you're not going to be paying much with what's left.
- SHOwnsYou 16y ago
  I couldn't have said it better... and that assuming either no corporation or a pass-through entity. There is no way I'd leave a job for 2k/month startup when virtually any job I can get employing the skills I used to build the startup would easily get me 3-5x my startup income (and health insurance too).

by etm117 16y ago

patio11 16y ago

When my business first made $2k profit two months in a row (late March 2009), I did some math in my project notebook and wrote down a thought I had literally never had before: "Could quit the day job!?!" It took almost twelve months to the day from there.

cageface 16y ago
$2k is plenty for a thrifty, healthy single, but what about kids or health insurance or retirement money? I guess ideally $2k is just a starting point.
- patio11 16y ago
  Yeah, I wasn't quite intending on putting the business into park and then going fishing for the next forty years.

jasonkester 16y ago

Don't you mean "not everybody lives in Honduras"? There aren't many places in the US where you can live for $2k/month all in, and the Bay Area would be the last place I'd expect to do so. I meant "pays your rent" quite literally. As in, taking the biggest of your financial worries away and leaving you only needing to deal with the spending money part. So you still can't live on your income, but you can coast along for an entire year on $10k savings. Up to that point, $10k in the bank meant you'd better start scrambling to pick up a contract in the next couple months before you run out of money.

patio11 16y ago
There aren't many places in the US where you can live for $2k/month all in $2,000 / 160 = $12.50, which is substantially higher than the minimum wage in all fifty states of the Union, so I'm guessing that there exist at least a few people who are somehow making do...
- bkmartin 16y ago
  I'm guessing you've never tried to live on $12.50/hr. And if you take that as a gross number not a net number its even worse. Sure, people are "making it work" but if you aren't single without kids and have zero college debt then you aren't doing it without some sort of assistance. Just because the minimum wage is $7.25 or up to $8.55 (depending on the state you live in), doesn't mean you can live on it.
  - patio11 16y ago
    I'm guessing you've never tried to live on $12.50/hr. Please don't make me do division with regards to my last salary, it would just depress me.
  - Retric 16y ago
    10 years ago, a friend worked his way through school making 7.50$ an hour working as a cook at Shonies, by the time he graduated he had a stay at home wife, two kids and almost zero debt. In the summer he worked 80 hours a week and during school he worked 40. PS: He did get an internship that played 13.50 his senior year, but he did not quit Shonies until he graduated.
    - bkmartin 16y ago
      80 hours a week plus 40 hours a week during school is ridiculous. I'm truly surprised he had time for a wife and kids. Kuddos for him if it all worked out and the family unit is still together, but I'm just pointing out that under the vast majority of situations its not feasible. There are exceptions to every rule, but lets not make this sound like the norm.

Stwerner 16y ago

Yeah, really, here in Pittsburgh $2k/month is enough to live pretty comfortably.

etm117 16y ago
Also, if you are married (or committed to your SO) and you have 2 incomes in the household, then $2k/month is actually a good amount of dough. It is probably getting in the zone of quit your day job money if you have further plans for your startup that require more focus and time.
steveklabnik 16y ago
Yep. When my salary bumped up to $2k/month, I was ecstatic; I could finally start putting some money in the bank. It's the most I've ever made, in my last 5 years of financial independence.

absconditus 16y ago

Several of you seem to be confusing profit with revenue.

dgroatdrex 16y ago

Doesn't anyone pay taxes? $2k in revenue, minus expenses, then shave off 40% for taxes since this is self-employment income, and you're not going to be paying much with what's left.

SHOwnsYou 16y ago
I couldn't have said it better... and that assuming either no corporation or a pass-through entity. There is no way I'd leave a job for 2k/month startup when virtually any job I can get employing the skills I used to build the startup would easily get me 3-5x my startup income (and health insurance too).