Is anyone “poor” and happy?

You are in a circular argument. You want to live a simple life. You have a very the simplest life possible living in a dorm or apartment. You pay for nothing and earn nothing. You get to run and get to sit around ponder life. This is the life you are desiring but you already have it.

ChadBrad wrote:

do the math wrote:

Conversely, go talk to some overstressed corporate climbers in management, see how happy they are.

I'm not sure I've met someone trying to aggressively climb the corporate ladder who is also happy, or even ended up happy. Not one.

Gotta find that balance.

By your logic a world class runner shouldn’t push himself to be a Olympic champion. Too much hard work and competition! Just chill bro, find that balance between great and nothing. Think it’s called being mediocre. And if that’s cool for you, then it’s allllll good....

LOL at this guy who equates climbing the corporate later with 'greatness.'

semi-important manager guy spotted.

fine by me wrote:

Thinking about dropping out of college despite having a full ride because the education is not worth the time investment, and I can train for running by myself. Does anyone here have experience with living in a very modest home/apartment, being single, not having a ton of material items, and making a small amount of money due to not working many hours? I could see myself living off $35K or less, but I live in a small state and that is probably pocket change for people in cali, NY, etc.

maybe you picked the wrong major. are you allowed to switch while keeping your scholarship?

do the math wrote:

ChadBrad wrote:

By your logic a world class runner shouldn’t push himself to be a Olympic champion. Too much hard work and competition! Just chill bro, find that balance between great and nothing. Think it’s called being mediocre. And if that’s cool for you, then it’s allllll good....

LOL at this guy who equates climbing the corporate later with 'greatness.'

semi-important manager guy spotted.

+1000

Love how these types try to rationalize why their average lives are actually above average.

fine by me wrote:

Thinking about dropping out of college despite having a full ride because the education is not worth the time investment, and I can train for running by myself. Does anyone here have experience with living in a very modest home/apartment, being single, not having a ton of material items, and making a small amount of money due to not working many hours? I could see myself living off $35K or less, but I live in a small state and that is probably pocket change for people in cali, NY, etc.

I did something kind of similar after I graduated from college. I traveled the country working odd jobs in cool places. I was young, single, and broke, but had the experiences of a lifetime. I worked on an island off the coast of Maine, spent a summer whitewater rafting outside of Yellowstone, spent a summer teaching on an Indian reservation in Montana, bar tended at an upstart brewery. I had so much fun and met so many interesting people, many of whom I am still friends with to this day. I would do it over again in a heartbeat.

Eventually in my late 20s I started feeling like I should settle down a bit. I got a job in my career field, met my wife, and life is great.

I would encourage you to do this too, but you should really finish your degree first. That way you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong. I would also challenge you to finance everything completely on your own. When I first started out I promised myself that I would never seek assistance from anyone or anything (government). I realized that I was putting myself into these weird but awesome situations where I wouldn't be making much money, so if I got into a jam, it was up to me to get myself out of it. There were some rough times, but those times build character and show you what you're really made of.

29, male, I'm basically living the life you are imagining for yourself.

I did complete my degree on a running scholarship. I would encourage you to complete the degree. Just stick it out, you'll be debt free, it cant hurt to have it in your back pocket.

Have not used my degree and don't see myself doing that.

Right now i'm "poor". I'm delivering groceries a few times a day and working mornings at an organic plant nursery. Also i sleep/hangout in an RV on a friends property for free, other than helping him a few times a week with various labor/projects.

But i'm not really poor because i have no debt or bills other than car insurance on an old toyota. I buy food, gas, save the rest.

I have 3 motivations for doing this lifestyle.

1: to have a lot of time for things i enjoy day to day: Reading, walking, hiking, podcasts, language study, and some family interaction.

2: to travel. I will travel for 5 months easily this fall/winter using money i saved over this summer. I've been doing this cycle a few years now, it works fine. Travel is not expensive.

3: to be free from shitty people and work structures. I prefer to be alone and keep to myself. I only want to interact with people voluntarily. Even "good" ,"respectable" jobs don't allow this.

Overall I am happy and look forward to what the future will bring. I enjoy not knowing exactly how my life will be even a year from now.

If you want to keep your life simple just remember

1. Stay out of debt

2. Do not get married. Girlfriend only advised if she is not manipulative and is truly sympathetic to the frugal life. This is very hard to determine, it takes years. good luck. Absolutely don't have kids

3: Don't pay rent, this is a scam. Live in a cheap van or camper. The cost of these is negligible compared to rent and you are free of restriction.

4:Don't get hooked on drugs or beer

Doing these things will isolate you from society but most of it is bullshit. There' s like minded people online, find them.

All the best to you.

Thank you everyone. Former wanderer and SimilarBoat, these are the exact kind of responses I was looking for. For those of you who advised me to complete my degree as backup, I may as well give it a try. I just know that by being in school and on a team, my freedom to experience things I want to is much more limited. Yes it is fun some times, but slow progress and probably not as rewarding as the lifestyle I dream of having (like the ones mentioned in the two posts above).

It depends on what you want in life. If you want to get married and have kids, I would suggest you finish your degree and try to earn as much money as reasonably possible.

If you are happy to remain single and enjoy a simple life, it really doesn’t matter as much.

I’m in my late 30s, married with kids, mortgage, car payments, the whole suburban deal. I love my family and there have been incredibly joyful moments along the way, but I was “happier” in a day-to-day sense when I was in my early 20s in a small apartment, earning 40,000 a year. My time outside work was all my own and I did tons of fun stuff. I never felt poor because I didn’t have a lot of bills back then.

College is like the easiest time you may have in your life, especially if you have a full ride. Friends, plenty of girls around, why would anyone want to end that?

Get the degree. I have part time jobs that require a degree. Every job will require one sometime soon.

Yes College is fun and easy, but not rewarding. At least not in the short term. What’s the point of getting a degree that will secure me a work week of a serious amount of work hours if that is not what I want?

You don't know what the future holds, so it is best to have options. A degree is a good thing to have even if you don't want to climb the corporate ladder.

Why is your post coming from Moscow, Russia?

The Ruskies are trying to usurp capitalism.

He’s prob in Moscow cruising on that Eurasian good good. *surfs up*

Alex87 wrote:

fine by me wrote:

Thinking about dropping out of college despite having a full ride because the education is not worth the time investment, and I can train for running by myself. Does anyone here have experience with living in a very modest home/apartment, being single, not having a ton of material items, and making a small amount of money due to not working many hours? I could see myself living off $35K or less, but I live in a small state and that is probably pocket change for people in cali, NY, etc.

Being poor doesn't have to mean being single. Look around you, man. The poors breed like bunnies.

Being single doesn't mean you can't procreate. Look around you, man.

fine by me wrote:

Thinking about dropping out of college despite having a full ride because the education is not worth the time investment, and I can train for running by myself. Does anyone here have experience with living in a very modest home/apartment, being single, not having a ton of material items, and making a small amount of money due to not working many hours? I could see myself living off $35K or less, but I live in a small state and that is probably pocket change for people in cali, NY, etc.

I’ll bite. With a full ride you finish because when you’re 35 and not world class you’ll appreciate that “worthless” degree. For the second half of your post read mr money mustache’s blog and give it a whirl. You can do both by the way.

As an aside, as we walked by, a homeless guy told my 7 year old, “Stay in school kid. I should have.” I wouldn’t always advocate taking the advice of a random homeless guy, but I’ll tell you what I told my son: of all people in the world, that guy would know the truth of that statement.

My guess is he’s using TOR to get around your limit on unregistered usernames by IP ...

I’ve read that making more money generally makes you happier and happier until you hit $70k.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

I’ve read that making more money generally makes you happier and happier until you hit $70k.

I've read that as well, and it sounds about right. Good enough to get a decent living space with a husband/wife in most places, although you would probably be strapped for cash if you have a few kids unless your SO makes a similar salary.

To the OP, I think the people saying to finish the degree are right. You may not desire a traditional career now, but your goals in life may change drastically even a year later. A degree doesn't hurt to have in case you change your mind later.