this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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Work Reform

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[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I know several software devs who cannot save a dime and live paycheck to paycheck on around $2k a week.

$2,000. I used to get less than that a month at my first job.

just because you have to be smart doesn't mean you're brilliant. these devs failed to understand what budgeting was and would literally piss their paycheck away by eating out 3-4 times a day, bars, women, toys, etc.

I maxed out my 401k contributions every year. I saved half my check. I was able to save a lot, but recently I've been living paycheck to paycheck because everything is so damn expensive.

my point is, some of it is because of poor financial decisions. some of it is because COL is out of control. it's hard to pass judgment on others when you don't know their story.

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

The wisest thing I did was save a lot of money in my 20s and 30s, and then buy and pay off a place to live. I always knew the 150k a year salary days were likely to end one way or another. Now I at least have a pretty controlled cost of living if I have to take a huge salary hit.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The widest thing I did was save a lot of money on my 20s and 30s. Arguably the stupidest thing I ever did was spend it all on the wedding my ex wanted, then indulge her for way too long so I could never make that back

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I got a real one. We made money on our wedding because the wedding and receptions were so cheap.