Feels counterintuitive, but if just 50 people establish arrangements like this one, SingInst gets a reliable supply of funding on the current spending level independent of funding rallies or big-sum donors.
50 people is a lot. Certainly a large number of people here simply cannot afford that sort of commitment to any charity. There are a lot of grad students here for example, some of whom are getting less than that for their monthly salaries. In fact when I saw Rain’s comment my first thought was “how the heck does Rain have that kind of money?”
my first thought was “how the heck does Rain have that kind of money?”
Low cost of living and a good job. I’ve always wondered the opposite, “how the heck does nobody else have any money?” I have so much left over every month, I wondered what to do with it for a long time before deciding on making a better future in the best way I know how.
How do you go about having a low cost of living? (I think I know how one goes about having a good job.) My best attempts at being a total cheapskate still have me spending my whole 8000 SEK monthly income. Okay, sure, I eat at cafeterias rather than packing lunch, and I buy fresh vegetables rather than eat lentils everyday, but you’re a freaking fashion plate!
I don’t know if you’ll be able to translate to SEK, but here’s my canadian dollar budget:
3000/month income after tax -100/month food -400/month housing -300/month personal spending
The rest (2200) is for savings and SI (not that I’ve organized a monthly $1k yet or anything).
$100 for food: people are consistently amazed at this one. Oatmeal + milk + granola for breakfast. Eggs + english muffins + cheese + mayonaise + celery + peanut butter + carrots + leftovers for lunch. Cheap meat and veggies and rice and such for dinner. I shop at the local grocer for meat and veggies, and Real Canadian Superstore for everything else.
The trick is to be strict about it. Put your money in a box at the begin of the month, eat fucking beans and rice for a week if you blow the budget. You learn quick this way. Only problem is cooking. Eats up like 4 hours a week.
$400 for housing: live with roommates, and rent.
$300/mo personal: that’s actually a lot of money, but you do have to be careful, you can’t be buying a new jacket every month, or you won’t be able to buy anything else. Again, strict budgeting.
I hope this helps people become more effective altruists!
I think the largest component of it is spending all of my free time online rather than going out for adventures. Such excursions often end up costing quite a bit, and so long as my interests are occupied by free internet, I don’t get any urge to buy “stuff”. Also, my taxes are lower due to the large amount of my donations.
I allow myself to splurge when my money builds up, typically on Projects that keep me deeply interested in a whole new facet of society or personal development for some time, but with a budget typically limited to $3000 or less.
I rent a small room in a shitty neighborhood (3200 SEK a month) and have no kids. Stockholm is kinda expensive to live in but I expect the education and subsequent job opportunities to make up for it.
[Looks up SEK exchange rate] Well, 8000 SEK doesn’t sound like that much, after all.
For comparison, Julia Wise and Jeff Kaufman spend $22K/year (i.e. 12000 SEK/month, 6000 each), and I guess it’s cheaper to be a couple than two single individuals. (FWIW, I spend about as much as each of them, but I live in Italy—it would have been very hard for me to live on that little in Ireland.)
50 people is still an idea that fits into human imagination and feels usual, unlike a sum of $600,000 or a single donation of $200,000.
Lots of people in the US/UK make several thousand a month, and anything on the order of 10% of income is usually expendable. Of course, depending on income, lower pledge works out proportionally.
I just put in a pledge of $1,000 per month.
Feels counterintuitive, but if just 50 people establish arrangements like this one, SingInst gets a reliable supply of funding on the current spending level independent of funding rallies or big-sum donors.
50 people is a lot. Certainly a large number of people here simply cannot afford that sort of commitment to any charity. There are a lot of grad students here for example, some of whom are getting less than that for their monthly salaries. In fact when I saw Rain’s comment my first thought was “how the heck does Rain have that kind of money?”
Low cost of living and a good job. I’ve always wondered the opposite, “how the heck does nobody else have any money?” I have so much left over every month, I wondered what to do with it for a long time before deciding on making a better future in the best way I know how.
How do you go about having a low cost of living? (I think I know how one goes about having a good job.) My best attempts at being a total cheapskate still have me spending my whole 8000 SEK monthly income. Okay, sure, I eat at cafeterias rather than packing lunch, and I buy fresh vegetables rather than eat lentils everyday, but you’re a freaking fashion plate!
I don’t know if you’ll be able to translate to SEK, but here’s my canadian dollar budget:
3000/month income after tax
-100/month food
-400/month housing
-300/month personal spending
The rest (2200) is for savings and SI (not that I’ve organized a monthly $1k yet or anything).
$100 for food: people are consistently amazed at this one. Oatmeal + milk + granola for breakfast. Eggs + english muffins + cheese + mayonaise + celery + peanut butter + carrots + leftovers for lunch. Cheap meat and veggies and rice and such for dinner. I shop at the local grocer for meat and veggies, and Real Canadian Superstore for everything else.
The trick is to be strict about it. Put your money in a box at the begin of the month, eat fucking beans and rice for a week if you blow the budget. You learn quick this way. Only problem is cooking. Eats up like 4 hours a week.
$400 for housing: live with roommates, and rent.
$300/mo personal: that’s actually a lot of money, but you do have to be careful, you can’t be buying a new jacket every month, or you won’t be able to buy anything else. Again, strict budgeting.
I hope this helps people become more effective altruists!
This article by Roger Ebert on cooking is, I suspect, highly relevant to your interests. Mine too, as a matter of fact.
I think the largest component of it is spending all of my free time online rather than going out for adventures. Such excursions often end up costing quite a bit, and so long as my interests are occupied by free internet, I don’t get any urge to buy “stuff”. Also, my taxes are lower due to the large amount of my donations.
I allow myself to splurge when my money builds up, typically on Projects that keep me deeply interested in a whole new facet of society or personal development for some time, but with a budget typically limited to $3000 or less.
It also depends, among other things, on where you live and whether you have children.
I rent a small room in a shitty neighborhood (3200 SEK a month) and have no kids. Stockholm is kinda expensive to live in but I expect the education and subsequent job opportunities to make up for it.
[Looks up SEK exchange rate] Well, 8000 SEK doesn’t sound like that much, after all.
For comparison, Julia Wise and Jeff Kaufman spend $22K/year (i.e. 12000 SEK/month, 6000 each), and I guess it’s cheaper to be a couple than two single individuals. (FWIW, I spend about as much as each of them, but I live in Italy—it would have been very hard for me to live on that little in Ireland.)
50 people is still an idea that fits into human imagination and feels usual, unlike a sum of $600,000 or a single donation of $200,000.
Lots of people in the US/UK make several thousand a month, and anything on the order of 10% of income is usually expendable. Of course, depending on income, lower pledge works out proportionally.
Nerdage.
Do you want credit with HPMOR’s grateful readers, and if so should it be under Rain or your true name?
Credit is cool. Rain is fine. Thanks :-)