[douche]

These numbers that are being thrown around are mind-boggling. I still haven't shifted my thinking out of blue-collar, northern Appalachia mode, where $20/hour for back-breaking skilled labor is considered a really good career.

Cost of living must be completely astronomical, or people have really expensive tastes. That kind of salary would be enough, after taxes, for me to work five years, buy a home, cash on the barrelhead, invest the rest, and retire to live off the dividends the rest of my life.

[Bahamut]

I seriously thought about taking one of the big $ offers and doing just that. I had left a startup within the past few weeks then, and was seriously burnt out of 60-80 hour weeks, heavy dose of blame abuse, & product cycles where a sales person could never say no to a customer request.

I ended up taking an offer less than half as much as the top end, but mostly for non-monetary reasons. I came to the conclusion that money wasn't vitally important to me beyond a healthy amount to live comfortably & pay off my debts, and I wanted the flexibility to leave work early, not live in constant pressure to have stories done yesterday, and in general live a more normal life with actual vacation I could take without guilt. It also gave me more freedom to explore software development at my own desire, as there is always more to learn and improve on.

I may start a company in the future, or enter the grind again, but for now I'm happier spending time with friends and enjoying the fruits of my labor. I'm a bit wary of immature startups now though, since many of them are their own brand of mental torture due to large oversights in managing people capital.

[phamilton]

To support a family of 5, you're looking at $4000/month in housing (PITI on 750k townhouse, 3Bed 2.5Bath, 1500 sqft, 40 minutes from the city). For that to make sense, your take home should ideally over $150k, and that's a bare minimum.

[douche]

That's completely insane. Starting out, I didn't gross $4000 a month.

I could live like a king on $150k per year. I don't know what I would spend that kind of money on.

[malyk]

5x$5 for a breakfast coffee/bagel 5x$10-$15 for lunch 5x$3 for an afternoon coffee 3x$30 for dinners/drinks out per week ---- 4x$200 per week in food out 4x$100 per week for food for the home ---- $1200 per month for food.

5x$4-$15 for commuting during the week 2x$15 per weekend for transportation on the weekend ---- $200 for communting per month

$3000 rent per month $150 cell phone bill per month $150 cable/internet bill per month $50 electric/gas bill per month ---- $3350+ per month in housing/utilities

=

$4750 per month in living expenses...not including entertainment, car/insurance, and a host of other things. If you're young you probably split the housing costs, so it comes down a little, but you're probably spending at least $3k a month just to live and get to work around SF.