[huffer]

I second that! I'm amazed by the fact that half the time people seem to disregard completely this fundamental obstacle in doing a startup: you need to have at least the basics covered, like food and a roof above your head. You shouldn't live like a king but even the modest living costs.

Is it only people in US who think that? I don't think so, US is not particularly known for social security and such -- maybe this comes from people who either are already wealthy or they live with their parents :)

I have worked for 2 years plus to earn and set aside the money that will allow me 6-7 months of freedom to start something up (well, and then I screwed my hard-earned freedom, but that's another story); with this tempo you'd (I'd) need to slave away 8 years to earn 2 years of freedom, the amount I'd deem necessary to start up something serious and see money coming back to you.

So please, always mention how you have your basic needs covered and for how long before preaching bootstrapping to others :)

[Kurtz79]

If you work a couple of years in a "boring, corporate gig" and watch your spending carefully (i.e. rent a "decent enough" flat, buy a used and "working well enough" car, eating reasonably cheap), you should be able to save enough to support yourself for the same amount of time, in my experience (and I'm on a Spanish salary, considerably less than the equivalent in the US or nordic countries here in EU.)

Of course the whole time you must be prepared to sacrifice bits of your quality of life, before and during the bootstrapping period (hopefully not after).

I really depends on your goals in life.

[krschultz]

You have to radically reduce your expenses if that is the case.

Are you tracking your monthly expenses? I assume rent is the highest, can you take in a room mate? Move into a smaller place? Sell your car and buy a beater?

I took 3 months off (not for a startup, I went skiing the whole time) for <$4,000. I can save that up in 3 months of working, but I drive a 10 year old car and rent a small apartment while most of the guys I work with are driving $30,000 cars and living in big places. But the car doesn't matter to me nearly as much as the freedom to take time off.

[nostrademons]

I'm curious - what do you think is a "typical" salary for software developers, and what do you think are "typical" expenses for someone living in, say, Silicon Valley?