Am I missing something about where this guy is getting money? He posted his bank account, which is essentially empty, and it seems his only current income is $600/mo, which is less than half of his rent. So how is this guy surviving currently?

I don't mean to be one of those people that shout "privilege" at every turn on the Internet, but most people with no savings and barely any income would be freaking out unless they had some family or support network to lean on, which I noticed any discussion of is suspiciously absent.

Folks, just live your life how it fits you. We're all born into a different set of circumstances that dictate many of the choices we make. We all have different ideas about what life means to us and what levels of risk we're comfortable taking. Listen to your gut and focus on what you'll be smiling about as you lie on your deathbed.

If anyone else finds themself in this position, I highly recommend you sell what you can, pack the rest up into a storage unit, and travel, 4 or 6 months in each location.

$80k can easily last you 4+ years of very comfortable living in much of the world. Enjoy the food, really try and learn some of the local language, and enjoy yourself.

You can do it, and there won't be another window.

The problem in the US is healthcare.

In my state the health insurance marketplace only has 'bronze' plans that are in-network only (with mediocre options) and high deductibles, it costs 6-800 for individual and close to 1500-2k for a family.

The United States has rigged the employment market to forever keep you dependent on a corporate employer until retirement. Now these same companies are taking away remote work, forcing people close to expensive and increasingly annoying cities like New York City, where the median one bedroom is one million to buy.

So, for giving your time to a company, your reward is never being able to be fully independent without huge risk. Healthcare is the Company Store Voucher of the modern era.

Has anyone else considered leaving the United States long before retirement age?

The problem with the "try a lot of projects, see what works" is that you lose out on exponential growth every time a project fails.

A lot of people would be better off doing "intra-preneurship", meaning trying to innovate and strategize within their current company to make the job more fun, gain more autonomy, and advance their career prospects.

Over the last 4 years, I've gone through a similar "speed run" of startups after quitting my job of 10 years during COVID.

First startup went nowhere and took on a contract role after 9 months. Then tried another startup with a co-founder I met at one of the startups where I worked in the interim. About 6 months building something awesome, but no commercial path. Spent 1 month with him and another co-founder on a fintech product but realized much faster that once again that there was no viable go-to-market strategy. Started another company and built a product that seemed like it had legs. We had one early user that absolutely loved the product and we thought all we needed was to find more users like her. Turns out that she was a false signal because we never found another user like her and I'm about to shut that one down after almost a year to avoid DE franchise fee next year.

If anyone is in a situation like this/thinking about doing something like this, I've gathered some of my lessons learned: https://chrlschn.dev/blog/2024/12/lessons-learned-from-worki...

If I had to sum it up: always build the minimal thing that can be "sold". Use AI to build the dirtiest MVP as fast as possible. Even better if your "MVP" is a deck and you can get people to put money down to wait. Figure out your GTM and messaging with that deck. If you are an engineer, you must resist that urge to build until you're sure you can find enough people that have this problem and want to pay you to solve it. Don't work with a non-technical co-founder if they claim if you build it, customers will come. Don't work with a non-technical co-founder that can't demonstrate an ability to sell. If the vibes feel off, get out fast. Don't form a company with a co-founder until you absolutely have to (like your personal life, don't get married until you're absolutely sure).

Lots of mistakes and lessons learned during that time having founded startups that went nowhere, been an employee in startups that went nowhere, and left startups that are actually crushing it. I have seen a big swath of the gamut at this point with some regrets in retrospect.

It’s been almost two years since I was layed off. Unlike him though, I have not been working on side projects. This time has actually made me realize that I do not enjoy software, even working on projects for myself and as a hobby.

I’ve slowly spent all my savings, moved back in with my folks, and still don’t have a job. It’s rough. I have no idea what I wanna do in life. So I decided to join the navy recently, to give me the next 4 years to figure it out.

Problem is lack of money catches up eventually. If you can't figure out some way to get it, and the longer without a job, the harder it is to get one. I think a lot of people struggled because the economy and job numbers. Supply and demand..

I had contract work, then couldn't get a tech job a couple years ago after a lot of applications. Completely broke. Drove down the road and felt kinda foolish seeing people paying less but decent money for non-tech. got fast food / hospitality worker. Low stress, physical work. Can't imagine where I'd be if I didn't.

I kind of get it though, you start doing something else then you don't have much time and energy to improve on what you want to do (such as tech) for a while, a recipe for people to get trapped, unless you can save money and reclaim time somehow to improve, or the supply/demand shifts..

anyone could fail at anything, all I know for certain is the worst thing a person can do is nothing.

Ooh. Lesson: if you are out of work go bare bones. You don't need a entrepenerial flat in the city. You need a shitty room in the suburbs where you can commute to the city by train or bus ideally (dont have a car). Call it runway and it sounds better. If you spent 20k/y then the 60k becones 75k in the market and you are doing better.

December 2022 was not a great time to quit a tech job. I too have been unemployed during the same period (except for a 3 month part-time gig last summer) after the startup I was working for lost it's funding in December '22. Fortunately, I've got a paid-off house and a good amount of savings (plus I'm old enough to start withdrawing from my retirement accounts and since our income is pretty low the ACA subsidies are working out great for being able to afford health insurance. At this point I consider myself semi-retired as I'm not interested in playing the tech interviewing game anymore, but if someone comes to me and wants me to work on an interesting project then I'll give it serious consideration (as was the case last summer).

OP, idk if you'll see this, but the part about GI issues after being on Accutane concerned me a bit. There's some evidence that Accutane can cause short-term symptoms that mimic autoimmune disorders and long-term symptoms that are bona fide autoimmune disorders. If you only feel "normal" while sticking to a restrictive diet, especially in the absence of confirmed celiac disease (which would otherwise explain issues with gluten), you might be suffering from a more serious problem without realizing it.

Signed, someone who only feels "normal" while sticking to a restrictive diet... and therefore is seeing their gastro next week to discuss switching to a different Crohn's treatment :P

The stark transition from employment to unemployment can be very painful in our industry, because it is a boom-bust industry, and it's not uncommon to go from making half a million dollars a year to having the most expensive cities in the world vacuuming money out of your bank account as fast as economically possible. When the money is coming in you feel like a rockstar-ninja-hacker genius. When the money dries up you start to wonder why you didn't just go into accounting.

I was unemployed for a year at a point and honestly it was the best year of my life in a long time. Yes I went through about $50K but I was able to pursue hobbies, play sports, weightlift, hike, travel, write, play music, spend a lot of time with my wife and daughter and I built an entire second home on my property (all by myself)! That’s honestly how life is meant to be lived but it’s too bad we’re not at UBI levels in society yet.

The moral of the story: Don’t quit your job unless you have an employment contract for another one or if you have a reliable, growing side hustle that generates enough income to live on. Real life bites hard, and $80k is peanuts.

Exact same situation - 2 years deep here but at a breaking point cannot continue this trajectory.

I'm a kind of political fugitive (probably will go into the prison for the beliefs if return to the country of origin), living in one of EU countries, married, having a little child and two dogs, owning apartament, have no significant health issues, also having second year without income at all, having some money on banking account, full-time working for the own startup on open source project. And I do not feel very disappointed.

Well I’ll be damned if it didn’t make my day to read somebody talking so honestly about their life. Thanks for the being relatable, and for putting yourself out there.

Whenever I read articles like this and the ensuing "just relax and go have fun/travel" comment chains, I think to myself I'm living in an alien universe. Not having a job is a pants-on-fire emergency, and I would be interviewing 24/7 until I corrected it, even if the hiring market meant that was hopeless. I'd be a nervous wreck until I found a job, any job.

It's absolutely wild to see people 1. with the privilege of having $80K in liquid savings to just... chill while unemployed, and 2. with the willingness and mindset that allows them to do that chilling without freaking out. Total Zen Masters you all are. I couldn't do it.

Every $10K I blew through while unemployed, I'd be thinking to myself: Accounting for time value of money, that's just pushed out my retirement date by 3 more months.

EDIT: I guess I should add that I'm married with a kid, since that obviously does affect the math on this one. Still, I don't think I'd change my opinion if I was single.

Is it better to be unemployed rather than to find a crappy job that pays the bills? (AKA sucking it up while paying bills and looking for a real career job.)

I was in a similar situation and I worked at a warehouse as a loader, then at a kiosk to sell toys, and then sold necklaces at a mall (none of them were my businesses, just worked.) And I worked as a mover. Many odd jobs but I never accepted being unemployed for 2 years while depleting my savings.

Whether it is a matter of being homeless or not, I can find 1000+ odd jobs that pay for something + food from Craigslist right now. This is the reason why you will rarely see an immigrant being homeless or being picky about the jobs they find. Staying unemployed for years until finding the "best job" is a very privileged mindset. 3 months in no job? Find something to float, don't wait until your dream job appears out of nowhere.

I survived with $1000 a month for a very long time (in America, the money I earned from my jobs) while paying for a room, eating + transportation. If I had 80k, I'd buy a cheap van, live in it for free, and eat the bare minimum nutrition I need ($150 a month). I can survive with 80 for over a decade easily. God knows what this person is doing with his money. I am certain he has parents that he can count on.

These posts are extremely bizarre.

Now, downvote me to hell.

There’s a moral in this story but the HN crowd ain’t gonna like it: money is capital. Two years ago the author had no job and 80k in the bank. At least half was disposable. Had he invested that 40k or more in a risk-averse fashion (20% s&p/btc; 80% t-bills) his position today would be much better. Instead he ate through his capital. Always invest your disposable savings or income. Hate me now. Thank me later.

I had a period of 6 months when I was unemployed burning through my savings.

It was one of the best times of my life. Like the author, I focused a lot of entrepreneurship, my mental and physical health, and traveled a lot.

But unlike the author, I came back to the workforce. I don’t know what’s the end game for the author, but I kind of feel torn here.

On one side, I’d say that it’s way easier to focus on building a business when you don’t have a job. On the other side, not having money to live on would stress me so much that I’m not sure I’d be able to do sport or engage in hobbies, let alone build a business.

I did that, sort of, pre-pandemic.

IBM did a restructuring of my division in mid-2018 and I got RIFed. I pulled UI for 6 months and then lived off of my savings for a while - I looked at it as a mini-retirement. it was really nice, and made me appreciate work more (I'd been getting burnout from the IBM job).

when it was time to look for work again, the pandemic hit and I had a few tough months. I onboarded at a place mid-2020 and am still employed at the same place to this day. cant say I feel valued by the employer but I enjoy my job, it's a bit less stressful than my previous job.

Don't quit your job to start something. Start something on the side. Spending down $80,000 in savings is a massive L.

Shout out to the low-FODMAP diet. I did that last year after having several months of abdominal pain and discomfort, and was stunned at how quickly a change in diet could solve these seemingly chronic symptoms. At the end of the second day I told my wife I couldn't remember the last time I felt so good. I'd recommend trying it for a few days to pretty much anybody, because doing it can't hurt, and who knows? It might make you feel better. It's not intended to be a long-term thing anyway, more of a diagnostic tool to help you learn about your body.

I'm in network security and I want to quit so badly. I feel trapped in a job and team dynamic I don't like. I own my truck and have $275k in liquid assets.

I've been thinking of quitting with the assumption that my job skills will still be relevant in two or three years and that I have strong social skills that help stand out and a crowded worker field.

I just want to take care of some long-standing tasks, clean out my house, and enjoy waking up each day.

Product launch when will you launch demo startup VC! VC! Demo product launch eat sleep code repeat cringe what's your stack hacker congrats on the launch website just a website not working at NASA just crud crud crud standup grooming review retro LinkedIn engineering@fuckly so excited to share! Occam's razor

Crazy to me that some people in the comments believe that 80k$ dollar is peanuts. Even in Germany I could easily live with that for more than 5 years.

If I had that kind of money lying around I would move to another country, pay for my whole education, learn a new language and still have enough money for multiple full-time start-up attempts.

This is the tech equivalent of ‘my year of rest and relaxation’, enjoyable to read with talk of sports and projects. I think I will try this after my current job runs its course.

I'm going through a very similar thing for 2 years now. All I can say is that I don't wanna work for a company anymore, specially a FANG like setup.

I have some friends who work, sometimes they work remotely from my studio and when they do zoom meetings, oh man, ugh...

2 years living in a big city enjoying entrepreneurship, hacking, socializing, music, sports, climbing, triathlons – all without the shackles of a 9-5 office job – sounds like a dream. Resourceful people find ways to pay their bills, and I'm sure you will as well. Best of luck!

Thanks for the honesty dude. I got fired earlier this year.

I have been working on personal projects since.

I have personal savings to last for around 3-4 years.

Lately I have been stressing a lot, thinking about what would happen if I fail to make a single penny in upcoming years.

Reading your post was a breath of fresh air.

This is a good example of why entrepreneurs, founders, and investors should make a lot of money. Frequently, they fail, or go for years making very little. Starting a successful business is incredibly hard and I wish shilin (the person who wrote the article) the best.

I wonder if a part-time remote job coupled with full time traveling on a budget would have been a more sustainable, enjoyable and productive approach. Hanging with pals in Montreal is cool but it's expensive and not very productive.

Everybody's life is different but if I have to do something similar this will be my strategy:

- Move to a low cost place where other indiehackers go: thailand, bali. - Start living in a cheap hostel with other indiehackers - Copy an existing app with lot of users and something that interest me - Start with the lowest price possible. Keep on adding features and introducing expensive plans - Non stop marketing on X, FB, Insta, reddit etc

As soon as you leave your job it is a ticking clock. Every minute is important. I know mental sanity is important but life of entrepreneur is not best one if you want one. It is risky. It is a grind.

OP, imagine you live in EU. You could get unemployment support payments + rent payment from social security, for a year at minimum. I thought you have somewhat similar social security in Canada, no?

I was/am paycheck to paycheck, if I didn't have so much debt I could get by. I was working at AmazonFC, then driving uber eats (Uber makes more) and donating plasma. I was able to make $5-6K/mo granted I was working a lot eg. up to 80 hrs, at least 1 job everyday and I was not paying taxes yet on the side income. I do pay taxes by year.

Edit: thankfully after a year I got a new job, contract role. I have experience but no degree so harder for me.

I recommend this to anyone who has not yet had kids (unless you don't plan to). It's the only opportunity you'll get (well until your kids are finished college)

To the author: Thank you for this blogpost. I'm in a difficult situation myself and your writeup helped me reflect. I wish you all the best.

I've taken a similar path:

I probably will continue bouncing back and forth for the rest of my career.

The new generation thinks your job should be fun and interesting, but that's rare and a luxury. I see young coworkers leave an excellent job after months, often less than 6 months even. It used to be that I would not even interview candidates who had less than 2 years in any job on their resume - it was the industry's standard. Now it's rare to find somebody who has had 2 years in any job - this is beyond pathetic! Entrepreneurship is different than self-experimentation. If you have a killer idea, if you've done the market analysis, and the business plan - ok, great - quit your job! But to leave a decent job to play entrepreneur - that's pretty irresponsible! Stoicism is extinct!

For the author, you probably have IBS.

I have similar symptoms, and basically I can't eat anything with Peppers or Chilies. The whole fruiting family. So no paprika. You would be absolutely floored to find out how many things paprika is in. Basically every flavour of chip you like. Curries often have them too.

Other considerations aside -- Given the difficulties in the tech job market over the past couple of years, I highly doubt most people who click through this headline will relate to the story of a guy who _decided_ to quit with 2+ years of living expenses saved up.

I wonder how much it would last in a 3rd word country, I live in Colombia with 800$ quite comfortably.

A few years back I got a nice severance and took some time off, but looking back on it now I do regret not trying to get a job sooner. It would have been so nice just to have that money behind me in the bank while still bringing more in.

> I used to think that I overspent. That my groceries could have been cheaper. That I could have eaten out or traveled less. Then a few months ago, I went on NomadList and found out that the average living cost in Montreal is $3,750/mo. Considering that I spent the first year in Ottawa/Toronto, where the cost of living is even higher, my spending habits turned out not that bad after all. I’m not just average — I’m slightly better!

This philosophy may not be ideal for your circumstances. You already knew you had limited funds and no income. "Slightly better than average" is overspending.

I've been there. Some advice.

So you found yourself with some safety net and are contemplating reinventing yourself in some way. Maybe working on a side project, or supplementing your skillset by learning something new.

My first and top advice is to move to a place where just breathing and thinking is cheap. Travel if you can (i.e. you're young, have no kids, no relationships, no obligations). The slow burn will alleviate the stress and the need to precipitate a decision. Nomadlist, Numbeo, and the numerous nomad blogs are your friends. Start working on your projects from there. Come back home when you have some feelers moving.

Second. If your runway is only a year or two, prioritize acquiring a skill that'll make it easy to find work by the end of the run. Take a course on something trendy or valuable. If you choose to work on a project, also consider it the demo you'll eventually present to companies you'll interview at if things don't pan out. If you have 3 or 4 years, consider that you actually only have 1 to get something up and running.

Third. Don't be too ambitious with your first project. Aim to build something that can sustain living in a place where it's cheap to just breathe and think.

Good luck.

Wow 80k in 2 years is not that much. I am in my 3rd year in bay area. Luckily I had invested and have zero debt so able to survive. Honestly op may not want to hear this but “music, sports” and this line “Once a week, we play board games, cook food, or do coworking sessions. Living with others is not always easy, but it is fun.“ does not tell me you have any focus on getting job. You need to be too busy to even worry about food. What is all this ? You joined a climbing club ? How do you have time ?

What's your plan to make food/rent money for the next year? Sounds like you currently have $68 and need to pay rent/eat?

I wonder how the dating world would go, given he's divorced, even before running out of money. I.e.: I think most women would immediately reject someone unemployed. (Even if he had money) Taking a risk like this while in a relationship is probably fine, but trying to start one with a stranger is likely to be significantly more difficult than while employed.

I voluntarily left the workforce a few years ago, and I'm fortunate that my wife, a teacher, has a solid job earning over $100k a year. While that’s not a huge amount, it’s enough for us to live comfortably. What we discovered during this transition was eye-opening: most of my income had been going toward discretionary spending, much of it wasteful. Now, even though I only generate $200–$500 a month in passive income from a few books I sell on Amazon (gotta love passive income), we’re actually living better than before. This is thanks to paying off debt, living more within our means, and both of us feeling more personally fulfilled.

So, what do I do now? * Household management: I handle cooking (about half), cleaning, shopping, finances, repairs—basically all the day-to-day stuff. * Supporting my wife: I act as her personal assistant. I write emails, grants, and curriculum; create her presentations and visuals; and handle whatever else she needs so she can focus on teaching. With my help, she’s raised over $100k in two years to support her program—not too shabby! * Pet parent: I’m a proud cat and dog dad. Side projects: I’m working on a web app that I hope will generate income someday. * Writing a novel: For the first time, I’ve moved past the endless planning stage and am actually writing! I’ve also got more ideas in the works. * Tabletop game design: I have about ten tabletop games in various stages of development, and a few are done. I’d love to get at least one published. A friend and I even created a tabletop game that teaches condensed matter physics (CMP 101 level) with funding from an NSF grant. It’s more of a euro-game than an edu-game, and we’re looking to publish it and maybe turn it into an app. * Self-care: Decades of work, especially in startups, took a toll on me emotionally and physically. Today, I'm more organized, more productive, more focused, and more motivated than ever. I have a lot of work to do to repair my health, but I'm working on it.

What I’m finally able to do: * Engage in emotionally rewarding activities instead of draining ones. * Pursue personal goals and dreams I’ve always put on hold. * Channel my energy into supporting my wife, which has made her happier and more fulfilled in her career—a first for her. * Be the master of my own destiny rather than living on someone else’s terms.

I do feel some anxiety about putting the financial burden on my wife. She understands and values the contributions I make to our household and her career, so there’s no resentment on her part. Still, I worry about what would happen if she lost her job or couldn’t work. I cope by focusing on the fact that the things I’m pursuing can generate income. If I channel my energy positively and healthily into these pursuits, I believe they eventually will.

Similar story for me in 2017-19 era. Ran out of money never thought I would work again, picked up a consulting contract, parlayed it into more, have since succeeded to the point of being discreet about it. I've come to believe opportunity finds us.

If you can be fit and pursue arts or hobbies, you're already doing what people think they need to be wealthy to do, and most wealthy people are boring anyway.

Run a CRM pipeline to get a job and you will have one in a couple of months, then use the stability as a way to find customers for your next thing. If you can't run a pipeline for yourself, you won't be able to do it for a startup anyway. You're fine. Good luck.

Are you looking for a job now? It seems the market is even tougher than it was a few years ago. I have built an app to scrape job listings directly from company websites if you're interested

It’s a refreshingly honest and well-rounded reflection. Your growth in music and sports highlights how fulfillment can come from unexpected places... Wishing you luck for 2025!

Check it out, but ~2020 saw where in the US could BUY a nice manufactured house, with a mortgage, for ~$300/month. Land? Some small rural communities have been falling in population and are eager for new people -- sooooo, land for the house might not be too much.

Be sure to have cell phone and Internet access and be not too far from a Walmart, a hospital, and, maybe, auto repair. In the US can get nice weather, usually not too hot or cold or too wet or dry, in the East at the latitude of, say, Kentucky.

In Maryland, Virginia, and DC, there is lots of Federal Civil Service employment, and the hiring is not based much on "who you know" but what you can do, education, experience.

A very valuable lesson for me. So, I'll venture into entrepreneurship once I’ve saved a million dollars in cash—though, realistically, that might never happen.

Not sure, If he has option OP can ask his parents to help or live with them. Having zero balance in account is not a very good situation to be in.

Amateur... It's the 7th year of NEET for me :)

Accutane killed my stomach for a good while

Good read, thank you Sergei. Refreshingly honest and surprisingly inspiring. Good luck!

How about that guy who wrote graphing calculator? Or the guy who put zip in windows explorer?

Anxiety hits different when you have responsibilities (family, kids, dependents).

This post makes no sense.

You're making fun of your readers.

Somewhere you have hidden money or people that will help you.

The end.

I'd love to do this - I have had so many ideas and just wanted to take a sabbatical to refocus after the corporate grind.

Unfortunately I need healthcare. An ACA plan cost me $1200/mo. over COVID when I was out of work for two months. It was a complete panic. Just mortgage, utilities, food, and healthcare was almost $3,500 a month. Throw in car insurance (because I'm American) and it was unsustainable. If there's one thing the ACA is - it's not affordable. A complete garbage program that has enabled health insurance companies to take our money by force.

I've realized there's no way I can do this. I missed my window when I was in college (because I was working - for healthcare). Now I'm condemned to suffer until I retire or die. A consummate worker drone shackled by literal bureaucratic bullshit.

Reading through comments on living paycheck to paycheck was brutal as it sounds like many people here have no clue what really living paycheck to paycheck is like.

No, it doesn't mean you can still go out to eat and have a club membership. If you save nothing after you use up your entire paycheck going out to eat and paying for a gym membership , that means you aren't handling money well.

Sorry folks, but many of us here sound entitled. Having been poor and scrambled my way up, it was depressing reading.

Here is a good example of someone who shies away from responsibility for himself and others.

2 years time for what? To build something with other people? A partner, family, children?

Nope, just doing what brings him fun or fulfillment or whatnot...

I'm not saying it's bad to take care of yourself from time to time. But as a father of 5, I can definitely say that the best and most instructive moments in my life were definitely the ones where it wasn't about me but about people who were important to me.

And the money issue that most people seem to be talking about here: Go to work and earn money. That's life. It always has been. If people would only do what fulfills them, there would be no sewer workers or garbage collectors. Whenever you take advantage of a developed society, you always have a duty to give something back to it.

If there is not Time enough after a 8 hour shift to to what you want, you have a serious Problem.

Nice write up. Don't listen to folks at jobs that will never "get it". I wish you good luck, left my last full-time job mid last year.

why isnt the WonderBook - Stories for Kids avaible for my device in google play?

Nobody is jobless. You either have a job or you don't need a job. If you need a job, then finding a job is your full time job. Do your marketing. Build your offerings (skills.) Slam your offerings against the market as much as possible to get feedback.

I couldn't imagine anyone wanting a job not finding one. At least in the US, there's industries hurting for skills shortages. We're also on the edge of a cliff of baby boomers retiring.

keep it up

cool

Welcome to the club!

Try carnivore bro. Read the mind body prescription by John Sarno. Meditate 20 mins per day

Some clarification on the comments on unemployment in the Nordics .

The nordics arent really as inviting, socialist and helpful as many US interweebs might think.

Sweden and Denmark will only pay unemployment if you have unemployment insurance. Called A-kassa. It is very expensive and you have to have paid it for a year to be able to claim benefits. If you don´t pay A-kassa you will have the pleasure of having them spam you to reel you on 3-4 times a week.

The Swedes and Danes have the highest taxes in the world but are using the US medical insurace as a model for unemployment.

Really not the welfare system these two countries claim they have.

The benefits you get from the A-kassa are extremly low. Less than average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment. You can buy another really expensive insurance to get a little higher amount.

And even if it's an insurance you have paid for you will get hounded to get any job, the Danish authorities may send you to do pretty much menial job they demand to get you off the benefits. The Swedish are not as bad as the Danish in that regard.

The way to live unemployed in Denmark and Sweden is to get into the medical system. Get a doctor to sign you have some illness. Stress is probably 90% of the cases in Denmark.

Then you get a small amount montly, it has been pre covered by your tax money so you dont need to pay the extortionate A-kassa (unemployment insurance) and no one will hound you to take some excruciating job no one wants to do.

This setup btw benefits the ruling parties in Sweden and Denmark as they can claim unenployment is at an historic low. No one counts the people on, I suppose it could be called, disability.

Iceland is a little different. Unemployment is covered in your tax payments, it's not a private (it's not supposed to be profitable, but trust me, for the A-kassa it truly is ) insurance like Denmark and Sweden.

In Iceland you have to show proof that you are actively looking for work and you will be cut off from benefits for an x number of months after an x amount of time. Do not remember the exact setup.

Bizarrely the Icelandic system is a lot more fair and less cruel than the Swedish and Danish. All three pay out a very very very low amount of money though.

Now, coming from a point of bitterness. This medical loop is exploited as you wouldnt beleive in Sweden and Denmark. I have people in my vicinty proudly admitting they are on "stress" leave because some employer said something mean to them they didnt want to hear.

So the working dane and swede has to pay minimum 44% taxes of their salary to keep this sham going.

I pay an exruciating amount of taxes in the Nordic countries. Sweden and Denmark are the highest. Iceland a little less.

It pisses me off royally to see the tax money gamed in this way and this has turned me to voting for parties I never thought I would.

Social democrats are a poision, maybe they were useful 50 years ago but today they do enourmous damage to countries that offer tax payed welfare.

tldr;

You need savings in the Nordics too if you are going to quit your job. If you can get a doctor to sign a medical paper that claims you had to leave work because of stress, you can game the system and let the taxpayers pay for your hobbies for a few years.

[dead]

Eric Bachman, this is your mom, and you, you are not my baby.

How can someone with $68 in bank so articulate.

Did he try to get a job at all? Being from Canada and technical, I will say OP isn't trying enough.

https://digitalcareers.infosys.com/infosys/global-careers?lo...

https://ibegin.tcs.com/iBegin/jobs/search

https://www.epam.com/careers/job-listings?recruitingUrl=%2Fc...