How much money do you earn? And how do you spend it?

cerebus

cerebus

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DA-LION-619 said:
So I work remotely, really good gig. R150/hr, I work about 60hrs approx. a month. My boss is a dev so he has realistic expectations so I don't get stressed time wise. I'm free to use whatever technology I want, have an MSDN sub.

Thing is I graduate this year, so its going to be really hard to find a job in Durban to match this. The cons with the formal job being office hours and traffic. The only pro being job security.

I'm also free to work on my own projects. My income from my phone apps basically cover, my car insurance and data contracts. The money I make from my job is just basically spending which is bad, I need to start saving.
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So that's like.... 14-15 hours a week right? When I was working 2 jobs (3 jobs, technically) I would come home at like 5 and sit from 6-10 every evening and work, and then also work like 5 hours+ on a weekend, on top of my normal life, with 3 kids and all the rest. What stops you from making that remote gig into an after-hours thing?
 
Pho3nix

Pho3nix

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DA-LION-619 said:
So I work remotely, really good gig. R150/hr, I work about 60hrs approx. a month. My boss is a dev so he has realistic expectations so I don't get stressed time wise. I'm free to use whatever technology I want, have an MSDN sub.

Thing is I graduate this year, so its going to be really hard to find a job in Durban to match this. The cons with the formal job being office hours and traffic. The only pro being job security.

I'm also free to work on my own projects. My income from my phone apps basically cover, my car insurance and data contracts. The money I make from my job is just basically spending which is bad, I need to start saving.
Click to expand...

Furk me.. R150/hr :wtf: :D Was getting near that only after working for a while...
Seriously though, with your portfolio and the degree you could make R12-> R20k depending on the company but you'll need to do the office grind thing. Even as a contractor.

Ask your boss to make you perm? Full 160hrs a month.
Very few companies do remote work (trust me I've looked) but benefits are you get to meet (hopefully) attractive ladies at the office :p
 
DA-LION-619

DA-LION-619

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cerebus said:
So that's like.... 14-15 hours a week right? When I was working 2 jobs (3 jobs, technically) I would come home at like 5 and sit from 6-10 every evening and work, and then also work like 5 hours+ on a weekend, on top of my normal life, with 3 kids and all the rest. What stops you from making that remote gig into an after-hours thing?
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Nothing, I originally started it while doing an internship and not dealing with office politics and a PM made my life so much easier.
Pho3nix said:
Furk me.. R150/hr :wtf: :D Was getting near that only after working for a while...
Seriously though, with your portfolio and the degree you could make R12-> R20k depending on the company but you'll need to do the office grind thing. Even as a contractor.

Ask your boss to make you perm? Full 160hrs a month.
Very few companies do remote work (trust me I've looked) but benefits are you get to meet (hopefully) attractive ladies at the office :p
Click to expand...

So the current setup is client > boss(BA) > me(backend) & friend(mobile). Now I could move up to JHB and continue this as a full time gig but my friend is currently finishing up his Masters first. Well I have enough time to take on more work but my boss already works a full time job and there is no one to meet with new clients to take on new projects but we are approached.

I'm going to be doing another internship soon with one of the 'big' dev houses here in Durban, hopefully work at it and see what they'll offer me full time starting next year. Travelling from Durban South to North is a real b!tch.
 
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Pho3nix

Pho3nix

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DA-LION-619 said:
Nothing, I originally started it while doing an internship and not dealing with office politics and a PM made my life so much easier.


So the current setup is client > boss(BA) > me(backend) & friend(mobile). Now I could move up to JHB and continue this as a full time gig but my friend is currently finishing up his Masters first. Well I have enough time to take on more work but my boss already works a full time job and there is no one to meet with new clients to take on new projects but we are approached.

I'm going to be doing another internship soon with one of the 'big' dev houses here in Durban, hopefully work at it and see what they'll offer me full time starting next year. Travelling from Durban South to North is a real b!tch.
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And here I thought you were just mobile. Nice! Mind me asking how you got the gig. Freelancing gigs are scarce unless you do darknet :eek:
 
DA-LION-619

DA-LION-619

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Pho3nix said:
And here I thought you were just mobile. Nice! Mind me asking how you got the gig. Freelancing gigs are scarce unless you do darknet :eek:
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Friend originally started first with cross platform mobile dev. My boss is a MS fanboi :D He prefers Skype over Slack smh. So he had some issues with that Sansui tablet, friend mentioned I have the same tablet, check out my blog etc. He was down in Durban at the time, we met for supper, had some ciders, basically showed me what they was working on and offered me a job lol.
 
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D

Dylan_G

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DA-LION-619 said:
Friend originally started first with cross platform mobile dev. My boss is a MS fanboi :D He prefers Skype over Slack smh. So he had some issues with that Sansui tablet, friend mentioned I have the same tablet, check out my blog etc. He was down in Durban at the time, we met for supper, had some ciders, basically showed me what they was working on and offered me a job lol.
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Lucky Bastard. :p
 
P

Pakka

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Doing C# MVC for a small company in a small city and earn just over R350k pa at 27 year old.

So in short to the question "how much do you own", the answer is not enough. Being in a small city does however keep living costs low.

Recently I've moved over to doing some cross platform mobile apps, which is great fun. I'm hoping to put a few more apps on the stores. The app in my signature is bringing in R500pm + which isn't much, but I've got a few more ideas for apps that I'd like to put out. The main problem is just having enough spare time to work on these pet projects.

How do I spend my (and my wive's) money? The combined net income is used like this:
22% - bond repayment
10% - charity,
10% - savings (all of it in our bond for now),
10% - groceries etc
07% - car repayment (one car paid off, one car almost paid)
06% - short term insurance
04% - saving for holiday (in bond)
04% - saving for the baby we're expecting (in bond)
04% - fuel
02% - internet

I've set these up in our budget as percentages because I think most of these are not supposed to increase without salary increases. And for instance, if you can't save 10% of your current salary, don't fool yourself into thinking you'll be able to save 10% when your salary increases.


We have another rental property that almost breaks even. On our main property, where we live, we have a granny flat which brings in the equivalent of 35% of the bond. But that amount is not considered in the budget mentioned above and goes untouched into our savings.

We (try to) live frugally, and save as much as possible now, and have as little as possible bad debt, to make it easier to ride the economic sht storm that might hit SA in the future.

I believe those who can limit their bad debt now will be able to survive the tough times ahead and come out much stronger in the end.

As a side note, cars are F****** expensive! I don't know how most people manage to afford new cars. I remember when you could get a Polo for R120k not too long ago...
 
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H

HavocXphere

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Pakka said:
And for instance, if you can't save 10% of your current salary, don't fool yourself into thinking you'll be able to save 10% when your salary increases.
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Sure you can...just a matter of transferring more money out into a savings account the day the salary hits...

Obviously if its just sitting there as a balance tempting you each day then no.
 
V

^^vampire^^

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Pakka said:
Doing C# MVC for a small company in a small city and earn just over R350k pa at 27 year old.

So in short to the question "how much do you own", the answer is not enough. Being in a small city does however keep living costs low.

Recently I've moved over to doing some cross platform mobile apps, which is great fun. I'm hoping to put a few more apps on the stores. The app in my signature is bringing in R500pm + which isn't much, but I've got a few more ideas for apps that I'd like to put out. The main problem is just having enough spare time to work on these pet projects.

How do I spend my (and my wive's) money? The combined net income is used like this:
22% - bond repayment
10% - charity,
10% - savings (all of it in our bond for now),
10% - groceries etc
07% - car repayment (one car paid off, one car almost paid)
06% - short term insurance
04% - saving for holiday (in bond)
04% - saving for the baby we're expecting (in bond)
04% - fuel
02% - internet

I've set these up in our budget as percentages because I think most of these are not supposed to increase without salary increases. And for instance, if you can't save 10% of your current salary, don't fool yourself into thinking you'll be able to save 10% when your salary increases.


We have another rental property that almost breaks even. On our main property, where we live, we have a granny flat which brings in the equivalent of 35% of the bond. But that amount is not considered in the budget mentioned above and goes untouched into our savings.

We (try to) live frugally, and save as much as possible now, and have as little as possible bad debt, to make it easier to ride the economic sht storm that might hit SA in the future.

I believe those who can limit their bad debt now will be able to survive the tough times ahead and come out much stronger in the end.

As a side note, cars are F****** expensive! I don't know how most people manage to afford new cars. I remember when you could get a Polo for R120k not too long ago...
Click to expand...

The sad reality is people live FAR above their means, buying stupid **** they don't need.
People should be saving 20-30% of what they earn for retirement and another 10-20% for anything else like emergencies, retrenchment, cars, houses etc.

It certainly doesn't help that people get paid a pittance in SA, however anyone earning over R15k a month and single should be able to stick to these figures, and it should be even easier if you have a wife/SO as what they would be spending on a bond/rent.

Problem is people want premium DSTV, highest uncapped internet, big house, fancy car, latest Apple gadgets.
I could afford a BMW if I wanted, I bought a car 3 months ago for $3000. Does everything I need. Why would I want to spend $75k when I don't need to.

At the end of the day, people are idiots, and while they are willing to throw around money they don't have, there will be companies putting up the price on products we don't need.
 
Emjay

Emjay

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^^vampire^^ said:
The sad reality is people live FAR above their means, buying stupid **** they don't need.
People should be saving 20-30% of what they earn for retirement and another 10-20% for anything else like emergencies, retrenchment, cars, houses etc.

It certainly doesn't help that people get paid a pittance in SA, however anyone earning over R15k a month and single should be able to stick to these figures, and it should be even easier if you have a wife/SO as what they would be spending on a bond/rent.

Problem is people want premium DSTV, highest uncapped internet, big house, fancy car, latest Apple gadgets.
I could afford a BMW if I wanted, I bought a car 3 months ago for $3000. Does everything I need. Why would I want to spend $75k when I don't need to.

At the end of the day, people are idiots, and while they are willing to throw around money they don't have, there will be companies putting up the price on products we don't need.
Click to expand...

What world do you live in where people can put away 50% of their R15k salary? Getting by on R7.5k is very, very difficult. That amount will be eaten up between a car, rent and petrol.
 
hellfire

hellfire

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Messages
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Pakka said:
Doing C# MVC for a small company in a small city and earn just over R350k pa at 27 year old.

So in short to the question "how much do you own", the answer is not enough. Being in a small city does however keep living costs low.

Recently I've moved over to doing some cross platform mobile apps, which is great fun. I'm hoping to put a few more apps on the stores. The app in my signature is bringing in R500pm + which isn't much, but I've got a few more ideas for apps that I'd like to put out. The main problem is just having enough spare time to work on these pet projects.

***snip***
Click to expand...

Out of interest, what is generating that R500pm? Your app is free, so is it advertising?
 
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