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You can save a lot of cash when your only expense is truck insurance…
Business Insider reports a 23-year-old Google software engineer is living in the company’s parking lot.
Silicon Valley sports some of the highest rents in the world: the average one-bedroom San Francisco apartment rents for over $3,000 per month.
So, the Google employee opted to buy a 126-square-foot Ford moving truck… and live in it. He eats at the company cafeteria… showers in the company gym… and recharges his phone and laptop during the workday. His commute is two minutes.
The move has allowed him to bank 90% of his after-tax income. He’s using it to wipe out about $22,000 in school debt. He expects to pay it off within six months. Then, he plans to save for about four years to fund extensive worldwide travel.
His approach may seem a little extreme to some… but we commend him.
He’s picked up what Mark calls “the big steel mallet” of financial salvation: downsizing your living situation.
Here’s what Mark wrote about the idea:
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If you want to really cut your expenses, you have to downgrade your neighborhood. Stay with me. I know you don’t like this. I have friends and family members who, while not absolutely broke, live in financial stress because they refuse to downgrade. They live in $350,000 homes in beautiful neighborhoods and have new cars. But the cost of all these “necessities” is keeping them in debt. Most of them, in fact, are getting poorer every month. Yet, when I suggest they downsize, they look at me like I’m crazy. No, it’s worse than that. They look at me like they believe I want them to suffer. They don’t stop to realize they’re already suffering. My advice is the only thing that’ll take that suffering away. Holding on to a lifestyle you can’t afford will make you poorer—every month. Moving to a less expensive neighborhood is the quickest, biggest, and surest way to bring your spending down by 30-50%. It’s the big steel mallet. Pick it up. Feel the weight. You know it’s the only thing that will break those chains! |
If you think Mark is right, but you just can’t bring yourself to start breaking out of your financial enslavement, watch the short clip below. In it, Mark shares “the most important thing to know about motivation and wealth building.”