Place in the world doesn't affect margin (%) -- if you work in London you'll make more than in Lahore, but your landlord is making the same "more" in turn.
The goal isn't to live comfortably, it's to live minimally, to open up margin so you can spend time upskilling and trying to get higher paying jobs.
I get that 50% is hard. I don't enjoy it myself, but I've been broke before and I've had really crap jobs before and so now it's fear that makes me save that rate. Rather than having my apartment be twice the size, I'll take a smaller one and funnel the surplus into my skills and my business pursuits, which in turn raises income and thus margin further, in a virtuous cycle.
I just don't buy all the people saying a few percent is the absolute best they can do. Usually they're buying things, which I get -- the pleasure of those things are like the "reward" of the painful work hours. I think if they tried harder they could hit at least 25%. After a year that gives you a 4month runway -- a world of difference if you lose your job vs a 1 week runway.
At a minimum, everyone should work out what their genuine subsistence level is, so they know what they're spending on comfort.
The goal isn't to live comfortably, it's to live minimally, to open up margin so you can spend time upskilling and trying to get higher paying jobs.
I get that 50% is hard. I don't enjoy it myself, but I've been broke before and I've had really crap jobs before and so now it's fear that makes me save that rate. Rather than having my apartment be twice the size, I'll take a smaller one and funnel the surplus into my skills and my business pursuits, which in turn raises income and thus margin further, in a virtuous cycle.
I just don't buy all the people saying a few percent is the absolute best they can do. Usually they're buying things, which I get -- the pleasure of those things are like the "reward" of the painful work hours. I think if they tried harder they could hit at least 25%. After a year that gives you a 4month runway -- a world of difference if you lose your job vs a 1 week runway.
At a minimum, everyone should work out what their genuine subsistence level is, so they know what they're spending on comfort.