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How to live on $432 a month in America

(shagbark.substack.com)
526 points cactusplant7374 | 3 comments | 23 May 25 16:40 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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Taikonerd ◴[23 May 25 18:42 UTC] No.44075328[source]▶
> any American could live an earlier iteration of the American Dream — and could be living so cheaply, they’ve got their expatriate buddies down in Mexico beat.

Their expatriate buddies down in Mexico probably aren't shivering through an upstate New York winter with nothing but a wood-burning stove for warmth, the way this guy proposes.

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Goronmon ◴[23 May 25 18:49 UTC] No.44075408[source]▶
Yeah, leaving the "heat" part of the list just blank is pretty telling as far as how much thought went into this.
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michpoch ◴[23 May 25 20:27 UTC] No.44076336[source]▶
At 4 cents per 1kWh heating will not be an issue, even with regular resistive heater. It’s almost free electricity.

You could run a 1.5 kW heater 24/7 for roughly 40 USD a month. Just make sure the space is well insulated and not too large - but we’re talking about basic living, so that should be easy.

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1. rconti ◴[23 May 25 22:03 UTC] No.44077033[source]▶
It seems like you'd need more than 1.5kW of heat in upstate new york, even for a small place (which is more than half the size of my suburban home). Also, while I agree that $40 is cheap to me, it's also an additional 10% on their budget.
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2. michpoch ◴[24 May 25 06:53 UTC] No.44079251[source]▶
> Also, while I agree that $40 is cheap to me, it's also an additional 10% on their budget.

They already have 30 USD per month for electricity in their budget. All year long.

> which is more than half the size of my suburban home)

How much space you need for a single person? 30-40 sqm (300-400 sqft)? That’s more than you need.

Sure, middle of winter night you might need a bit more heat, but then in June you’ll be using close to none.

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3. rconti ◴[24 May 25 17:26 UTC] No.44082482[source]▶
Of course it’s more space than I need. My point was that heating 600sqft doesn’t strike me as a trivial task, given my context of heating a house that’s less than double the size in a temperate climate.

Not to argue (?) that their house is too small (??)

And their $30 electric budget explicitly excluded heat.