How much do you need to be ramen profitable?
This is so interesting to me. How much do you need to make to be able to quit your job and go full time on a business of your own?
For me it’s $6000/mo (living in Vancouver, Canada married w/ 2 kids)
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I think there is a small misconception here. Ramen profitable is the revenue you need to sustain yourself (absolute minimum), not comfortable or average lifestyle. Thus the name - surviving on cheap ramen.
To answer the question I can live off (ramen profitable) on $800 a month (Poland), comfortably on $2K a month and really well on $3K a month. That's for 2 people, no kids.
To build off this more... I interpret it as: not going out, no travel, no fancy meals, not buying coffee everyday (make it at home), no unnecessary new clothes, etc.
For me it's basically:
Can't really imagine it getting much lower than that for me in SF.
What about health insurance? That’s one thing that’s easy to overlook but can be quite important.
For some reason I included that in "utilities", but yeah, more realistically it's:
So around $4k to be safe. And of course this doesn't include anything long-term like saving for retirement, kids, etc. SF is not particularly forgiving but I do like it here overall and leaving isn't feasible for me b/c my family is in NorCal.
Exactly. Yeah, SF in crazy. I have read some comments that you can save quite a lot by living in Chinatown if you are a maker though.
I (uncomfortablely) survived on about 8k in 2012 in SF. I was in Chinatown.
Good point!
If this is the definition of ramen profitability thst you want to use, how did you come up with $800 per month?
You could live in a one-bedroom apartment with six other people, drink tap water and eat only rice. You could make it with $150 per month. And by the way, who said that you need a home? And clothes?
If you play this game, you can keep eliminating and leave just the cheapest food you can think of.
Common sense.
I burst into tears reading this! So funny
lmao! This was too funny!
There's no misconception. OP is in Vancouver, you're in Canada. Your $800 might even go more than that $6000 in Vancouver.
Here in Japan I need ~$1800 / month (after taxes) to be able to pay my half of living expenses without dipping into my savings.
I wrote a long post detailing all of our living costs here in Japan: https://www.candyjapan.com/life-in-japan/what-it-costs-to-live-in-japan-2019
I guess for true "ramen profitability", well, first I'd switch all of my food to ramen! That should save about $250 / month. Stripping international trips would save about the same. So I guess the true ramen number would be about $1300.
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$13k a month (before taxes), living in Washington DC area. Married, no kids, but I support my mother and have $120k in student debt remaining. Yay college.
wooooo college. gl 🔥
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I'm responding to the part of the question that asks what we'd need to justify quitting our job. "Ramen profitable" for me on any side project is just enough to cover the expenses of running the app, but the only way I'm quitting my job is to replace my income (plus some extra for safety). I'd never quit a job to live as thin as possible...I'm far too risk averse.
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$1500/month for myself and my partner together comfortably living in South East Asia :)
About $750/mo. Could manage in even less but this is what it would take to live 'comfortably' for a single person in New Delhi, India. Or I could just move to a Tier 2 city and it drops to $600/mo. 😂
Sounds like Silicon Valley startups need to move to India! :)
That would be a very bad idea imo. India ranks #77 in the ease of doing business index. 😂 It's better to just outsource to Indians or hire remotely.
I live in Vancouver too(single) and I want $3000.
That's why I am doing 3kRevenueChallenge lol
https://taishikato.com/
Also in Vancouver, $3000 ramen money makes sense to live borderline well, with no excesses.
Single, sharing a 2 bdrm with a roomie.
$1300 living with fiancé and daughter in Italy
400$ in very rural area of Spain sharing the home.
Joder, hasta los de badajoz estais aqui ! Saludos
Este sitio me encanta. Sí que te puedo decir que no hay muchos más :)
Verdad? Gracias a esta comunidad he avanzado muchísimo, me han hecho ver las cosas con otra perspectiva...
...por cierto, soy vasco . Me hizo ilusión ver alguien de Badajoz porque tengo una tía de allí...
About $8500/mo (living in Germany, family with 2 kids) — have to account for ~45% tax.
Wow, I live in Berlin. Ramen profitable would be around $2500. I have no kids and my partner works too though.
before taxes? berliner too <3 I'd need atleast 1500€ after taxes
About $4500/mo. Living in London, UK, married with no kids.
$1850 month with current spending in Sofia, Bulgaria. With 2 kids, expecting a third one. I have some passive income (around $900 per month).
I live in sub-saharan Africa, so my amounts might be lower than what I've seen here.
For Ramen Profitability: $ 400 (I'm not married and do not have kids), although it might go lower if I really want to struggle.
To live comfortably: $ 2500
All the amounts should be after paying tax.
I live with my partner in Vancouver. No kids (and no plans for them). My bare minimum is $3000/mo to live in the city, pay my bills, and eat ramen. $6000/mo allows me to live comfortably, continue to support the organizations I want to support, run my business, and meet my savings goals.
Hey Mike! Thanks for the response! :)
I feel yuh. Vancouver is expensive!
I've consistently been doing $600/month (post-tax) in Stockholm, Sweden for the last 3 years:
$400 rent (sharing a room)
$150 food (cooking lunch boxes in huge batches)
$50 life
I'm still to young and naive enough to live this scrappily 💩
Åland Islands, Finland.
We are 3, my daughter, wife and me.
I pay the mortgage plus every month bills, 2 cars, a 1000sq meters lawn to take care if you want it to shine I ( please don't judge for it..)
I am fine with €7000, taxes are 16% +- it depends on some variables though,...
To live comfortably 3k to 5k a month. To live great 5k to 10k a month. Indiana 2 kids and a girlfriend and only source of income.
About $3000/m
$1,000 month for just myself in the Indianapolis area. I still live with my parents (all though, I am sharing costs).
It's about $4k for me. Sole earner, wife and three kids. I spent four years on a plan to reduce expenses without sacrificing quality of life so I could build my product.
$3.5k / month (post tax) living in SF.
My take-home pay is about $2000/mo right now. I'm in Canada in a small town, far from the big cities. I'm married (wife also works) and we have 4 kids. I could get by on $1700/mo, or even less if I stopped savings temporarily.
$2000/mo Living in Kansas City MO. Not married, no kids.