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Google employee lives inside truck on campus to save money

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madoka said:
Just read the thread:



If I ever caught my employee doing something wacky/unusual like this, I'm going to question his judgment. So yes, he risks professional harm in doing this.
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sorry, you sound like a uptight asshole. mind your own business.
 
OutHouse said:
sorry, you sound like a uptight asshole. mind your own business.
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You sound like someone who hasn't gotten very far in life because he doesn't understand office politics. :biggrin:

Back in the 90s, I actually worked in the Bay Area with a guy who lived out of his Accord station wagon. He was fired two months into his job. I suspect living out of his car contributed to his strange reputation around the office. Like it or not, that's just the way the world works.
 
manly said:
I don't work for GOOG, but where do I find a place in MV for under $1500? Not referring to a room rental in a house.
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I said a 5 mile radius, so mainly meaning Sunnyvale, Mountain View and San Jose. I pay less than that for a 1BR. And a friend of mine lives in Mountain View and was paying about $1500 for his studio/jr 1BR. Not fancy places, I think both our buildings were made in the 50-70s, but not ghettos either. There are also places closer to Google around the Walmart/Target shopping area that are probably cheaper, but they're in poorer neighborhoods. Extending the range out to include Santa Clara and more of San Jose will give you more options. Just use Craigslist or some site like Rent.com and search in the cities in the South Bay. I actually found my place by driving around and looking at for rent signs at the apartment complexes.
 
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madoka said:
You sound like someone who hasn't gotten very far in life because he doesn't understand office politics. :biggrin:

Back in the 90s, I actually worked in the Bay Area with a guy who lived out of his Accord station wagon. He was fired two months into his job. I suspect living out of his car contributed to his strange reputation around the office. Like it or not, that's just the way the world works.
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I work in Boulder, and have worked with some pretty weird people. this guy living out of his van at Google would not bat en eye in the tech companies in my area. I have known zero people geting shit canned for how they live their life. as long as you do your job, how you live your life is your business.
 
OutHouse said:
I work in Boulder, and have worked with some pretty weird people. this guy living out of his van at Google would not bat en eye in the tech companies in my area. I have known zero people geting shit canned for how they live their life. as long as you do your job, how you live your life is your business.
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Obviously it's because you don't work for assholes.
 
madoka said:
You sound like someone who hasn't gotten very far in life because he doesn't understand office politics. :biggrin:

Back in the 90s, I actually worked in the Bay Area with a guy who lived out of his Accord station wagon. He was fired two months into his job. I suspect living out of his car contributed to his strange reputation around the office. Like it or not, that's just the way the world works.
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Things have changed. Dramatically.

This guys's lifestyle wouldn't cause any major employer out here to bat an eye if he has the skills they need.
 
But what if he meets a girl and wants to take her back to his place?



Yeah, I did almost manage to type that with a straight face.
 
OverVolt said:
Pfft save every dollar man.

I bet he even has a celeron in his computer.

*GASP*
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Maybe it's even a prescott D:

(though that would be useful as a double whammy to take care of a heater during the winter?)

But yeah, seriously, no rent - how can you not pay-off your loans within... 1 year? Hell, even 6 months while working at google in CA? Wages are WAY higher in SF because of the general living expenses that most companies expect to have to pay.

My only guess is he is maxing out his retirement (401k + IRA) at the same time? But again, that's only a max of $23,500 pre-tax. I assume they start with low six figures in that area? Maybe ~$80k at the lowest?
 
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my tech lead left a couple months ago and moved out to mountain view and got a job with google. he was telling me that the 5 bedroom house he had here, the equivalent of that around there would have been 2+ million, so they are going to be renting for a while.

google completely paid for his relocation and even put up 3 months in an apartment for him and his family to live in while he finds a permanent place out there. he said they paid for guys to come to his house, box all their stuff up and put it on boxes, move it across country, along with their cars. overall he said their relocation package was pretty insane.
 
purbeast0 said:
my tech lead left a couple months ago and moved out to mountain view and got a job with google. he was telling me that the 5 bedroom house he had here, the equivalent of that around there would have been 2+ million, so they are going to be renting for a while.

google completely paid for his relocation and even put up 3 months in an apartment for him and his family to live in while he finds a permanent place out there. he said they paid for guys to come to his house, box all their stuff up and put it on boxes, move it across country, along with their cars. overall he said their relocation package was pretty insane.
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This is a pretty common relo package for above entry level positions. The trick at these companies is they make it easy to get out here but hard to leave.
 
Good for him. He could be crying about how everyone fucked him over with student loans.

"I didn't know the papers I was signing meant I had to pay the money back! I can't read!"
 
Good for him, pay off his student loan instead of whining and crying for handout. Less than $25K loan balance for a degree and get a job as engineer at Google, not bad at all. I would get a used RV instead of the truck if I was him.

Can't do that like him down South here, so freaking hot in the summer and I do not think my employer would let me park my vehicle 24/7/365 at work. Also, I do not know I can live in that small space for several years.
 
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s0me0nesmind1 said:
Maybe it's even a prescott D:

(though that would be useful as a double whammy to take care of a heater during the winter?)

But yeah, seriously, no rent - how can you not pay-off your loans within... 1 year? Hell, even 6 months while working at google in CA? Wages are WAY higher in SF because of the general living expenses that most companies expect to have to pay.

My only guess is he is maxing out his retirement (401k + IRA) at the same time? But again, that's only a max of $23,500 pre-tax. I assume they start with low six figures in that area? Maybe ~$80k at the lowest?
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I didn't read the article but if he's an engineer, he's starting at much higher than $80k gross.
 
I'm not going to judge the guy, but by his own admission, he only saves $33K over the course of 4 years doing this. Even if we assume that's after tax savings and he'd have to make $48K (guesstimate) in gross salary, that means he's only "saving" $12K a year doing this. On one hand I think the invonvenience of living in a van is not worth saving $12K a year, especially if he only has 22K in student loans while making $100K+ a year in salary. On the other hand he also says that he wakes up at 5:30 and works on personal projects after work until 8-9pm so he really doesn't need an apartment, just a comfortable bed to sleep at night, and paying $1K just to sleep at night does seem kind of steep. My line of thinking it's his life, he can do with it whatever he wants as long as it doesn't cause problems for anyone else which it seems like it doesn't.
 
Kind of related to this thread:

Dilapidated shack in San Francisco sells for 408k.

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Anyone who pays less than a half-million for a house in San Francisco is getting a bargain, right?
Before you answer this question, consider a dilapidated, 765-square-foot shack that received six offers and sold for $408,000 this week.

In overpriced Noe Valley or in the heart of the Mission District where prices are surging, this two-bedroom, one-bath "beauty" built in 1906 would have been a steal. On hot Potrero Hill, a 752-square-foot home is on the market for $699,000, and will probably go for well over asking.
The home is actually an earthquake shack. These tiny homes were built after the 1906 earthquake to house people who lost their residences. Many still remain around the city and have been restored, updated and remodeled (see gallery above). Yes, 16 De Long might have potential.

We don't have any details on the buyer, but Vanguard realtor Brian Tran sold the property and he says the owner, who hasn't lived in the residence for seven years, was thrilled about the selling price.
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http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Did-the-S-F-buyer-who-scooped-up-a-dilapidated-6584073.php
 
I considered doing that for a while, before i got married and had kids. You can definitely save some coin living like that. He's sacrificing now and he's thinking of the future. Good for him! Wish more people were thinking of tomorrow. "what do you mean i have to pay back the credit card at the end of the month!?!?!"
 
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