[the notes from the book were retrieved with kobogarden, with the purpose of aiding to create a map of the ideas the book left me. The full list of book highlights can be found here.]

This is a fun read, taken from some Hacker News thread recommendation. I imagined it would come in handy as I grapple with the notion of having to be a financially responsible adult in this day and age. Most of this is already covered in any FIRE resource (financial independence; retire early), but the author also has a lot of opinions on the ideal stance in the world – a kind of Renaissance Man, so to say, with many different interests, self-reliable, and naturally with very little interest in accumulating wealth, or participating in the economy in the usual way. And some interesting hot takes on concepts long taken for settled. Some of it relates to the reality of our employment output.

Some parts are so extreme as to be irrealistic: for rent, and after being primed on the different degrees between a need and a want,

I think that a good guideline per person for living arrangements is $200-350/month/person or about 10-15% of your net salary.

and as for food:

Budget $80/person/month for food and only shop once a week, keeping track of food costs with a notebook or by paying in cash.

One main theme is the cost of specialization of the individual – a risky move that necessarily ties a working life to the contemporary technological period, whose direct output can in many ways be completely dissociated from our basic needs and capabilities; thus, might as well give up on the life of the knowledge worker, and find alternative stances. There is some advice on asset management.

There is a very fun argument for DIY and being mindful about owning things. Creation, maintenance, and quick fixing are contemplated. This complements an attitude of curiosity towards the world, of wanting to understand it, and be thrifty and reliable; I find this generally to be a good attitude. Bodging can be liberating, but also a source of distress.

I wish I had grown with the work advice for young adults, distinguishing a trade from an education; it would have saved some frustration.