Google employee lives inside truck on campus to save money

[OutHouse]

humm living in a "RV" parked in the parking lot of your employer in san Francisco and making a decent salary...
sounds familar.

 

[CraKaJaX]

I don't get it.. He's only paid off $6k in 4 months living out of a truck? I pay $1000 a month on mine with a room and a BMW car payment. I'm pretty sure he makes more money than me working at Google too.

Depends what his minimum payment and interest is. If your minimum payment is 1k/mo... Well, you're doing it wrong.

Speaking of loans, payday is tomorrow and the Discover student Loan I've got has $298 left on it. Another one bites the dust.....! Two to go after that.

 

[quikah]

Rent for a 1bfr in MV in a non-crappy place is $2k+, so I can see the motivation. Google provides everything, free food, facilities. Night time isn't hot in MV, even in the middle of summer. mid-70s max, low humidity. It can get hot during the day though (90+), but he can just hang out in the office then.

 

[Ns1]

I'm pretty sure on a Google Engineer's salary he doesn't have to live in a truck to eat at plenty of nice restaurants. Plus eating at nice restaurants for every meal is really inefficient. It means you have to endure traffic, wait-times and service times for every meal. By comparison I can cook some cheap, tasty chicken breasts on the stove in about 10 minutes including prep-time. Apparently this guy's time isn't worth much, or his only passion in life outside of software and living dirt-cheap is being a lazy foodie (because real foodies cook their own ). He states he's saving/investing 95% of his take-home money. If most of that 5% is fancy food, well...

are we really comparing Michelin starred food to your 10 minute chicken breast?

Unless your name is Kenji and you run serious eats, your 10 minute chicken breast has no foodie cred here.

 

[Fire&Blood]

I'm not sure if I could make such a commitment even if I was in my 20's and it would be only for just a few years.

I have set some rules for myself (never use vending machines, if I don't bring lunch to work then I don't eat til I get home, if given the choice, I meet friends at their homes or mine rather than going out to bars) that help me save money. Just don't see myself going to the extreme as he did.

 

[OverVolt]

What he said.

 

[ultimatebob]

biggest thing in that article.

no a/c no bathroom.

is it hot in san francisco at night?

also where to take piss in the night?

San Francisco is actually pretty mild during summer. I lived there over a summer without AC and I survived.

Besides, Google has showers and tons of free food. It even has places to take a nap in the afternoon. It's good place to work if you never want to leave.

 

[manly]

San Francisco is actually pretty mild during summer. I lived there over a summer without AC and I survived.

https://www.cliffhouse.com/information/weather.html

 

[irishScott]

are we really comparing Michelin starred food to your 10 minute chicken breast?

Unless your name is Kenji and you run serious eats, your 10 minute chicken breast has no foodie cred here.

Never said it did, but it tastes delicious and is convenient and healthy. Which to me is a good trade-off for saving hours a day in leaving my house to get take-out/dine-in for every meal. As for foodie cred, I can cook fancy meals given a few hours of free time, which I do every now and then. This guy lacks the equipment necessary to cook campbell's soup.

I'm just saying that I'd assume a professional software developer worthy of Google would know the rules about micro-optimizations.

 

[holden j caufield]

I can guarantee you someone this frugal isn't eating out at too many nice restaurants (regardless of what he says) when the alternative is the the really nice, free, no wait, no drive google cafeteria. Everyone is different and he seems happy about his choice.

 

[Childs]

biggest thing in that article.

no a/c no bathroom.

is it hot in san francisco at night?

also where to take piss in the night?

Its not San Francisco, its Mountain View. San Francisco would actually be cooler weather wise. He could find a decent place for under $1500 within a 5 mile radius of Google. This guy seems more concerned with paying down his debt.

 

[madoka]

I've mentioned many times that it isn't about the money, but clearly this living situation makes my future plans much more flexible.

How is this about anything but the money?

If I were in his shoes, I would have splurged on the RV rather than risk the embarrassment and potential professional harm of getting caught doing this. Otherwise, I laud his mindset and gumption.

 

[OutHouse]

A 23-year-old Google employee lives in a truck in the company's parking lot and saves 90% of his income

all i can say is good for him. wish i could have done that at 23. I am actually surprised the criticism he is getting on here. dude is living well under his means and paying his loans off. Sounds like a smart dude to me.

 

[OutHouse]

How is this about anything but the money?

If I were in his shoes, I would have splurged on the RV rather than risk the embarrassment and potential professional harm of getting caught doing this. Otherwise, I laud his mindset and gumption.

caught by who? google?

professional harm? the dude got hired by Google.

 

[madoka]

caught by who? google?

professional harm? the dude got hired by Google.

Just read the thread:

Have you ever been caught?/Where do you keep the truck?/What happens when you get caught?

In the week and a half that I've been doing this so far, I haven't had anyone approach the truck while I was in it or question me or anything like that. I keep it parked at the edge of an open-air parking lot on my employer's campus. If security were to come by, I doubt it would be a big issue. I've registered the car with the company vehicle database, so they know it belongs to an employee, and I've read stories about people at very similar companies having short conversations with security, and then never being bothered again. I'm not very worried about it right now, but if security does come knocking, I'll let them know that I work there. Worst case scenario, they aren't happy and they ask me to leave, at which point I get a membership at the RV parking lot down the street.

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.

 

[Hugo Drax]

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.

I would give a rats ass. If the guy produces value that's all that matters, if he chooses to live in a truck that is his buisness.

My buisness is, does he produce more value that it costs to employee him

 

[who?]

During a summer afternoon it may be 65 degrees F. in downtown S.F. and in the eighties in Concord which is east of the Berkely hills. The Pacific Ocean is known to have cold water and that keeps S.F. cold because it is surrounded by it on three sides.

 

[manly]

Its not San Francisco, its Mountain View. San Francisco would actually be cooler weather wise. He could find a decent place for under $1500 within a 5 mile radius of Google. This guy seems more concerned with paying down his debt.

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.

Some people are extremely averse to debt, so I don't begrudge him going caveman style to pay off his loans ASAP. But like I said earlier, I doubt the projected 4 year savings will actually come to pass.

 

[who?]

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.

If you ran a company there you might have a better understanding of the housing economics of the area and might not think his solution to be so wacky.

 

[madoka]

I would give a rats ass. If the guy produces value that's all that matters, if he chooses to live in a truck that is his buisness.

My buisness is, does he produce more value that it costs to employee him

That's great you're so enlightened and open-minded, but the managers I've met and worked for are often going to care.

 

[madoka]

If you ran a company there you might have a better understanding of the housing economics of the area and might not think his solution to be so wacky.

Have you not read this thread?

There's plenty of people questioning his judgment in it. You'd be stupid to not realize that possibility exists over those who supervise you.

 

[Ns1]

ah fuck it.

 

[madoka]

I question the judgement of anyone who pays 2k/month to share a 2 bedroom apartment.

I would too, which is why I said I'd get the RV instead of sneaking around the Google campus.

 

[Sooon]

He's just working on his subscription-based website, BangTruck.

 

[Ns1]

I would too, which is why I said I'd get the RV instead of sneaking around the Google campus.

fair. I can't argue with that, as I too would have gone for the RV over a box truck.