After $66,750 salary, happinness index goes flat in Houston

Wow F*** New York. How the hell do those street vendors survive there????

edit - Ok I take the comment back but the cost of living is still high there and it still begs the question on how a street vendor can survive there.

 

By not adhering to arbitrary happiness quotients from a three year old list.

 

i have been trying to find my yearly earning records and ran into this. i am guessing this is new from the social security office.

www.ssa.gov/myaccount/‎

 

20 million people, no cars, largest business districts, lunch rush, tourist traffic and night life in the country.

 

Once of my favorite academics, Daniel Kahneman, is one of the pioneers in this field. He has been MASSIVELY influential in modern economics & psychology. His work in the psychology of judgment, decision-making, & behavioral economics have been hugely influential to my own personal beliefs. Particularly in my own views of on objectivity & the influence my emotions have on it. You can find his TED talk on hedonic psychology here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html

The work was with Angus Deaton as well, and their original paper on the topic can be found here:

http://wws.princeton.edu/news/Income_Happiness/

Highly recommended read for any psychology buffs!

 

I started a new job not long ago. It's a risk, making <$35K, pre-tax, pre-commission. It's a tech startup. I have a master's degree.

Luckily no outstanding debt, nor family to support, but sure would be happier with another $10-$15K minimum in salary that I feel I should command.

But, the only big upcoming expense I foresee: Brazil for the WC next year. Guess I'll have to go into some major credit card debt to make that dream happen.

 

Fresno, CA 89k?! Damn!

 

Many thanks for that. Very cool.

buddy of mine has started a successful web-based company based on positive psychology, and it's somehow braving the world of healthcare.

http://www.limeade.com/

Anyway, point is they based a lot of it on the recent literature of positive psychology, and one of their first hires (#3) was a PhD in the field.

 

What's the company?

 

hmmm, times were more simple when I was at that salary point. I was happy...now I'm married with children...

 

I dunno about this study...It would take at least $1 million a year for me to be happy in Dallas

 

NYCs inflated rents are overblown. In Manhattan the rents are high but once you move to the suburbs of NY like Queens or Brooklyn the rents are manageable. With public transport everywhere you don't need to worry about being too far from the city

 

There is certainly some truth to this, but when I lived in Brooklyn, I was still paying close to $2500 a month for a two-bedroom. Almost anywhere else, that would still be considered very expensive.

 

Rent I the whole NYC metro area is skyhigh (although, some salaries are inflated too.)

 

SF rent is getting crazy. The place I live in is 3400/month for a 1 bedroom apartment. That's a like mortgage payment for a 600k house.

 

Just some small tech-ish services (mainly B2B) company (headquarters in LA).

 

my first apt in NYC was a rent controlled 2 BR $1300 in a desirable area near the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

$1150 2BR in Harlem

$1800 for a 3 BR on the Upper East Side

$1750 for a 3 BR in Washington Heights.

this was 99-07

they were shoeboxes, but they are out there if you are resourceful enough.

you adapt and you make do.

 

Homeless guys make do under the bridge too. Doesn't mean it's not sh1tty.
From my moniker you might can guess I liked NYC growing up, mostly due to Woody Allen movie. But no way I can live there now.

 

Yup. In 2001.

My brother lives in Astoria, Queens and pays $1800/month for a 300 square foot "room". He also has an hour train ride into Manhattan everyday and an hour ride back, IF the trains are on time. Another thing, he has to walk over a mile to the train in the rain/snow/sleet/heat every day. He also used to absolutely love NY but now hates it and calls it a ****box as he looks for a new job down here. He cannot wait to leave the place and never go back.

 

I wouldn't trade anything for my experiences living there. I don't know about yours, your location growing up, or when you lived in or near Yonkers.

but I managed to live all over Manhattan when I was there and that contributed to my experience.

same thing goes for living in California.

these lists just don't apply to me.

I yearn for the backyard and picket fence, but it isn't keeping me from being happy.