It was surprising to only recently learn how little money Gwern makes and lives off of.
And then beautiful to see how the internet responded.
And then beautiful to see how the internet responded.
Dwarkesh Patel
How do you sustain yourself while writing full time?
Gwern
Patreon and savings. I have a Patreon which does around $900-$1000/month, and then I cover the rest with my savings. I got lucky with having some early Bitcoins and made enough to write for a long time, but not forever. So I try to spend as little as possible to make it last.
I should probably advertise the Patreon more, but I'm too proud to shill it harder.
It's also awkward trying to come up with some good rewards which don't entail a paywall. Patreon and Substack work well for a lot of people like Scott Alexander, because they like writing regular newsletter-style updates but I don't like to. I just let it run and hope it works.
Dwarkesh Patel
Wait if you’re doing $900-1000/month and you’re sustaining yourself on that, that must mean you’re sustaining yourself on less than $12,000 a year. What is your lifestyle like at $12K?
Gwern
I live in the middle of nowhere. I don't travel much, or eat out, or have health insurance, or anything like that. I cook my own food. I use a free gym. There was this time when the floor of my bedroom began collapsing. It was so old that the humidity had decayed the wood. We just got a bunch of scrap wood and a joist and propped it up. If it lets in some bugs, oh well! I live like a grad student, but with better ramen. I don't mind it much since I spend all my time reading anyway.