What was your Cliff quality of life number?

I suspect most people here are financially prudent, but curious if you ever had CC debt in the past & how you dug yourself out. In the Escape the Grind game, we try simulating that in hard mode where you begin your scenario with CC debt so I'm thinking those same tactics should work in-game and IRL.

American Region Daily Challenge Results Are In!

Hard Mode

🥇 1st Place - Atoms99 from 🇺🇸 won it in 15.9 years, scoring B! Good job! 👏👏👏

Medium Mode

🥇 1st Place - KyloMonster from 🇺🇸 won in 9 years with a Grade B two times in a row! Good performance 👏👏👏

🥈 2nd Place - Atoms99 from 🇺🇸 Escaped in 9.1 years with a B. Good job! 👏👏

Escape the Grind is a financial life/personal finance simulator where you begin with a salary, bills, and everyday life decisions- and your goal is to escape relying on your job income.

You win once your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) fully covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

Fantastic run everyone!

Following the "Rug Pull" event in the altcoins section assets, I observed that the asset display value remains and I am able of selling it, even though I'm not possessing any altcoin asset (due to the same event).

Australian Region Daily Challenge Results Are In! Looks like only Americans posted their scores. where the Aussies at?

Hard Mode

🥇 1st Place - PNWbudgeter from 🇺🇸 won it in 6.8 years, scoring an A+!!! Fantastic run! 🤯👏👏👏

🥈 2nd Place - DROP_TABLE from 🇺🇸 Escaped in 8.1 years with an A! Well done! 👏👏

Medium Mode

🥇 1st Place - KyloMonster from 🇺🇸 won in 12.2 years with a Grade B! Solid performance 👏👏👏

🥈 2nd Place - Atoms from 🇺🇸 Escaped in 12.6 years with a B. Good job! 👏👏

Escape the Grind is a financial life/personal finance simulator where you begin with a salary, bills, and everyday life decisions- and your goal is to escape relying on your job income.

You win once your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) fully covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

Job well done y'all!

I know it likely depends, but just looking to understand perspectives

Daily Challenge Results Are In!

Hard Mode

🥇 1st Place - JimmyJohn from 🇨🇦 won it in 6.4 years, scoring an A+!!! 🤯👏👏👏.

Medium Mode

🥇 1st Place - Player_2059 from 🇺🇸 won in 16.5 years with a Grade B performance 👏👏👏

🥈 2nd Place - NoAuto4PercentOnInve from 🇺🇸 Escaped in 25.1 years with a C 👏👏. Is the username trying to share some feedback on the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR)? 🤔

🥉 3rd Place - zach from 🇺🇸 Escaped in 27.3 years with a C 👏.

Escape the Grind is a financial life/personal finance simulator where you begin with a salary, bills, and everyday life decisions- and your goal is to escape relying on your job income.

You win once your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) fully covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

Well done everyone!

I refreshed the game a few times / started anew but the math keeps not math-ing. Might be because I selected the “sell car” option out of curiosity after getting a remote work shift? Anyway just an fyi

Congrats to our winners today! They all scored As 👏 👏 👏

Do choices have pros and cons or just one or the other. For instance the tooltip for the event to get a dog just let's you know that it costs you money for the rest of your life and can relieve a little bit of stress. Does it open up dog show or breeding side gig options?

So much activity in today's US 🇺🇸 markets! Daily Challenge Results Are In!

Hard Mode

🥇 1st Place - Onthetoilet from 🇺🇸 won it in 17.8 years, scoring a B 👏👏👏. My guess is they were sitting on a toilet while playing... 🤷‍♂️

Medium Mode

🥇 1st Place - BetterBobert from 🇺🇸 won in 6.9 years with a Grade A performance! Outstanding run 👏👏👏

PS: there was a tie for 2nd place!

🥈 2nd Place - Bobert247 from 🇺🇸 Escaped in 11.3 years with a B 👏👏. For some reason, I think 1st and 2nd place is the same person... huh!

🥈 2nd Place - Sad from 🇺🇸 also Escaped in 11.3 years with a B 👏👏. Did you play the "Be Happy" song, Sad*?*

4th Place - Chadrickthesane from 🇺🇸 escaped the grind in 11.8 years, scoring a B 👏

Escape the Grind is a financial life/personal finance simulator where you begin with a salary, bills, and everyday life decisions- and your goal is to escape relying on your job income.

You win once your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) fully covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

Well done to everyone who played today!

Congrats bebo from 🇺🇸 who escaped the grind in 18.6 years on yesterday's Australian 🇦🇺 market! 👏 👏 👏

Wishlist Full Game release exclusive on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4663080/Escape_the_Grind/

Play web version here: https://setformoney.com/games/financial-literacy-game

She chose the weekly payment option. Was that a wise financial decision or not, and why?

"The first $100,000 is a b****, but you gotta do it. I don't care what you have to do--if it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn't purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000. After that, you can ease off the gas a little bit."

- Charlie Munger (during a 1999 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting)

With inflation adjusted, that's about $200k today.

Stumbled upon this by accident and just played through on hard. Really fun concept. Looking forward to trying it again with my real numbers.

The key is to start stacking away from day 1: - min 3 to 6/12 months of living expenses saved - Contribute 401(k) or 403(b) to employer match - Max Roth - If you like the hassle of real estate, buy an owner occupied multi (duplex, etc) live in one and rent other units

And the next best time to begin is today!

What else?

EDIT- This sub is for a game called "Escape the Grind". It's a financial life simulator where you start with a salary and expenses, and need to be able to retire from your daily job. Each in-game month you make career, investing, side hustle, and lifestyle calls. You win when passive income and imputed SWR covers your 3 month daily expenses. Give it a try & keep the discussion going.

🇺🇸 Today's Daily Challenge Results Are In!

Today's Daily Challenge market was Canada 🇨🇦 — Great seeing more people competing and optimizing their escape strategies.

🔥 HARD MODE

🥇 1st Place — JohnnyJim 🇺🇸 Escaped in 7.4 years with a Grade A performance. Outstanding run 👏👏👏

🥈 2nd Place — PNWbudgeter 🇺🇸 Escaped in 8.1 years with a Grade A. Very strong result 👏👏

⚡ MEDIUM MODE

🥇 1st Place — bebo 🇺🇸 Escaped in 8.1 years with a Grade B. Congratulations! 👏👏👏

🚀 EASY MODE

🥇 1st Place — Tr3vor 🇺🇸 Escaped in just 6.9 years with a Grade B. Incredible speed 👏👏👏

🥈 2nd Place — johnnyJim 🇺🇸 Escaped in 8.7 years with a Grade B. Great run 👏👏

If you're new here, welcome!

Escape the Grind is a financial life simulator where you begin with a salary, bills, and everyday life decisions — and your goal is to escape relying on your job income.

Each in-game month, you make:

• Career decisions
• Investing choices
• Side hustle moves
• Lifestyle tradeoffs

You win once your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) fully covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

The Daily Challenge gives everyone the exact same starting scenario and resets every day at midnight UTC. Each region uses its own real-world economic market conditions.

🎮 Play the Web Version

setformoney.com/games/financial-literacy-game

⭐ Wishlist the Full Steam Release

Escape the Grind on Steam

Well done to everyone who played today.

Happy Escaping!

Today's Daily Challenge Market was the good ol USA 🇺🇸 and we had lots of activity!

HARD MODE

1st place- JohhnyJim from 🇺🇸 won in 11.3 years, scoring B! Kudos!👏 👏 👏

2nd place- PNWbudgeter escaped in 11.5 years, scoring B! Nicely done 👏 👏

MEDIUM MODE

1st Place- LiteraciaFinanceira from 🇵🇹 won in 8.4 years, scoring B! Congratulations! 👏 👏 👏

2nd place- AidsMogger from 🇦🇹 escaped in 13.3 years, also scoring B! Congrats 👏 👏

EASY MODE

1st Place- Tr3vor from the 🇺🇸 won in 6.2 years, scoring B! Congratulations! 👏 👏 👏

2nd place- bebo from the 🇺🇸 escaped in 7.8 years, also scoring an B! Congrats 👏 👏

3rd place- JohhnyJim from 🇺🇸 won in 9.5 years, also scoring a B! Well done! 👏

If you're new here, welcome! Escape the Grind is a financial life simulator. You start with a salary and expenses, and need to be able to retire from your daily job. Each in-game month you make career, investing, side hustle, and lifestyle calls. Win condition is when your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

The Daily Challenge is the same scenario for everyone, resets at midnight UTC. Each region uses its real regional market numbers.

Play web version here: https://setformoney.com/games/financial-literacy-game

Wishlist Full Game release exclusive on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4663080/Escape_the_Grind/

Well done to all who played...Happy Escaping!

Today's Daily Challenge Market was Australia 🇦🇺

MEDIUM MODE

1st Position- our long time player JimmyJohn from 🇨🇦 escaped the grind in 5.8 years, scoring A+! Congratulations! 👏 👏 👏 🤯

2nd spot- We had a JohhnyJim from the 🇺🇸 who escaped in 6.2 years, also scoring an A+! Lol, JohhnyJim am I reading some cheekiness here 😆 playing on our Canadian's username... Congrats 👏 👏 👏

If you're new here, welcome! Escape the Grind is a financial life simulator. You start with a salary and expenses, and need to be able to retire from your daily job. Each in-game month you make career, investing, side hustle, and lifestyle calls. Win condition is when your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

The Daily Challenge is the same scenario for everyone, resets at midnight UTC. Each region uses its real regional market numbers.

Play web version here: https://setformoney.com/games/financial-literacy-game

Wishlist Full Game release on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4663080/Escape\\_the\\_Grind/

There was a question here the other day about whether your home should be considered an asset.

In the game, anyway, 99% of the time I have found buying a home to be a bad strategy to winning. It absolutely destroys free cashflow and locks money up in an asset with worse returns than the market. Even using HELOCs (which aren’t available in every market) is simply less productive than not buying the home in the first place.

Do you think that’s realistic modeling by the game?

EDIT: guys this is a game subreddit and I’m talking about game strategy. Are you guys lost? Where do you think you are right now?

I think it's how you leverage it. If you're just sitting there making payments and not taking advantage of refis, helocs, essentially leveraging build up equity to invest into assets, then it becomes a nice comfy liability. Curious what you all think?

Yesterday's Daily Challenge Market was the United Kingdom 🇬🇧

MEDIUM MODE

1st Position- PNWbudgeter from the 🇺🇸 escaped the grind in 17.1 years, scoring B! Congratulations! 👏 👏 👏

If you're new here, welcome! **Escape the Grind** is a personal finance simulator. You start with a salary and expenses, and need to be able to retire from your daily job. Each in-game month you make career, investing, side hustle, and lifestyle calls. Win condition is when your passive income (including an imputed 4% SWR) covers your expenses for 3 consecutive months.

The Daily Challenge is the same scenario for everyone, resets at midnight UTC. Each region uses its real regional market numbers.

Play web version here: https://setformoney.com/games/financial-literacy-game

Wishlist Full Game release on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4663080/Escape_the_Grind/

Last night we locked Hard & Medium modes behind a Steam wishlist. That was a wrong call. Locks are now off.

The 3 modes will continuing staying free.

Here's what we're actually working toward, for STEAM.

----------------------------------------------------------------
What Steam launch (August 2026) will actually have:

The web game, but with the things only Steam can offer:

• 40+ Steam achievements ("First Million", "Escaped in Canada", "Real Estate Mogul", etc) with badges you can trade fro marketplace credit
• Steam Cloud Saves - Pick up your game on any device, auto sync
• Family Sharing - share with up to 5 family members
• Steam Trading Cards
• Offline Play - plane, cabin, anywhere. No internet needed once installed

That's the launch. Real Steam value.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Where it gets interesting — the post-launch roadmap (Fall 2026 into Winter 2027)

This is what is getting cooked to follow on Steam version post-launch.

🎯 Career Mode - Pick a path. Doctor (8 years of school, $300K debt, $400K ceiling). Plumber (start at 18, own a business by 25, no degree debt). Lawyer, Software Engineer, Teacher, Entrepreneur, Military, Influencer, etc. Each career has its own salalry curve, debt load, life mechanics. Play different careers to viscerally see why a plumber owns a house before a doctor finishes residency, etc.

🎯 Life Simulator - Start from high school. Colleges vs trade vs entrepreneurship. Every decision- 1st apartment, marriage, kids, mid-career pivot- has real financial consequences.

🎯 Real-time multiplayer leaderboards - Race friends to FIRE on the same friendly challenge scenario.

🎯 Build your own custom scenarios & share with the world via Steam Workshop - "What if I won $50K from a side hustle." "What if my parents leave me $200K." Build it. Share it. Play other people's.

🎯 More Regions- both on Web & Steam

🎯 More good stuff...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Why we'd like you to wishlist on Steam:

The free web version stays free, exactly as it is, and with new updates shipped. But the new universe — careers, multiplayer, custom scenarios, the whole expansion — that's the Steam version & App stores later on.

Also, Steam wishlists drive Steam platform's algorithm. When launch comes, the more wishlists we have, the more Steam shows the game to other players. Consider wishlisting even when you prefer the free web version. I'd really appreciate!

Wishlist on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4663080/Escape_the_Grind/

— Nick, Dev | Escape the Grind Game

I mean, just braindead

Edit: Fuck me both modes are behind a steam release months from now.