Thanks everyone! Sorry I was out of town for work, but I appreciate all the good words!! Thanks so much.
I noticed a few questions so I'll address them all below;
What do you think your savings rate % will be given your new high income?
well, my living expenses will be going up when my last roommate moves out (her choice) but for a few months it will be close to 70% I believe.
Would you mind sharing what kind of tech work you do and where you're located? I'm a little curious :).
I am a consultant specializing in web application information architecture and development, located in Northern California.
Very impressive, what is your savings rate goal?
I would like to keep near 70%, at a minimum something over 50%.
Congrats, that's awesome!
Can you share any tips with us on how you negotiated such a large increase? Are you in the same position as before and just identified all the hard work you had done over the last year (you said you "worked your butt off"), or was it a promotion to a higher level position? Any tips for those of us looking to ask for an increase? Thanks!
I've always felt I was under paid because I got this job right out of school and they weren't sure of my capabilities, so my "working my butt off" was mostly me tackling all challenges thrown my way and impressing my coworkers with my ideas and abilities. I knew what my boss felt were good traits to have as an employee and I made sure to build on those. In my review, they came to me with a number lower than I wanted, and they asked what I thought. I was just honest, I laid out everything I had done, reiterated the things they said themselves about my abilities and ended with the number I felt I should be earning.
I would say, make sure you know how to "approach" whoever it is you are talking to. I knew my boss appreciated a no bullshit conversation, so I kept it to the point. I remember at one point they asked "are you telling me you're not happy with a 20% raise?" and I just said "..actually, no, I'm not."
So yeah... every person's situation will be different, just go in with a plan and know who you're negotiating with.