I'll try to keep this shortish, but can add clarifications if necessary.
I make $14/hr doing basic computer work (data entry, teaching people how to use iTunes/Microsoft applications, RAM swapping, you get the idea), which comes out to $1450/month after taxes, social security, etc. After coming up short for the past few months on rent I started budgeting using Mint, and I made some key changes to my lifestyle, cutting out entertainment and saving me about $60/month. I have a minor physical disability that requires medication, so by far my biggest expense is health insurance and health related expenses.
I don't get benefits, vacation days, sick days, or anything like that. I've been with my current company for the past 2.5 years and I haven't seen my family or any of my old friends in that time period because I haven't been able to take a vacation. The management is horrible and I dread going to work every day. I work almost every day and haven't done anything remotely fun since college, save having a few drinks at home with my girlfriend sometimes. I'm a pretty big extrovert so it always feels weird to see my friends from school all out at nightclubs and going to the beach (I'd love to be at either of those places) while I'm stuck working 8-10 hours a day and being too exhausted to do anything social when I get home.
I have a BA in a field related to art and technology. It's not a useless degree because it helped me get my job and I think it's been helpful in checking the box for getting me interviews in the past, but it's not a 'catapult you into instant riches' kind of degree. I don't have any student or credit card debt. I do have a small emergency fund (was really helpful when my alternator died a month ago!) and I've been able to maintain it, but I've been unable to save anything on top of it. I also have a 401k with about $2k in it.
My girlfriend says I should take literally any job, from warehouse work to overnight bakery jobs to dishwashing, that provides better pay or benefits than what I make now, regardless of what field it's in or whether it leads to any kind of career. There's a dishwashing job at a local museum that offers full benefits, 100% health coverage and a month of vacation, same with a grocery stocking position that just opened up near where we live. I partially feel like I'd be a laughingstock if I graduated from a good college and got a dishwashing or stocking job, even if the benefits are better.
I've been looking into Ramit Sethi's Earn1k course, which looks like it could be a good idea. I've also been looking into construction and labor jobs because it looks like they're everywhere (and I'd be building the skills necessary to own and fix up a home), but I've always been a pretty effeminate guy so I'd be afraid of it being like high school all over again.
And that's basically it. I never really get any time off, and I feel like I'm just endlessly working just to exist. How do people live like this? Is everyone just used to spending 9+ hours a day doing something they hate so they can look forward to not starving?
Submitted June 21, 2017 at 11:43AM by _WHISKEY_JACK_ http://ift.tt/2sQvAq3
