Yes, I do have a full-time job, and I even enjoy it, but it doesn’t pay enough to survive in this hellscape of a world we live in. I lack the college degree required to get almost any decent-paying job (plus my last job hunt took MONTHS to get a lead), I don’t have the skills or originality to become an online content creator, nor the artistry or patience to create and sell trinkets on Etsy (plus, that would require an initial investment which I simply do not have). Should I set up a GoFundMe? OnlyFans? I wouldn’t really be offering anything except a charity basket/collection plate so that feels dishonest at best. Idk, I’m quite literally having a breakdown because I’m probably going to lose my car soon, and then my job, and then my apartment, and then my life. Any help at all would be appreciated. Thank you
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Unfortunately, there are no simple, one size fits all solutions, and what is options you have really depends on your individual situation. Here’s the minimum anyone would need to help you:
- job situation - current income, hours, responsibilities, etc
- list of expenses - housing costs, food costs, etc
- general location - are you in San Francisco or Lincoln, Nebraska
- age - teenager? 20s? 30s? 50s? time matters
- total debts and interest rates
- assets - cash, car value, etc
- skills - formal education, practical skills, etc
- interests - if you were to get an education or go into a trade, what’s on the table?
In terms of general advice, I recommend deciding where you want to be in 5-10 years, and then figure out a way to get there. You have a lot of options, such as:
- trades - plumbing, electrician, drywall, etc
- community college
- self-employment - landscaping, small scale construction, etc
Good luck! It sounds like you’re motivated to get out of this mess, and that’s the most important ingredient. The next most important is to look past the current grind and make a plan.
[Copy-pasting my response from a very similar question, I’ll put your specific questions in an ‘edit’ below:
Giving you enough context to actually answer your question without giving up TOO much private info, in order:
Cubicle job where I make just under $20/hour (min. wage for my state is $15)
I don’t have a SET budget, but I really don’t spend that much :/ Rent is roughly half of my current paycheck (currently with 1 additional roommate but hopefully will get another in the next few months); Food is probably my biggest expense. Other than that, I have Spotify, YouTube, Xbox, and Microsoft Office accounts, but that total is about $60/month, which isn’t THAT much and, on the whole, has actually saved me money (so many ‘free’ games on Xbox it’s not even funny).
As for debt, I’ve got an account with a credit union, phone bill, car payments, car insurance, renter’s insurance, student loans, utilities, etc, etc. For a rough estimate (again, without giving too much away), recently I ended a week with ~$35, got my (2-week/80-hour) paycheck, paid all my bills, and ended up with ~$75. So, essentially, I made $.50/hour after bills
Edit: Location, American Midwest. Education, some years of college (a pretty good one, too) but never graduated. Age, early 30s. Aaand that’s about all I’m comfortable giving online
You’ll need to provide a lot more details for me to give a specific answer.
Cubicle job where I make just under $20/hour
That’s… not great, but okay. What kind of job is it? Call center? Data entry?
I’m mostly looking for options to pivot into something more lucrative. I recommend looking at job postings in your company and area and seeing what it would take to get the skills needed to apply.
I don’t have a SET budget, but I really don’t spend that much
Here’s my back of the napkin math with what you provided:
- $20/hr should gross $40k and net ~$30k after taxes in Cincinnati, OH (random Midwest city for taxes, assuming single)
- $30k == $2500/month
- food for a single male should be ~$360/month, if you cook; let’s call it $400
- rent for a 1BR is $800-900
- utilities $100-200 - wild guess
- Insurance - $50-100/month, depending on if you’re a good driver, have good credit, value of car, etc
- fuel - $100/month assuming 10k miles/year, 30mpg
- entertainment - you provided $60, so I’ll round up to $100
So before debt repayment, you’re looking at $1700/month minimum, so let’s round up to $2k to account for incidentals (phone bill, clothes, etc). $500/month for debt will be tight depending on balances and interest rates. You say you can net $25-75/week, so that means you have $100-200/month to throw at debt.
I think a lot of your stress is coming from the debt, so I recommend using a tool like Unbury me to get a plan together to attack the debt. I recommend really looking at your spending to see what you can cut to get out of debt faster, because killing the debt will do wonders for your confidence and willingness to take risks (e.g. try a new career). Some ideas:
- phone bill - look into Tello and Mint, they have great plans, esp if you can limit data usage (I pay $8/month for 1GB data from tello)
- cut YouTube - Firefox + uBlock Origin may give a similar experience
- learn to cook - look into meal prep to save time (e.g. bulk prepare food on weekends)
If you can increase that income, you’ll make progress a lot faster, so keep your eye out for opportunities. But in the short-term, you can manage your spending. Try to cut those debts to free up cash so you have more options.
With regard to student loan debt, if you haven’t already, see if you’re eligible for the SAVE program. It’s relatively new under Biden and is different than the loan forgiveness which was blocked by the Supreme Court. Based on this table, for $40k/year, the monthly payments for student loans should be $60. Depending on how long you’ve been paying off the loans, and the amount taken out, you may be eligible for forgiveness. Example situation from the Press Release which may apply to you:
Under SAVE, borrowers who originally took out $12,000 or less in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years are eligible to get their remaining debt canceled. For every additional $1,000 in loans they took out (up to $21,000 total for undergraduate loans and $26,000 total for graduate loans), a borrower is eligible for relief after an additional year of repayment. For example, if a borrower took out $13,000 in loans, they would be eligible for debt cancellation after 11 years in repayment.
That being said, there are other places to cut costs. The entertainment section would be the easiest. It’ll be hard, but that should be near $0 for the short term while you make the plan and prioritize building savings and paying down debt. Building an emergency fund can save so much headaches if something were to happen. Redirecting entertainment into building a savings account with a goal of $1000 would take a year and some change, and would be invaluable when you need it. This would be on top of the debt you’re currently paying down. Maybe after you have a comfortable savings account (3 months of living expenses), you can redirect those monthly investments into paying off the other debt faster.
As for other expenses, compare what you’re paying now for recurring expenses (phone, internet, etc). If a competitor is offering a plan at a lower rate, call your existing provider and tell them you want that better rate or you’ll change providers. This usually gets you a “Retention specialist” who can give you a good deal. Look at those bills and see if you’re paying for a modem or router rental per month and determine if it’ll be better in the long run to buy one yourself (it probably will be).
My husband and I didn’t have financial stability in office jobs until we moved into middle management. It’s a very different type of job, even if you’re doing the same sort of work. I don’t have a degree, but I have several innate traits that make me excel at it. My husband doesn’t have those innate skills, but he followed an educational path that gave him the credentials he needed to receive those opportunities (bachelor’s degree, then a project management certification).
Trades could be a good idea, especially if OP lives somewhere that has an apprenticeship program. My dad works in plumbing/HVAC and they always need good people. Pay is not amazing but pretty solid after a couple of years in the industry, and it’s not as hard on the body as, say, construction. It uses skills and knowledge that will always be needed, HVAC even more so in the future than previously, so provides good job security as long as you keep up with any new tech/regulations.
And there’s trucking. A lot of companies will pay for your CDL, and later you can go freelance at mines or construction projects hauling stuff.
There are tons of options, I just don’t know what OP wants or has available in their area.
That sucks. Sorry.
In your shoes, I would be shopping for a cheap beater car immediately. Put the word out among any friends.
Don’t be afraid to buy a beater. You can make a beater get you reliably from point A to point B with YouTube and a cheap tool set from Harbor Freight.
Also, let your boss know what’s up, if they’re not awful. They may have a lead on a vehicle. As the boss, calling in a favor to help a team membsr buy and maintain a cheap car is a hell of a lot easier than hiring a new good team member.
And to answer your question, I’m well past that stage now, but back when I made $20 / hour:
- I write out a budget, every month (I still do.) I didn’t use software, at first. I used to fold a piece of paper in half. On the left side of the fold I write each budget item description, on the right side of the fold I write each dollar amount. Then I add it up on my $4 solar calculator. Every month. It takes 20 minutes and it’s at least 50% responsible for my current wealth. The hourly rate of return on this stupid trick is mind bogglingly good. It’s easily the best investment I’ve ever made.
- I ate at home. I learned to cook three simple meals and ate them over and over again. One was scrambled eggs. One was a balogna sandwich. One was a tuna sandwich. I’m now still famous for my scrambled eggs. I don’t eat bologna or tuna anymore, if I can avoid it.
- I got very good at repairing my shit box fully paid off almost worthless car. I could still, today, land a job as a master mechanic’s apprentice, thanks to how much my beater broke and needed me to fix it. I was incredibly lucky to have mentors who could teach me car repair before YouTube existed. I can almost guarantee my shit box car was more reliable than any car you’re still paying off, after I fixed it so many times. Most shit box cars can become rock solid reliable with enough sweat and junk yards parts. I routinely put 300,000 miles on shitty brands of cars, before I reached the kind of wealth where I am now. Now that I’m living large, I buy four year old cars, with less than 100,000 miles on them. It’s quite the luxury, but I can afford it.
- I always repair my own appliances. Life is so much cheaper when a $17 part solves what could have been a $600.00 repair. YouTube has been incredibly helpful for this. I still repair almost all my own stuff because I now have more experience and a better handy-man track record than most folks I’ve ever hired.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I hope things turn around for you.
This thing about the budget is absolutely golden. I learned it from Dave Ramsey and I do the exact same thing. I have a budget that I’ve worked out and I do it roughly every six months to a year and I sit down and I say, I’ve paid this, I’ve paid this, I’ve paid that, I’ve paid that, I still need to pay that and it has helped tremendously. A budget can really show you where you are fucking up and can cut back. It’s been an absolutely amazing tool and I would not want to automate it in any way because sitting down and doing it manually makes you see it.
Just be careful with Dave Ramsey’s advice. He’s good at getting people on track, but his investment advice sucks and he’s way too obsessed with avoiding debt tools. But if you’re in debt, he’s really motivating.
Yeah, true. I listened to him on getting out of debt and focusing on that, even though I have very little debt and none of it consumer credit cards.
Some basic questions:
What, specifically, is your job? Just because you have a full time job doesn’t mean it is a sustainable career path or even a livable wage.
Do you have a budget? Have you cataloged your expenses?
How much debt do you have?
Giving you enough context to actually answer your question without giving up TOO much private info, in order:
Cubicle job where I make just under $20/hour (min. wage for my state is $15)
I don’t have a SET budget, but I really don’t spend that much :/ Rent is roughly half of my current paycheck (currently with 1 additional roommate but hopefully will get another in the next few months); Food is probably my biggest expense. Other than that, I have Spotify, YouTube, Xbox, and Microsoft Office accounts, but that total is about $60/month, which isn’t THAT much and, on the whole, has actually saved me money (so many ‘free’ games on Xbox it’s not even funny).
As for debt, I’ve got an account with a credit union, phone bill, car payments, car insurance, renter’s insurance, student loans, utilities, etc, etc. For a rough estimate (again, without giving too much away), recently I ended a week with ~$35, got my (2-week/80-hour) paycheck, paid all my bills, and ended up with ~$75. So, essentially, I made $.50/hour after bills
$20 an hour is a decent starting salary for no prior experience or education, but as you’ve said, it’s not a lot. You will need to make concessions somewhere, such as roommates, food, subscriptions, or entertainment.
The first step is to be honest with your expenses, going through your past few months of credit card and bank statements, and put everything into a spreadsheet or app.
Use YNAB or a similar app and catalogue each of your recurring and non-recurring expenses. You say they’re not “that” much, but they do add up. You may be surprised with what you find, but mostly, it will help you think through your priorities, what is essential, and what is a recurring expense. In the end, you will know what your “baseline” spending is relative to your current salary, and how much you have free each month to spend on going out or hobbies.
After you’ve been tracking your current state of expenses for a while, thinking about your immediate future and changes you can make, make a 3 to 5 year career plan. Assess if you need a different/second job, or assuming a 2% increase each year, if you are on a career track that will drastically increase your quality of life (How much do I need to NOT have roommates? Drive a NEW car? Save for retirement? Increase entertainment expenses by $200/mo?).
What do you need to do to get that promotion or next job? When you are applying for that job in a few years, what salary number do you need to ask for? You should eventually have the answers to those questions, but not until you’ve got a real budget.
This is great advice overall, but I would like to point out (though it does not seem to be OP’s case) that if you have any medical issues, your mileage may vary. Medical issues cause expenses to be very spiky and unpredictable.
Of course, it still helpful having a budget, just expect your budget to get fucked occasionally (in the US).
A proper budget needs to be paired with a proper emergency fund. Priority should be:
- Stick to budget
- Get out of debt
- Save emergency fund
- Save for the future
And always look for opportunities to improve income, since that helps with each stage.
Buy in bulk and learn to cook, the knowledge is free on yt. You don’t need a yt sub, just use ublock addon to block ads.
Feel free to ask @[email protected] for help if you need it
What are your skills and interests?
The line keeps moving. Minimum wage goes up to help the bottom portion, prices of everything goes up. But profits increased for the already rich so there’s that
Subscribe to Caleb Hammer YT channel. Move country with proper social structure if that doesn’t work.
What are your thoughts on pursuing some sort of technology job? For example, any interest in learning to code?
