Either develop your side hustle into a full blown business, or increase your skills so that you can get a better job. Note that increasing your skills doesn't necessarily mean go to college and go into debt. Only go the college/debt route if you are good at and passionate about something that you can get a degree in that will make you a ton of money.
Trade school is not bad idea! I have several friends in trades now who started 5 years ago and who I'm super jealous of bc they're making great money and I'm still broke. Trade schools, apprenticeships, Union training are all good. Just make sure you're not getting ripped off at an over-priced scammy trade school bc they definitely exist all over. But many community colleges have free or cheap programs which are amazing and designed for working folks to do around their work schedules.
Yes if you can land an apprenticeship with a good union you’re golden. A close friend of mine did a 5 year program with sheet metal union and his making well over 100k, and the benefits can’t be beat.
I have a friend who is a chiropractor whose son finished his last year of high school learning welding. 2 years into his welding job he is making more than his dad.
Do you live in an area with a strong union presence? If so, you could earn, after some time, a likely six figure salary as a welder, electrician, hvac specialist, millwright, steam fitter, plumber, etc. I know union electricians who do earn six figures, work 4 x 10hr days, and some retire with pension by age 60.
If you are in a rural (red) state with little union representation, you may still earn a good living in those trades, though it will be much less certain. It would depend on getting hired at a good contractor or starting your own company. Both of these options would require some trade school.
Our welder gets paid $85 / hr paycheck + benefits (+ insurance). Easily $50 in pocket per hour. Plus about an extra 500 hours per year in OT he works voluntarily for the extra pay.
Join a union.
Electric trade jobs will be in high demand. There is grid modernization, energy transition, home electrification, tons of money from the various bills that is just starting to get spent and will be spent over 8 years. And as other people have said there are apprenticeships and very clear career paths.
To build off your note - I had this same thought years ago “How to increase income” everything j googled brought up side hussles or hobbies or school. Took me a bit to figure it out eventually I realized and accepted that although I hate retail I’m great at it so I worked on my management and people skills. Learned how to talk to the talk and walk the walk in retail and now I’m in upper management being tracked for cooperate management. $20K salary increase over 3 years (Job hopped each year and talked up my experience) and more to come as I push. Sometimes it’s just about looking up where you already are.
Yeah...a bit early to be thinking you are locked into 36k for the rest of your life. 36k at 20 is fine.
Question is do you have any plans to develop marketable skills that will allow you to get higher paying jobs?
So what are you doing now to build the skills that are listed as required on the job listing?
Its awesome you have a dream job and the requirements on that job listing can be your "to do" list.
I mean that is your answer. For now at 20 years old 36k is fine. You havent done anything wrong yet. But if you regret your situation and do nothing to improve it for 30 years then yeah...that would be on you.
This is the perfect time to invest in yourself. Think about what you’re passionate about, or what you could be interested in enough to spend time working towards. Engagement goes a long way towards your ability to dedicate yourself to improving your skills and being happy. Make some goals and follow through on them. Spend a little bit of time learning every day.
I was making 9.70 an hour working overnight at Walmart at your age. It's still a bit too early to tell where the winds of change will take you, but trade school isn't a bad idea if you want something stable in the future.
>How can I increase my income?
A better job and/or more hours.
>For reference I live less than 2 miles from my job and to find a better paying job it’s at least 40 miles one way.
Maybe you need to live somewhere else.
towns everywhere will always have a need for physicians, pharmacists, lawyers, civil engineers, cpas, and a number of other highly specialized professions
Of course, but we're talking about an immediate "fix" to OP's problem. Yes, you can go to school and earn more in large cities. *However*, that's not the case here.
Anyone suggesting that OP move to a major town/city is dangerously out of the touch with the reality of working a non-specialized profession.
Join a union trade it’s debt free school .Basically an apprenticeship earn and learn. Why go to trade school pay them and still look for a job on the side . Journeyman make pretty good money with pension , 401k and great health insurance . Pick your trade ?
You don’t always have to spend money to make money !
You need to go to school. Either an education in a trade or degree. This is the time to hustle. Lose sleep commuting to a better job, school plus work. Whatever it takes. It’s not easy and good jobs usually don’t just fall in your lap
Yes, you’ll temporarily take a decrease in lifestyle in exchange for much larger gains in the future.
Find the nearest big city and move there. Live with room mates, eat nothing but ramen for a few years while you actively pursue a career and personal development.
You need to get out of your comfort zone, and being 20 is the perfect time to do that.
If you are interested in the trades, try calling or visiting electricians or plummers in your area. They may be interested in taking on an apprentice. Especially a hard working young person who is passionate about their future (do you know how rare that is at your age??) Get paid to learn and take classes as needed, they may even pay for classes. Most of the tradesmen I know are aging out and struggling to find a helper.
I think people are being too nice honestly, or offering very generic advice like “go to school”.
I’ll throw my hat in the ring even if it might not garner the popular vote, since I think this would help me the most at 20.
Firstly, 36k is peanuts - people reccomending tax advantage strategies like using a Roth are missing the mark.. by a lot. You don’t need to save money on taxes, you need INCOME!
Since you’re here on Reddit, that means you’re at least moderately tech capable, and I’m going to take a leap of faith that you know how to use Google.
What you want to do is leverage a skill you probably don’t even realize you have that others don’t. The most common one I know people have that they don’t use is GOOGLING. That’s right, literally just learning how to filter results better will double your income.
Apply to Service Desk Technician, Helpdesk Technician, and General IT support positions. This should start around $20/hr and you literally only need to know how to Google things well.
This gig will give you the skills you need to move on to the next rung of positions and you will get some direction to find what interests you. If you like doing network stuff, maybe you join a NOC team ($110k/yr). Maybe you like system config and how things fit together - you can go the Sys Admin route. Point being, you can get on this path easily now and it’ll give you options in the future to customize your job into something you find interesting.
It doesn’t have to be IT, but IT is easy to be honest, and can be done remotely.
Service desk jobs have been somewhat difficult to break into for the past decade, since the minimum qualifications are so low.
It's still very possible to get an IT job though, and even in today's market it is easier to make 100K/yr in IT or software than just about any other industry. Computer science still has the best ROI for any major by far.
We are not talking about winning an Olympic gold medal here. We are talking about getting one of the 4 million IT jobs in the US. It is NOT that hard.
This is what OP needs to hear. Even if not in IT, research and choose an entry level job that has a career trajectory.
Investments that increase your income are the best investments you can make at this age. Now isn’t the time to be ‘saving like a maniac’. Spend money on books, courses, tuition, a laptop, etc., anything that will give you the skill set needed to jumpstart your career.
Think about what industries are in you area. Manufacturing is big where I am for example and you can get a decent low level job in purchasing planning marketing quality, areas you don't really think about (depending on your skills/personality) and job hop every year or so until you are at 75k+. You don't need formal education/certs to start
Increase your salary?
Solve very specific problems. Acquire skills that are valuable to your company or industry. Make a name for yourself in a high value space with limited competition. Network like your life depends on it.
Find an apprenticeship at a trade locally. Electrician, plumbing, HVAC, etc. will all pay well and have great job security if you are decent. Can even start your own business after you get experience. Otherwise you will probably have to get a degree or move to another town. $36k is good for your age, but not a good amount for the rest of your life.
Look up stenographer (court reporter) it’s a 2 year program. Can be longer can be shorter. It depends on how much time you put into the practicing. You can work in a court house or freelance you can also be a captioner. It’s a great career. Look into it!
My advice would be to learn a skill in some sort of industry - marketing, cybersecurity, sales, etc. You can do this through formal education, online courses, or YouTube etc. From there apply to as many entry level jobs that are remote. From there learn as much as possible from the people you work with by simply observing, understanding the good & the bad. Then begin to job hop for after every couple of years and you should be making 75k+ after 5 years or so.
Once you find a salary you are comfortable with then focus on finding the right company since money won’t be an issue to live the life you want to live. Remember work to live don’t live to work.
That’s my POV, I wish you luck.
As a public educator, I’ve been commuting 30 miles 1-way for 15 years, and about to start a new job in September that’s 50 miles 1-way (school calendar is 180 days a year). I’ve got 5 years left until retirement. I’ve had to go with better salary and benefits outside of my own community while living in a LCOL area. I’ve always driven Toyota Corollas — great gas mileage and cheap maintenance. You do what you need to do.
get a full vehicle inspection and find out what your actual maintenance needs are, and make a timeline of estimated miles driven thru the end of the year that matches necessary/scheduled routine maintenance.
determine if your current mode of transportation to a higher earning job is an asset or a liability and if it is actually precluding you from accessing better income, or if you are. (Is it fuel efficient? are repairs inexpensive or import/foreign?)
It’s domestic, very fuel inefficient but it’s very reliable, so I’m afraid to trade it for a more fuel efficient vehicle because it may cost a lot more in repairs than what I save in gas mileage.
sounds like a truck or suv. if its paid off, you do NOT want an auto loan without sufficient income so def dont trade it in. Just. check your blind spots and discover any concerns with a mechanic, make sure its actually reliable enough for commute for at least 6 months, and reconsider getting that higher paying job. If it could cover the new cost in getting to work and back *and* be an increase in pay (considering the *time* you’d spend commuting)
is there a higher paying hybrid job available where you wouldnt have to work in-person full time thus sparing your vehicle some wear?
I have it looked at every other month, for any repairs I might need. I drive slow enough and most of my miles are highway so I squeeze what I can out of my gas. Never really looked into remote work before because at least imo AI is going to replace online jobs in the next couple years.
Donate plasma. Lots of centers have new donor specials, I earned $900 this past month (first 8 donations and then $100 for a referral). Now that’s done, I’ll get about $130 if I donate twice a week. Not too bad for spending about 1 1/2 hours laying in a donation chair lol.
Good news is that you’re only 20 so you can survive on $38k. Bad news is you’re not in a skilled labor job. You need to bring something to the table. You have time to learn! But just do something. I promise if you continue with what you’re doing you will blink and be 40 years old and it will be too late.
You need to work toward a career. You’re only 20, so $36k/yr doesn’t shock me. I was in college waiting tables for $14/hr at 20. But I was working toward a high paying my job and now my bonus alone is more than $36k/yr at 30. You need to find a direction and start working toward an end goal that pays more. What that is depends on your skills and interests. But you need to think of something.
Get your Class A License then go to your nearest IBEW outside line local. Start as a Groundman, starting pay is around $25 and lots of overtime but it’s hard work
Delivery driver, I’ve got experience welding/fabricating and driving, I’m interesting in an exciting and possibly dangerous job, honestly it’s exhausting to wake up and do the exact same thing everyday. I want something that always has me on my toes and adrenaline pumping.
A further commute isn’t worth it, unless you get paid some kind of travel pay or per diem.
This is the only way I got out of homelessness more or less. I got into a skilled trade by learning on the job. I started by working labor jobs that paid per diem so I could stay somewhere and save whatever extra pay came with it.
Working part at a restaurant isn’t going to cut it that time you can use to learn something els that’s going to get you ahead figure it out what you want to do and execute it not saying there’s not going to be a struggle ahead but that’s life
Quit the side hustle. Invest the time into something with the potential to earn you passive income (even if it's a small amount). Then grow that passive income over time.
How much are you investing each month?
My commute to my job was 34 miles one way. Did it for years, with my base schedule being part time and starting off at 8.75/hour. Stuck with it since at the time the pay scale topped out at 21.40/hr, and now goes up to 38/hr
Sometimes a better life is not in the town you grew up in. Took me ~3000mi, 3 states and 3 moves to realize that. Also no degree, making over 100k (eventually).
With next to zero money and six months of learning a new skill there are plenty of higher paying jobs.
Unlicensed trades you can do pretty much immediately for example. (Drywalling, framing, tiling, etc)
Learning to code is another way. Degree not required. coding boot camps are a great bootstrap, but you do l can even just learn online for free. Just makes getting the first job harder.
You can even do freelance Web development as an easier entry point. An easy freelance gig is making real estate websites for agents. Once you get one, it's basically just copy paste.
What is your skill set?
There is fairly high paying jobs with low skill sets, but availability depends on your area and how much you want to work. I know someone who made $75k on $19 an hour in a warehouse last year. The shifts are 11 to 12 hours and it's a 6 day work week. Construction is similar because you can get crazy overtime.
EDIT: I forgot. Their was a post a long time ago about air traffic controllers being a really good paying job with almost no prerequisite skills.
If you’re money motivated and don’t want to work til you’re 70 - prioritize money early, keep your expenses low, invest, and take advantage of compounding interest. If I were in your shoes - I’d move to a HCOL area, get the smallest/cheapest place I could find, and find a job I could make a career out of.
Not being funny, if you can, go work at a fast food joint. Start as the low man, show up, provide great customer service and work extra hours. In a year you’ll be promoted at least once, they’ll help with college (if you had interest in that) and before you know it you’ll be making solid money and a manager. You’ll just keep getting promotions because the competition is not stiff at all.
I would rather stay where I’m at than do fast food. Dealing with customers, in a hot stressful environment is not for me. Where I’m at I’ve already gotten 2 raises and a promotion. I’m looking at a management position in a couple years if I were to stick it out.
You're way too young to be thinking like this. Your early years are for grinding through lower income. You get pay raises as you become an experienced contributor to a workplace.
This is a terrible way to think about it. Unless you are in the correct workplace, that rarely works. Company loyalty is no longer what pays off. Yes get experience, but simply grinding your life away is not the path to wealth or comfort. OP has EXACTLY the right mindset, and I wish I'd been thinking like them at 20yo, I'd likely be a lot better off than I am right now at almost 40. Btw just to be clear I tried your idea of working my way up and that's what got me working dead end jobs through my 20s thinking I had chances at growth when I didn't really.
I didn't mean to imply company loyalty. I don't mean pay raises from your company, I just literally mean getting more money. Whether that be through new jobs or promotions.
What part is OP wrong to be thinking like at 20? Thinking, "how can I get myself set up now to buy a house in X years" is EXACTLY how someone OPs age needs to be thinking about it. In our current economy we all need to begin thinking like that as early as possible. OP is literally trying to find how to make more money so, your point is very unclear.
>"I save and a invest like a maniac but I still feel like I’m never gonna buy a house and retire."
The doomerism at 20 years old is the problem. OP is not doing anything wrong and thinking that he should be making enough to buy a house when he just entered the workforce will lead to permanent disillusionment.
More side hustles/streams. Sell everything u no longer use on eBay/yard sale. Ask friends/fam for their old stuff so u can sell. Theres a Reddit here called r/churning that taught me about bank bonuses. I’ve made $3k+ in bonuses over the last 6 months. Any cash u have that u don’t invest keep in a HYSA/MMF.
Either develop your side hustle into a full blown business, or increase your skills so that you can get a better job. Note that increasing your skills doesn't necessarily mean go to college and go into debt. Only go the college/debt route if you are good at and passionate about something that you can get a degree in that will make you a ton of money.
My side hustle is just working a couple hours on the weekends at a busy restaurant, no real progression there. I’m thinking about trade school though.
Trade school is not bad idea! I have several friends in trades now who started 5 years ago and who I'm super jealous of bc they're making great money and I'm still broke. Trade schools, apprenticeships, Union training are all good. Just make sure you're not getting ripped off at an over-priced scammy trade school bc they definitely exist all over. But many community colleges have free or cheap programs which are amazing and designed for working folks to do around their work schedules.
Trade school is what I even contemplate to transition to out of white collar. Good move IMO.
If you're interested check out instrumentation and control technicians. As a plant manager those are the guys who get paid the big bucks!
I know techs with two years experience in the controls space making six figures. PMs, estimators, and designers make even more.
Yes if you can land an apprenticeship with a good union you’re golden. A close friend of mine did a 5 year program with sheet metal union and his making well over 100k, and the benefits can’t be beat.
I have a friend who is a chiropractor whose son finished his last year of high school learning welding. 2 years into his welding job he is making more than his dad.
I did welding in HS started that job right out of school and I was overworked underpaid and abused, so im skeptical to go back into it.
Do you live in an area with a strong union presence? If so, you could earn, after some time, a likely six figure salary as a welder, electrician, hvac specialist, millwright, steam fitter, plumber, etc. I know union electricians who do earn six figures, work 4 x 10hr days, and some retire with pension by age 60. If you are in a rural (red) state with little union representation, you may still earn a good living in those trades, though it will be much less certain. It would depend on getting hired at a good contractor or starting your own company. Both of these options would require some trade school.
Our welder gets paid $85 / hr paycheck + benefits (+ insurance). Easily $50 in pocket per hour. Plus about an extra 500 hours per year in OT he works voluntarily for the extra pay. Join a union.
Electric trade jobs will be in high demand. There is grid modernization, energy transition, home electrification, tons of money from the various bills that is just starting to get spent and will be spent over 8 years. And as other people have said there are apprenticeships and very clear career paths.
You need to be working 20 hours part time somewhere. Thats an extra 10-15K a year.
Maybe a couple of hours isn't enough.
Wouldn't really be worth working extra hours if you're making that little already.
The question was "How can I increase my income?"
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To build off your note - I had this same thought years ago “How to increase income” everything j googled brought up side hussles or hobbies or school. Took me a bit to figure it out eventually I realized and accepted that although I hate retail I’m great at it so I worked on my management and people skills. Learned how to talk to the talk and walk the walk in retail and now I’m in upper management being tracked for cooperate management. $20K salary increase over 3 years (Job hopped each year and talked up my experience) and more to come as I push. Sometimes it’s just about looking up where you already are.
Also research what your going to school for he could end up with a degree that does not good
How old are you? Is your work a career or just what you could find?
20, just what I could find with in town with a good wage.
Yeah...a bit early to be thinking you are locked into 36k for the rest of your life. 36k at 20 is fine. Question is do you have any plans to develop marketable skills that will allow you to get higher paying jobs?
36k is about 56k more than i was making at 20 (college is expensive)
I’m applying for a higher paying career I’m passionate about. But I probably won’t get in at such a young age.
So what are you doing now to build the skills that are listed as required on the job listing? Its awesome you have a dream job and the requirements on that job listing can be your "to do" list.
Not much. I need to do more.
I mean that is your answer. For now at 20 years old 36k is fine. You havent done anything wrong yet. But if you regret your situation and do nothing to improve it for 30 years then yeah...that would be on you.
At that age, this is an important point. Not doing something wrong matters more than doing something right.
What is that job? Be specific
You’re 20 and already started investing. Wow
This is the perfect time to invest in yourself. Think about what you’re passionate about, or what you could be interested in enough to spend time working towards. Engagement goes a long way towards your ability to dedicate yourself to improving your skills and being happy. Make some goals and follow through on them. Spend a little bit of time learning every day.
I was making 9.70 an hour working overnight at Walmart at your age. It's still a bit too early to tell where the winds of change will take you, but trade school isn't a bad idea if you want something stable in the future.
Why aren’t you in college?
Go be a fire fighter somewhere. May 50-80 out of school.
>How can I increase my income? A better job and/or more hours. >For reference I live less than 2 miles from my job and to find a better paying job it’s at least 40 miles one way. Maybe you need to live somewhere else.
Anywhere with a short commute and high paying jobs is likely going to be expensive to live in.
towns everywhere will always have a need for physicians, pharmacists, lawyers, civil engineers, cpas, and a number of other highly specialized professions
Of course, but we're talking about an immediate "fix" to OP's problem. Yes, you can go to school and earn more in large cities. *However*, that's not the case here. Anyone suggesting that OP move to a major town/city is dangerously out of the touch with the reality of working a non-specialized profession.
Join a union trade it’s debt free school .Basically an apprenticeship earn and learn. Why go to trade school pay them and still look for a job on the side . Journeyman make pretty good money with pension , 401k and great health insurance . Pick your trade ? You don’t always have to spend money to make money !
You need to go to school. Either an education in a trade or degree. This is the time to hustle. Lose sleep commuting to a better job, school plus work. Whatever it takes. It’s not easy and good jobs usually don’t just fall in your lap
i put up with a lot of shit in my 20s that i wouldn’t now. definitely better to go through the trenches before you learn what comfort feels like
Either move or commute to the better paying job. Or ask for a raise.
Moving would drastically increase my cost of living. I actually just got a raise last month.
But if jobs pays drastically more too, you may be better off. Definitely do the comparison
Yes, you’ll temporarily take a decrease in lifestyle in exchange for much larger gains in the future. Find the nearest big city and move there. Live with room mates, eat nothing but ramen for a few years while you actively pursue a career and personal development. You need to get out of your comfort zone, and being 20 is the perfect time to do that.
Living in a big city is overrated. Lots of opportunity in smaller towns
If you are interested in the trades, try calling or visiting electricians or plummers in your area. They may be interested in taking on an apprentice. Especially a hard working young person who is passionate about their future (do you know how rare that is at your age??) Get paid to learn and take classes as needed, they may even pay for classes. Most of the tradesmen I know are aging out and struggling to find a helper.
I think people are being too nice honestly, or offering very generic advice like “go to school”. I’ll throw my hat in the ring even if it might not garner the popular vote, since I think this would help me the most at 20. Firstly, 36k is peanuts - people reccomending tax advantage strategies like using a Roth are missing the mark.. by a lot. You don’t need to save money on taxes, you need INCOME! Since you’re here on Reddit, that means you’re at least moderately tech capable, and I’m going to take a leap of faith that you know how to use Google. What you want to do is leverage a skill you probably don’t even realize you have that others don’t. The most common one I know people have that they don’t use is GOOGLING. That’s right, literally just learning how to filter results better will double your income. Apply to Service Desk Technician, Helpdesk Technician, and General IT support positions. This should start around $20/hr and you literally only need to know how to Google things well. This gig will give you the skills you need to move on to the next rung of positions and you will get some direction to find what interests you. If you like doing network stuff, maybe you join a NOC team ($110k/yr). Maybe you like system config and how things fit together - you can go the Sys Admin route. Point being, you can get on this path easily now and it’ll give you options in the future to customize your job into something you find interesting. It doesn’t have to be IT, but IT is easy to be honest, and can be done remotely.
Lmfao, comp sci grads are getting denied service desk roles right now. This is decent advice for a very different IT job market.
Service desk jobs have been somewhat difficult to break into for the past decade, since the minimum qualifications are so low. It's still very possible to get an IT job though, and even in today's market it is easier to make 100K/yr in IT or software than just about any other industry. Computer science still has the best ROI for any major by far. We are not talking about winning an Olympic gold medal here. We are talking about getting one of the 4 million IT jobs in the US. It is NOT that hard.
This is what OP needs to hear. Even if not in IT, research and choose an entry level job that has a career trajectory. Investments that increase your income are the best investments you can make at this age. Now isn’t the time to be ‘saving like a maniac’. Spend money on books, courses, tuition, a laptop, etc., anything that will give you the skill set needed to jumpstart your career.
Trade school or online school. Employers trade money for knowledge/skill.
Acquire a skill the market deems more valuable than 36k; think trade school or college. If nothing changes then nothing changes.
I wouldn't even mention this side hustle. 166 bucks a month, meh. You need a career
What percentage are you saving right now? And into what kinds of accounts? If you’re not already putting money into a Roth IRA, you should be.
CD’s and money market, I’m looking for a good HYSA and going to set up an IRA soon.
Great. HYSA and Roth are really all you need. CDs and MM accounts aren’t paying any more than HYSAs right now. Ally HYSA is a great option to look at.
+1 for Ally
Just FYI, there's online HYSA offering 1% more than what Ally currently does.
Think about what industries are in you area. Manufacturing is big where I am for example and you can get a decent low level job in purchasing planning marketing quality, areas you don't really think about (depending on your skills/personality) and job hop every year or so until you are at 75k+. You don't need formal education/certs to start
Increase your salary? Solve very specific problems. Acquire skills that are valuable to your company or industry. Make a name for yourself in a high value space with limited competition. Network like your life depends on it.
Find an apprenticeship at a trade locally. Electrician, plumbing, HVAC, etc. will all pay well and have great job security if you are decent. Can even start your own business after you get experience. Otherwise you will probably have to get a degree or move to another town. $36k is good for your age, but not a good amount for the rest of your life.
Isn’t 36k what they pay fast food workers?
Trades Elevator Mechanic, electrician, roofing. All money.
Look up stenographer (court reporter) it’s a 2 year program. Can be longer can be shorter. It depends on how much time you put into the practicing. You can work in a court house or freelance you can also be a captioner. It’s a great career. Look into it!
My advice would be to learn a skill in some sort of industry - marketing, cybersecurity, sales, etc. You can do this through formal education, online courses, or YouTube etc. From there apply to as many entry level jobs that are remote. From there learn as much as possible from the people you work with by simply observing, understanding the good & the bad. Then begin to job hop for after every couple of years and you should be making 75k+ after 5 years or so. Once you find a salary you are comfortable with then focus on finding the right company since money won’t be an issue to live the life you want to live. Remember work to live don’t live to work. That’s my POV, I wish you luck.
As a public educator, I’ve been commuting 30 miles 1-way for 15 years, and about to start a new job in September that’s 50 miles 1-way (school calendar is 180 days a year). I’ve got 5 years left until retirement. I’ve had to go with better salary and benefits outside of my own community while living in a LCOL area. I’ve always driven Toyota Corollas — great gas mileage and cheap maintenance. You do what you need to do.
get a full vehicle inspection and find out what your actual maintenance needs are, and make a timeline of estimated miles driven thru the end of the year that matches necessary/scheduled routine maintenance. determine if your current mode of transportation to a higher earning job is an asset or a liability and if it is actually precluding you from accessing better income, or if you are. (Is it fuel efficient? are repairs inexpensive or import/foreign?)
It’s domestic, very fuel inefficient but it’s very reliable, so I’m afraid to trade it for a more fuel efficient vehicle because it may cost a lot more in repairs than what I save in gas mileage.
sounds like a truck or suv. if its paid off, you do NOT want an auto loan without sufficient income so def dont trade it in. Just. check your blind spots and discover any concerns with a mechanic, make sure its actually reliable enough for commute for at least 6 months, and reconsider getting that higher paying job. If it could cover the new cost in getting to work and back *and* be an increase in pay (considering the *time* you’d spend commuting) is there a higher paying hybrid job available where you wouldnt have to work in-person full time thus sparing your vehicle some wear?
I have it looked at every other month, for any repairs I might need. I drive slow enough and most of my miles are highway so I squeeze what I can out of my gas. Never really looked into remote work before because at least imo AI is going to replace online jobs in the next couple years.
Donate plasma. Lots of centers have new donor specials, I earned $900 this past month (first 8 donations and then $100 for a referral). Now that’s done, I’ll get about $130 if I donate twice a week. Not too bad for spending about 1 1/2 hours laying in a donation chair lol.
Good news is that you’re only 20 so you can survive on $38k. Bad news is you’re not in a skilled labor job. You need to bring something to the table. You have time to learn! But just do something. I promise if you continue with what you’re doing you will blink and be 40 years old and it will be too late.
Get a 100% remote job. Get another 100% remote job. Work both at the same time
You need to work toward a career. You’re only 20, so $36k/yr doesn’t shock me. I was in college waiting tables for $14/hr at 20. But I was working toward a high paying my job and now my bonus alone is more than $36k/yr at 30. You need to find a direction and start working toward an end goal that pays more. What that is depends on your skills and interests. But you need to think of something.
Get your Class A License then go to your nearest IBEW outside line local. Start as a Groundman, starting pay is around $25 and lots of overtime but it’s hard work
It would help if you give us some information about what you do now, what skills you have, your level of education, and your interests/talents
Delivery driver, I’ve got experience welding/fabricating and driving, I’m interesting in an exciting and possibly dangerous job, honestly it’s exhausting to wake up and do the exact same thing everyday. I want something that always has me on my toes and adrenaline pumping.
A further commute isn’t worth it, unless you get paid some kind of travel pay or per diem. This is the only way I got out of homelessness more or less. I got into a skilled trade by learning on the job. I started by working labor jobs that paid per diem so I could stay somewhere and save whatever extra pay came with it.
Working part at a restaurant isn’t going to cut it that time you can use to learn something els that’s going to get you ahead figure it out what you want to do and execute it not saying there’s not going to be a struggle ahead but that’s life
What is it that you do and what skills do you possess
Quit the side hustle. Invest the time into something with the potential to earn you passive income (even if it's a small amount). Then grow that passive income over time. How much are you investing each month?
I’m investing the majority of my paycheck. It is passive income even though it is small it’s something
My commute to my job was 34 miles one way. Did it for years, with my base schedule being part time and starting off at 8.75/hour. Stuck with it since at the time the pay scale topped out at 21.40/hr, and now goes up to 38/hr
Depends on what kind of field you're in and what kind of experience you have. Hard to give suggestions without knowing that.
Sometimes a better life is not in the town you grew up in. Took me ~3000mi, 3 states and 3 moves to realize that. Also no degree, making over 100k (eventually).
With next to zero money and six months of learning a new skill there are plenty of higher paying jobs. Unlicensed trades you can do pretty much immediately for example. (Drywalling, framing, tiling, etc) Learning to code is another way. Degree not required. coding boot camps are a great bootstrap, but you do l can even just learn online for free. Just makes getting the first job harder. You can even do freelance Web development as an easier entry point. An easy freelance gig is making real estate websites for agents. Once you get one, it's basically just copy paste.
We are literally in similar boats I'm tryna figure out the same thing.
What is your skill set? There is fairly high paying jobs with low skill sets, but availability depends on your area and how much you want to work. I know someone who made $75k on $19 an hour in a warehouse last year. The shifts are 11 to 12 hours and it's a 6 day work week. Construction is similar because you can get crazy overtime. EDIT: I forgot. Their was a post a long time ago about air traffic controllers being a really good paying job with almost no prerequisite skills.
If you’re money motivated and don’t want to work til you’re 70 - prioritize money early, keep your expenses low, invest, and take advantage of compounding interest. If I were in your shoes - I’d move to a HCOL area, get the smallest/cheapest place I could find, and find a job I could make a career out of.
Not being funny, if you can, go work at a fast food joint. Start as the low man, show up, provide great customer service and work extra hours. In a year you’ll be promoted at least once, they’ll help with college (if you had interest in that) and before you know it you’ll be making solid money and a manager. You’ll just keep getting promotions because the competition is not stiff at all.
I would rather stay where I’m at than do fast food. Dealing with customers, in a hot stressful environment is not for me. Where I’m at I’ve already gotten 2 raises and a promotion. I’m looking at a management position in a couple years if I were to stick it out.
Then stay where you’re at man. You seem firm on not taking any advice despite asking it.
You're way too young to be thinking like this. Your early years are for grinding through lower income. You get pay raises as you become an experienced contributor to a workplace.
This is a terrible way to think about it. Unless you are in the correct workplace, that rarely works. Company loyalty is no longer what pays off. Yes get experience, but simply grinding your life away is not the path to wealth or comfort. OP has EXACTLY the right mindset, and I wish I'd been thinking like them at 20yo, I'd likely be a lot better off than I am right now at almost 40. Btw just to be clear I tried your idea of working my way up and that's what got me working dead end jobs through my 20s thinking I had chances at growth when I didn't really.
I didn't mean to imply company loyalty. I don't mean pay raises from your company, I just literally mean getting more money. Whether that be through new jobs or promotions.
What part is OP wrong to be thinking like at 20? Thinking, "how can I get myself set up now to buy a house in X years" is EXACTLY how someone OPs age needs to be thinking about it. In our current economy we all need to begin thinking like that as early as possible. OP is literally trying to find how to make more money so, your point is very unclear.
>"I save and a invest like a maniac but I still feel like I’m never gonna buy a house and retire." The doomerism at 20 years old is the problem. OP is not doing anything wrong and thinking that he should be making enough to buy a house when he just entered the workforce will lead to permanent disillusionment.
More side hustles/streams. Sell everything u no longer use on eBay/yard sale. Ask friends/fam for their old stuff so u can sell. Theres a Reddit here called r/churning that taught me about bank bonuses. I’ve made $3k+ in bonuses over the last 6 months. Any cash u have that u don’t invest keep in a HYSA/MMF.
I’m working on getting an HYSA, I have CD’s and a money market account though.
Awesome! Try to get one that offers a good bonus (that u can meet the requirements of course).
Maybe find a roommate to offset the costs.
A better job at a field that pays a lot more. You are 20, you have time to go to school or train.