Can ERE Be Useful to Low Income Individuals?

[sky]

my philosophy could be very screwed up, but gaming addiction and some other problems/detours, have left me in a bad, bad situation money wise, but getting a job at a place where my mom works($300 per week about), I'm not sure if that's adequate or livable, after you pay rent, there just isnt much left

Congratulations on getting a job, it sounds like you are making progress.

[George the original one]

I completely agree that if I sold the house and moved I could retire right now. At the same time I just can't do that. I have all my family here, 3 kids who are settled and if I'm honest the area where I live is great.

That's the thing, Steve. You're not fed up enough with your current situation to upset the status quo.

My ancestors decided to make drastic changes, emigrating to the colonies before there was a United States... the most recent migrants in my heritage came to the US from England just prior to the Civil War. The patriarch was a farm laborer for the manor house in sheep country, the sons that were old enough were servants in the manor house, they rented a home above the local pub, etc. At the age of 45 or so, he packed up second wife, 4 sons, 1 daughter, 1 sister-in-law (she becomes daughter-in-law several years later), and blind mother-in-law to begin a new life in the States.

Imagine what that's like! What drives people to use their life savings to leave a seemingly secure situation, leaving cousins/aunts/uncles/nephews/nieces/friends to begin again in a new country? There's desperation and dissatisfaction with their lot in life that can boggle the mind.

[Things didn't go particularly well for this bunch. After finding their feet, they began farming near Madison, Wisconsin. Older sons help on the farm, 18-yr-old son (2nd youngest) becomes a butler in Chicago. Then the American Civil War begins. The 2nd youngest joins the Wisconsin volunteers and is assigned to a post in Kansas, but dies there from illness without ever seeing combat. The two older sons marry and live nearby. The blind mother-in-law passes away. After the war, the daughter marries the son of a nearby successful farmer. That leaves the youngest son now helping the aging patriarch and his wife on the farm. The 3 of them move to Nebraska and end up on state assistance 20 years later, possibly in the poorhouse. The youngest son returns to Wisconsin and dies at age 40 (likely suicide, but I haven't confirmed) as a ward of the state. One of the older sons has no descendants, the other does. The daughter was my greatgrandmother.]

[steveo73]

I completely agree that if I sold the house and moved I could retire right now. At the same time I just can't do that. I have all my family here, 3 kids who are settled and if I'm honest the area where I live is great.

That's the thing, Steve. You're not fed up enough with your current situation to upset the status quo.

Agreed. My life is a good one now. I do want to improve my situation and I will RE in my opinion (more like 50 than 30) however I will do it on my terms.

To me this comes down to tailoring an idea (ER) to your individual situation. To me its more though than just escaping work. Its more about long term financial independence. I think moving to a country with lower cost of living mightn't work for me over the longer term especially as I have family and friends where I live now.

[Did]

@steveo73 That sounds completely sensible. I'm in the fortunate position of not having any debt nor children and can just spend my time with the love of my life jumping from adventure to adventure without regard to much other than enjoying every day and slowly exploring the world...

[steveo73]

@steveo73 That sounds completely sensible. I'm in the fortunate position of not having any debt nor children and can just spend my time with the love of my life jumping from adventure to adventure without regard to much other than enjoying every day and slowly exploring the world...

I would actually like to just sell the house and start travelling or something. I suppose I could also rent it out. In stating that I think the most sensible and prudent decision is to continue on the path we are on now.

I have a good life. I work with some great people. I have a lot of flexibility at work at the moment as well. I still though have a lot of crap within my job and its going to be a struggle getting through another 5-6 years. Still its better than another 20-25 years.

[Arbo]

:O Please share more. I'm currently making $3 an hour on mTurk, doing research studies and lal kinds of other ridiculous things to make money! trying to save up enough to get a bike, but even then I will be making low amounts of money, likely minimum wage

I'm sorry to hear you still haven't found a bike. Did you try any of the "get a bike for free" ideas I proposed in that thread?

If you had the bike, what job would you be able to get?

If you like mturk have you considered upwork or fiverr? You can get higher paying jobs there. Do you have ms word or excel skills?

Have you considered starting a journal? I think you might find it personally beneficial (I do) and people might be able to help you more specifically if they had more detail.

I didnt go with the free bike ideas sadly, TBH, I don't think people would go for that idea around here

If I had a bike, I would be able to get a factory/assembling type job, or maybe a job at the airport. I actually had a job at UPS, or 99% sure I got it, but when they sent the email for the orientation, it was 9 miles away

I dont know if I have much hope TBH, and from a logical, detached perspective and not a 'feelings' perspective, that has to happen. Every system has to produce certain results, by this system maybe an x amount of ppl are destined to be homeless(modern finance system) -- Srs, that's how I feel now. Too many weird obstacles, but really it's all fate

I might post a journal, it would be pretty depressing though. When I say starting in a bad situation, no transportation/bad work history, i really mean that -- I have to sometimes sit up in the middle of the night and think, 'this is crazy, my life feels crazy'

So im not even sure if getting a job will be easy or making a living will be, that job I got was only $140 per week and it was at the airport near my house I think, well 4 miles away, for four hours per day, i guess loading things on planes or just on trucks -- ahh well, I am seriously understanding now why poor people use drugs

If I get some kind of breakthrough, maybe then I will make a journal, right now Im not sure what I can say(as long as im out of work)(well, mturk can be kinda work, though it sucks)

[jennypenny]

So im not even sure if getting a job will be easy or making a living will be, that job I got was only $140 per week and it was at the airport near my house I think, well 4 miles away, for four hours per day, i guess loading things on planes or just on trucks -- ahh well, I am seriously understanding now why poor people use drugs

$140/week is over $7K/year, aka a 'jacob' on the forum, and many people here have lived at that income level.

I think why you're getting some blowback now is because you asked for help, but seem more interested in coming up with excuses for why any suggestions made won't work. Why wouldn't you at least try to get a bike? Or barter with someone for rides to work. You could have walked to the UPS orientation and then tried to find a coworker you could pay to drive you to your shift every day. Walking 9 miles isn't easy, but it's not impossible, especially to get to a UPS job (fairly lucrative for the skills required). The 4 mile commute to the part-time job is certainly walkable.

You have to get past feeling sorry for yourself. I don't mean that to sound harsh, but the longer you wait to get started, the longer you'll be stuck where you are. If you start a journal and include specifics, people will try to help you -- but it will come with some tough love. Take it as it's meant--as constructive criticism--and not as an attack.

[thrifty++]

how old are you though? Many people go through tough economic times at the beginning if you come from a poor family and you have to climb the ladders. It all takes time. When I was 21 I slept on the floor for a year as I could not afford a mattress and ate cheap noodles and bakery left overs. I certainly have not needed to live anything like that since after all the steps to slowly make progress. I definitely never wasted any precious income on drugs or alcohol or lottery tickets for that matter.

[vexed87]

Agreed, start a journal, you'll get practical advice tailored to your most current circumstances, don't think people won't help just look at the number of responses each of your threads has received. Most of us have been in your position at one time or another. It just sounds to me like your having motivational crisis. If you turned down a job with UPS because of a 18 mile round commute, we could argue that was just as self destructive as a drug habit!

As JP and others have suggested, you need to cure the excusitis and develop a strong can do attitude if you want to get ahead. Maybe you would benefit from reading this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Magic-Thinkin ... 0671646788

Sooner or later you need to recognise that 'fate' doesn't exist and the barriers you perceive to success are in your own head, which is good news for you because that means that 'success' is fully within your grasp. If the odds are stacked against you have to work harder to succeed, or simply start turning those odds in your favour. What did people do to ensure success before the 'economy' became an all signing and dancing deity that wielded control over their 'destiny'? Hard work, most likely. Don't fear it, embrace it.

[Arbo]

I am debating starting a journal. most of my threads act like a mini-journal... ehh, I need to start a journal, I agree

[Arbo]

Hey all. I want to give an update! I got a PM from bottlerocks, who was nice enough to actually send me a bicycle, helmet and protective gear, as well as tolerate my PM's as he encouraged me to go out and get a job!

It's been five years.

Where do I start?

Over the past four years I've built a kind of stable life -- Many who've read my posts know that I was in a very unstable situation, even to the point of thinking I would be hoimeless

I'm no 'success'. I work at an Amazon warehouse for $16 an hour. It's what I've did for the past two years. Before that, I did two online gigs: Amazon's Mechanical Turk and working for a transcription company called CrowdSurf. Both probably paid about $12 an hour when times were good, but eventually became very unprofitable and I was forced to find a different job.

After about 1.5 years in there I pulled a back muscle and I realized that I really wanted a different job. I didn't think I could keep doing my job my whole life. I was old for the job, I was managed by young 20 somethings and there was a real highschool culture. I started researching online and seeing what kind of degree or trade I could get at 30 that could get me some kind of job that wouldn't kill my back. I felt HVAC and IT were both promising. I decided to go with IT and used a program called Career Choice at Amazon to pay for $3000 worth of IT classes at my community college. Using just Amazon's funding, it will take me 4 years to get an associates which unfortunately will leave me 35 with an associates in IT. That's damn scary to me!

But, I'm slaving away at an Amazon warehouse. Other people have died in coal mines from black lung or suffered diseases of malnutrition. I will be a loser in societies eyes, 90% likely, but I'm going to pursue this goal and keep enjoying my simple life.

I use the library to find good books to read, I have friends at work and people who are in the similar struggle as me, and the spiritual beliefs I grew up with form a kind of backdrop that lets me tolerate being a 31 year old warehouse worker. Hell, it's hard for me to even type it because it's just scary for me to say my age and my job

My plan for the future: Continue low expense living, budgeting while working at Amazon. Try to take care of my body so it doesn't break down so I can continue to work this job while I pursue my education and hopefully make the jump to a new career

I miss you guys. You give great advice and a big shot out to bottlerocks who not only sent me a bike but lined me up jobs that were within cycling distance

[Stahlmann]

hmm. finally somekind of interesting problems and some interesting solutions. keep rocking!

[ertyu]

My situation was similar to yours in that I found my job very hard but I told myself many people had it worse (true) and it would only be 3 years until things improve (in my case it was "until I have saved enough" not "until I finally get my degree"). Corona made me lose my job, but even if it hadn't, I would have been fired because the fact that my job overwhelmed me meant I was crap at it. My advice is, don't rely on being able to do this 4 more years, and don't rely on Amazon and Amazon's funding and your job being around for that much. It is quite probable that it would be - but. My advice is to pour all you've got into getting that degree asap. I don't know what that would look like for you because your life is different from mine, but the transferable lesson is to prioritize that degree and get out.

[guitarplayer]

Great to see an update of an old post from the OP'er rather than Stahlmann! (just joking, I do enjoy the old posts you bump up Stahlmann)

Reflecting on the title of the post I would say that ERE is totally useful for low income individuals. Both DW and I earn less than you per hour (and frankly quite close to a minimum wage) and in the past 5 years we have managed to get from about -$3000 to $110,000.

[Alphaville]

I'm no 'success'. [...] Using just Amazon's funding, it will take me 4 years to get an associates which unfortunately will leave me 35 with an associates in IT. That's damn scary to me! [...] Hell, it's hard for me to even type it because it's just scary for me to say my age and my job

i don’t know you, but i like your story, and i think it’s a success story. you’re living your life on your own terms, which is what counts. i’d suggest stop worrying about your “age”—it’s a silly metric, and comparison is the thief of joy. so ditch the comparison and enjoy your life as it is—you’re on a good path, which is your own.

[Gilberto de Piento]

Arbo, thanks for posting a follow up on your life. I'm glad things are better these days. I remember when you posted here earlier.

[fiby41]

Age is just the number of times you have circumambulated (went around) the Sun.

[white belt]

@Arbo

I'd be curious the exact realm of IT you would like to go into. If it's basic help desk or network administration (which is where most folks start at the entry level), then even an associates degree is not necessary to land a job. It may be more beneficial to simply study and get a baseline IT certification or 2, such as Security+ (administration particularly for gov't work) or CCNA (network administration).

One of those certifications will demonstrate basic technical aptitude to an employer and should be enough to secure you an interview for an entry-level position. In other words it might accomplish the same thing as an associate's degree, but with way less money and time investment. Once you have the entry-level position, you can continue to learn on the job and start to climb the ladder to higher paying positions.

[classical_Liberal]

...

[Alice_AU]

I really want to reduce rent, but I don't see it as possible

You could consider to:

Have a roommate
Rent a room not a whole apartment to yourself
Live with a friend or family member and pay them rent

All of the above are just the easy options, more creative ones exist as well.