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I’ve decided this year is the year I get my crap together.

SketchMaster

SketchMaster

Diamond Member
Not that I’ve been slacking off this whole time, but I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing. I’m already working on stuff like dressing more matured and taking more responsibility for myself, such as keeping my apt clean and not hitting the snooze button five times then having to rush to work. That being said, I’ve sat back and taken inventory of what I’ve done with my life and realize that I’ve let two major things slip:

1. My education
2. My finances

I’m 25, done a little of everything as far as school; but never got my damn degree. I was on track in 2009 but lost sight of it when I switched to a position at work that had me traveling all the time and was working 80hr a week, so I had no time to think about school. Now I’m disappointed I lost my momentum, because I could be in the home stretch of an AS working towards my BS. Something my Boss said a few weeks ago has been resonating in my head, “Joe, you’re too damn smart to not have a degree.”. Also, my Boss always has to fight to get me a raise because the people upstairs hold it over my head that I don’t have a degree, both my boss and I are sick of that. And lastly, if I decide to leave my job or I'm let go I will have a hell of a time finding a good paying job even with solid experience.

As far as money, I’m done not having any. I just got a raise that pushed me just into scratching distance of 40k gross (not horrible for a guy with just a G.E.D, but at 25 it’s not great&#8230😉 and I’ve been living hard and fast with that money, besides paying into a 401k, I’ve saved dick. All those 80hr weeks traveling gave me awesome checks, but 80% of it went to toys, top shelf booze and $30 steak dinners. Now I’m back in a normal job where I have to watch my spending, and I’m wishing I had set that money aside for something other than boy’s night out. I’m going to look into opening a savings account where a portion of my pay goes to it, out of sight so I’m not tempted to dip into it unless I need it (actually think I have a savings account with a bank that I forgot about, last I saw it had ~$300 just sitting there).

That’s it, just kinda putting this out here so if this time next year I’m whining about my company letting me go and getting my car repossessed you can link this post and say, “fail”.
 
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Sounds like a plan. Get your degree before you get even busier with life. Do you have a list of schools you would like to get into, the programs and when the application cut-off dates are?
 
I've been 1 year off from my degree since my jr year in college in 2002. I've said I was going to finish it and never went. Been making a decent amount since then and have found that a degree won't necessarily help me get more money. I'm in a higher pay bracket than some of my friends with BS degrees and I'm content. You don't need a degree to make a decent living.
 
On the bright side, you don't have any student loans like many people.

Make sure when you work towards your degree, think long and hard about how much money you are borrowing.
 
Already enrolled at a local University where I was taking some classes but I put my account(?) on hold for travel, they've been emailing me for the past two months trying to get me back into classes. Just want to get my CC paid back down and some minor surgery done before I get back in the books.

Aiming for summer or fall at the absolute latest.
 
mztykal said:
I've been 1 year off from my degree since my jr year in college in 2002. I've said I was going to finish it and never went. Been making a decent amount since then and have found that a degree won't necessarily help me get more money. I'm in a higher pay bracket than some of my friends with BS degrees and I'm content. You don't need a degree to make a decent living.
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I don't really want to take the chance on that, I could live a long, happy life on a G.E.D; but, why risk it? Also, one of my sisters got her BS from California Polytechnic and summa cum laude.

Not going to let her show me up.

jingramm said:
On the bright side, you don't have any student loans like many people.

Make sure when you work towards your degree, think long and hard about how much money you are borrowing.
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Company offers tuition reimbursement, not bad from what I’ve been told from co-workers.

Two catches, it has to be in the tech field and you have to stay with the company for three years after you graduate. My plan is to finish out my AS (forget the major but it’s just a generic I.T degree) as something to have under me, then move to UCCS where I’ll decide if computers are what I really what to do for the rest of my life or change gears to Mechanical Engineering since I’ve always wanted to give it a try.
 
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Why get your crap together? The toilet is a marvelous invention. Yeah, you can get your crap together, but before you know it, your house is full of buckets of shit.



P.S. Nice on improving yourself, I admire that.
 
Go back to school and don't look back.

As you've found out, it's way tougher to go back once you've left.

I'm on my second go around as well, will graduate next year, and be making more than 40k.
 
CRXican said:
I'm 27 with a degree and don't make 40K

keep working
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Not hating, but seriously, this dude is right.

Keep working, honestly if you just keep doing what you're doing there's a lot jobs that hire based on your experience as there's lots of kids that have degree's that can't apply what they've learned.

Seriously, I haven't made less than 40k in awhile and I only have my HS diploma...
 
mztykal said:
Not hating, but seriously, this dude is right.

Keep working, honestly if you just keep doing what you're doing there's a lot jobs that hire based on your experience as there's lots of kids that have degree's that can't apply what they've learned.

Seriously, I haven't made less than 40k in awhile and I only have my HS diploma...
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Because I know I can do better and I'm doing this for me, not the money. I work with computers because it pays and I like it enough to tolerate it, but some days I feel like I’m just going through the motions; so I want to put myself out there and see what I’m really capable of.
 
SketchMaster said:
Company offers tuition reimbursement, not bad from what I’ve been told from co-workers.
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I would go back to college if I were you. Getting a college degree without any debts.. is a rarity these days.. and you have got the opportunity to do it.

<-- College student with debt
 
I think you are doing it for the money as well as yourself, since your first posts talked about credit card debt and no savings. The thing is, at your current job it seems like having a degree would yield more money. But that isn't the case at most other jobs, most look for experience. Plus, say you graduate with a bachelors. It will be tough finding a job right after graduation, so you will then be further in debt and waiting for a job to find you. All the while you could have been working that whole time and learning to save better...
 
SketchMaster said:
forget the major but it&#8217;s just a generic I.T degree as something to have under me, then move to UCCS where I&#8217;ll decide if computers are what I really what to do for the rest of my life or change gears to Mechanical Engineering since I&#8217;ve always wanted to give it a try.
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If I had to pick between the industrial field, and IT, I would pick the industrial field.

With IT - In 10 years, nobody is going to care what classes you took in college, or where you worked, because its going to be outdated.

With Mechanical Engineering and the industrial field - stuff slowly changes, what you learned in college will still apply 10+ years later.

Life in the industrial field is so much more rewarding then working with computers. And your health will probably thank you later on. Instead of working at a desk all day, in the engineering field, you might actually get to go outside.

If Mechanical Engineering is really something that interest you, get your AS in Welding Technology, and your BS in Mechanical Engineering. Or get a Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering degree. The welding degree with add a little "extra" to your resume.
 
I got my AS in Engineering Sciences. See if a community college offers that, as you get a feel for a couple different types of engineering. Who knows, you may like industrial engineering or microengineering or something else besides mechanical...
 
Probably the two most important things for your finances is some sort of long term goal (ie, saving up to buy a house, a car, or just some number ($50,000)) and then create a budget to manage your money.

$40k a year is $3333 a month, so figure out how much it costs for rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation, food, fun, and savings/retirement. Write down a budget for the coming month and 'spend' every dollar you make beforehand. Everything that doesn't get spent in the necessities and fun goes towards saving towards that goal you made earlier. And then the most important step is to stick to that budget. It will probably take some readjusting of the numbers a few times until you get a budget that actually is possible.

A good first few goals would be to pay off any debts you have, then save up a good sized emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses is the usual rule of thumb)


Good luck!
 
blinblue said:
Probably the two most important things for your finances is some sort of long term goal (ie, saving up to buy a house, a car, or just some number ($50,000)) and then create a budget to manage your money.

$40k a year is $3333 a month, so figure out how much it costs for rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation, food, fun, and savings/retirement. Write down a budget for the coming month and 'spend' every dollar you make beforehand. Everything that doesn't get spent in the necessities and fun goes towards saving towards that goal you made earlier. And then the most important step is to stick to that budget. It will probably take some readjusting of the numbers a few times until you get a budget that actually is possible.

A good first few goals would be to pay off any debts you have, then save up a good sized emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses is the usual rule of thumb)


Good luck!
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40k is 3333 a month? Wrong. After uncle Sam takes his cut, it's more like 25k if you're lucky, which works out to just over 2000 a month.

Definitely work on paying off any outstanding debt. Reduce your expenses. Save up, etc.

I would also suggest learning how to cook for yourself. If you like steak, great. Start there. You can make a pretty damned good steak dinner for 10-15 bucks vs the 30-40 plus tip that you'd get elsewhere. Cooking is a great way to work on reducing your expenses.
 
96Firebird said:
I think you are doing it for the money as well as yourself, since your first posts talked about credit card debt and no savings. The thing is, at your current job it seems like having a degree would yield more money. But that isn't the case at most other jobs, most look for experience. Plus, say you graduate with a bachelors. It will be tough finding a job right after graduation, so you will then be further in debt and waiting for a job to find you. All the while you could have been working that whole time and learning to save better...
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Yes and no.

Am I doing it to get paid more? Of course I am, but I make enough money that I can start fixing the debt problem right now, by watching my spending and getting into the habit of saving; after that, I'm just thinking down the road for life in general.

And I’m going to be going to college while I’m working full time, unless some major shift happens, or at the very least part time. It will take longer to graduate sure, but that’s what I get for putting it off this long.
 
mvbighead said:
I would also suggest learning how to cook for yourself. If you like steak, great. Start there. You can make a pretty damned good steak dinner for 10-15 bucks vs the 30-40 plus tip that you'd get elsewhere. Cooking is a great way to work on reducing your expenses.
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Already working on that, it was one of my smaller life goals. Cooking was something I always enjoyed, but when I traveled more than anything I got lazy.
 
mvbighead said:
40k is 3333 a month? Wrong. After uncle Sam takes his cut, it's more like 25k if you're lucky, which works out to just over 2000 a month.

Definitely work on paying off any outstanding debt. Reduce your expenses. Save up, etc.

I would also suggest learning how to cook for yourself. If you like steak, great. Start there. You can make a pretty damned good steak dinner for 10-15 bucks vs the 30-40 plus tip that you'd get elsewhere. Cooking is a great way to work on reducing your expenses.
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Ah, for some reason I read it as 40k net. However 40k gross (assuming all not subject to self-employment tax), assuming single without any dependents will have a tax bill of about $3800. So 25k is lowballing it a bit, probably closer to $35k
Used this to get at those numbers

But yes, cooking for yourself is great for saving money. Buying food at a restaurant is usually at least 4 times more expensive than if you bought the ingredients and made yourself. Not to mention its almost always healthier to make it yourself (places love to load on the salt/fat) and tastier too.

Learning to make your own bread can be fun and rewarding. 1lb of yeast at Costco/Sams Club is about $4, 25lbs of flour is about $5, 2 liters of olive oil $10, salt is basically free. So for $20 you can make enough bread to last you a long long time
 
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CRXican said:
I'm 27 with a degree and don't make 40K

keep working
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This. My wife hasn't reached 40k either, and she has a doctorate and 90k in school loans (we are in our early 30's).

Most of the colleges in my area are raising tuition like crazy, cutting classes, and the kids aren't getting jobs when they get out.

You may actually be better off staying put for now.
 
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