Major decision

[Skunkwourk]

It could be worth it in the long run, like I said, its a new place/new experience, raise, new work experience, new people, and it doesn't have to be permanent. If anything you can say you've lived elsewhere, but yeah in the end its your choice.

Last thing I'll say is, I agree renting feels like a waste, but if you're living at home just to save money, that can be a waste too.

 

[pontifex]

One of the guys that was considering the job went to Colorado this past weekend (before he found out about the salary drop and on his own dime). HE said they gave him a final offer of $36k.

The rest of us still haven't received a final offer yet but I bet it will be very similar to $36k.

This is just total bullshit. How the hell do you go from $60k to $36k?

 

[Aharami]

Well, no point moving just for the sake of moving unless he has a job lined up there and enough money to live without a job for a while. Grass isn't always greener just because it's "somewhere else".

oh yea. one should definitely settle the job situation before moving

 

[Aharami]

One of the guys that was considering the job went to Colorado this past weekend (before he found out about the salary drop and on his own dime). HE said they gave him a final offer of $36k.

The rest of us still haven't received a final offer yet but I bet it will be very similar to $36k.

This is just total bullshit. How the hell do you go from $60k to $36k?

that is utter BS. I'd start looking at other jobs. Start now - it will take a while to find a new job

 

[pontifex]

that is utter BS. I'd start looking at other jobs. Start now - it will take a while to find a new job

I've been looking for the past year and a half (ever since I took this job).

 

[StageLeft]

Do not put the cart before the horse.

You presently have a job.

Cross train/ get new skills while at the job. Go to school if needed after work hours. Then those skills will help you get something else - possibly out of state.

THIS

I also think renting is a waste of money. I can't seem to justify spending so much money on something I will never own.

Nonsense. Owning or not is of NO consequence. TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP. That is all that matters now, ever has, ever will. Use it when calculating a million things.

I used to rent an apartment for $750/month or something. I was "throwing away" all that money. I bought a house and the mortgage was $1150/month. Almost all of which was interest. Actual principal? Far less than the $400 diff. I could have had more money if I'd kept renting and just put the diff in a savings account. But I knew this at the time, though many people "buy" homes so that they can "pay themselves" instead of somebody else. Fvckbrains don't realize that the interest is almost all their payment and it's going to somebody else.

Your new company sucks sh*t. But you're able to work from home, so pull an Office Space (read: "bare minimum") and keep using the time to find a better job or get a better education.

 

[zinfamous]

^ I agree. get the hell out of your comfort zone. you might hate it...you might not make any new friends and be miserable. In that case, you can always move back. but you might also find yourself having a blast in your new place. you never know until you try, and the longer you wait, the harder it gets to move around

yes, just move for a spell. suck it up for a year. don't stagnate.

plus, it's easy as hell to live off of $41k in the Denver area and still have fun. I've survived on less than that in Chicago, on my own.

....but I would probably be draining all of my funds skiing down the hills were I in Denver... :hmm:

 

[zinfamous]

You guys can say what you want but I'm not moving to CO for $40k. not worth it to me.

I don't have an apartment or house here in PA because I don't think I can afford it. I've looked at the numbers and unless I can get something really cheap (not likely unless it's a roach infested garbage heap) I either can't afford it or it doesn't leave me with much of a buffer, and that's before I add in credit card bills.

I also think renting is a waste of money. I can't seem to justify spending so much money on something I will never own.

My other problem is that I am picky about where I want to live. I really don't want to live in a city or town. I prefer the rural areas.

Oh.


Now I see why you fail.

just stop bothering because you hate life so much.

boofuckinghoo.

 

[zinfamous]

oh yea. one should definitely settle the job situation before moving

I've never had to do that....

but if this shit about 60k to now possibly 36k is true...then fuck the hell out of that.

still wouldn't stop me from moving, setting up, then looking for a jobby job, where I so inclined..

It seems that the average human has forgotten the simplest life skills these days. One needs to understand their own value, how they fit in to the local community/industry, and plug the fuck in.

 

[alkemyst]

You are saying new hires get 50-60k yet they are looking to pay you only what a new guy makes....doesn't add up.

Most people think they are worth more to their employers than they are sadly. There are Ph.Ds out there now willing to work for $10/hr. Many people haven't had even cost of living adjustments for 2-3 years now making their salaries worth less each year in reality.

I seriously see that working from home option becoming a letter in the mail on pay day that you are no longer needed once the company is reestablished out west.

I'd start my job hunt now and take anything at close to your current salary.

 

[vi edit]

u are saying new hires get 50-60k yet they are looking to pay you only what a new guy makes....doesn't add up.

Both me and my wife have been in positions where somebody getting hired off the street makes more than people than people that have been there for 5 years. The companies do competitive analysis on their salaries and jack them up much higher than the 3% annual COL adjustments could ever catch up to.

So you had a guy that got hired on for $30,000 five years ago making a little over $35,000 after his 3% raises, but the new guy starts at $45,000 because that's what the market is paying. Old guy is pissed, but won't do anything because he's sitting on vacation accruels and 401k vestment.

It's just something I've seen when places need new hires.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've been looking for the past year and a half (ever since I took this job).

Well, in that case, you're going to have to move if you want something in all likelihood. Start applying in major cities around your location and gradually expand the circle. Have you applied in Philly or Pittsburgh? What about Columbus, Cincy, Cleveland, Louisville, or Indy? Those would be within easy driving distance of your family.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

You guys can say what you want but I'm not moving to CO for $40k. not worth it to me.

I'd probably agree unless they were paying relocation, which they're not. You'd think if they were originally offering $60K and dropped it to $40K, the least they could do is pay for relocation.

I don't have an apartment or house here in PA because I don't think I can afford it. I've looked at the numbers and unless I can get something really cheap (not likely unless it's a roach infested garbage heap) I either can't afford it or it doesn't leave me with much of a buffer, and that's before I add in credit card bills.

You're currently living at home, right? Why do you have credit card balances?

I also think renting is a waste of money. I can't seem to justify spending so much money on something I will never own.

That's life. You have to save and work for the privilege of owning a home, as no one just gives you one. Whether you can "justify it" or not is irrelevant, since it sounds like you don't have the money to buy a house anyway.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

hold up, your 30 years old, make 30k a year and still live in yo momma's basement? shens.....is this a parody? nobody would admit this if it were true.

 

[Hacp]

hold up, your 30 years old, make 30k a year and still live in yo momma's basement? shens.....is this a parody? nobody would admit this if it were true.

There is nothing wrong with making do with what you have. I think you should be mocking those on unemployment checks and welfare instead of hard working people like this man.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

There is nothing wrong with making do with what you have. I think you should be mocking those on unemployment checks and welfare instead of hard working people like this man.

wait you think I should mock people collecting unemployment? Why?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

There is nothing wrong with making do with what you have. I think you should be mocking those on unemployment checks and welfare instead of hard working people like this man.

No, but there is something wrong when the person continually complains about his lot in life and won't do anything to try to improve it.

I've followed pontifex's posts for a number of years. He reminds me very much of my wife's best friend. She is in debt very much due to some poor planning during college and grad school, and currently doesn't make enough to pay the bills. That isn't the part the reminds me of him -- the part that reminds me of pontifex is that no matter what anyone suggests to her, she comes up with 10,000 reasons NOT to do something or take a suggestion, but has no solutions of her own.

I don't necessarily blame him for not wanting to move to Colorado given no relocation expenses and the fact it would be for roughly the same pay. What I do see as the problem is that he has posted here for years about having 1) lack of marketable skills 2) no decent future prospects. Given these complaints and the fact that he is losing his job in a few months, wouldn't the prudent thing to do be to expand the job search AND his skillset? He is in central PA -- has he applied for jobs in Philly or Pittsburgh? What about in cities like Columbus, Cincy, Indy, Cleveland, or Louisville? All of those have relatively cheap costs of living and are an easy drive from central PA.

 

[Mide]

A change is sometimes all you need.

 

[pontifex]

hmm...heard a rumor today that the work from home deal would be only temporary - we'd have to move to CO eventually.

again, just a rumor, but if thats the case, screw that. I'm not opposed to moving to CO, in fact I was actually kind of excited to do it (especially when making the original quoted salary). But for 36k? I don't think so...

Still have yet to hear anything official from the guys the rest of us were talking to. They said they wanted to hear from us by mid-week. kind of annoying at this point.

 

[PingSpike]

It's not like I love PA. It's just that all family and friends are here. I do mostly like the rural area I live in too. Lots of freedom to do stuff and also find it pleasing to the eye.

I've got the same problem with Vermont. If my wife didn't like it for some reason, and our families and friends weren't here I'd have cut and run already. I've got a great job (for around here), but the cost of living is terrible. The only thing I like here are the rural parts of the state where you can get a lot of land...but there are no decent jobs in that area and since I work all day I'd have no real time to enjoy it.

Its scary moving away from your main support system, but $60K is nice bank for a call center job. Everyone hates their job, not everyone makes $60K while hating it.

Just do it. If you hate it...well, the economy will probably be better in a few years and you can look into moving back to PA. You don't have to leave forever so don't look at it like that. Hell, if you really hate it you can just move back and do your community college plan anyway. It's CO, not Detroit or Iraq!

Edit: Ughh...I read the rest of the thread.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

hmm...heard a rumor today that the work from home deal would be only temporary - we'd have to move to CO eventually.

again, just a rumor, but if thats the case, screw that. I'm not opposed to moving to CO, in fact I was actually kind of excited to do it (especially when making the original quoted salary). But for 36k? I don't think so...

Still have yet to hear anything official from the guys the rest of us were talking to. They said they wanted to hear from us by mid-week. kind of annoying at this point.

The company you work for really sucks. I've worked for some companies with questionable tactics in the past, but I think your company takes the cake.

 

[PingSpike]

That company sounds like it has the standard incompetent management system in place. What kind of moron squad leaks all that contradictory information and makes giant verbal offers before backing out? They've damaged morale, made themselves look stupid and disappointed a lot of people unnecessarily before they've even started working for them. Bravo!

I don't think I'd move for an extra $6K...but you may be forced to move to locate work anyway. Obviously milk the work from home thing if its available.

 

[Farang]

I think a lot of it depends on your age and what responsibilities you have at your current job and what you will do at the new job. If you're young, like me, I put my priorities like this:
1) Challenge/Responsibility/Opportunity - does this position offer me an opportunity to make a step up professionally, to advance my skills, to challenge me in a way that there is a real risk I'm exceeding what I'm capable of?
2) The work itself - is this something I'm interested in pursuing or will have any relevance for my career going forward?
3) Culture/lifestyle - what is the work environment like? The location? What might my personal life look like?
4) Compensation - do I get enough vacation not to burn out, can I save some, not live in the ghetto, etc.

I'm in a similar situation. Looks like I might have lined up a job paying around $36k, a definite step up from my current salary but because its a much smaller company and the role isn't clearly defined there is a lot of risk involved. But I have no wife/kids/house, am 23 years old, and this is a clear step up (from production worker to production manager), so screw it if I'm miserable for 2 years it is still a good opportunity.

As I get older, my priorities as listed above will likely be in the reverse order.

 

[BoomerD]

OK, from some of the replies by the OP and others, it sounds like he's afraid to move out of his mom's basement.

Dude, if you "can't" move out for $40k, you'll find excuses not to move out for $60k.

Apparently you're 30 years old?

Quit leeching off your parents and GTF out of their house.

 

[dpodblood]

If I was in his position I would not move, not for 36k. Now when the offer was 60k, hells yes pack your bags. Sounds like a pretty shady company. If I were the OP I'd continue looking for jobs in the surrounding area.

Also blang is 100% correct about owning a house. It's unrealistic to believe that you are going to go straight from your parents house to owning your own home, especially with a pile of credit debt, and no savings. Rent while you save up money to buy. No offense but at 30 years old, you should be long out of your parents place.