How in the hell do people succeed?... Am I just terrible at Life?

Industrial maint can pay quite different across industries. Any pharma plants? Fancy chemicals? Defense?

CrustyRedXpress said:

The_Jed said:

   I'd say roughly 100% of you guys are more successful than me. I would really like to know just how in the berkeley any of you made it to where you are today. 

Just fix your money issues. I graduated college with a philosophy degree, but most of my wealth came from 3 things:

1. I married my best friend-she hated being poor as much as I did.

2. In 2011 I got into sales and 3x'ed my income.

3. We put more than 50% of our earnings into the market for the next 8 years.

Long term advice:

If I was in your position I would get into sales, get really good at it and start socking money away. Don't ever, ever tell yourself that you can't make it, because you'll start believing that.

Short term advice for this week:

Go watch a movie called "The Pursuit of Happyness" and never forget that you can do this.

Buy a book called "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and read it. Everything else the author wrote is a BS scam, but the book will teach you a lot about how wealthy people think. If you don't want to spend the money DM me and I'll buy it for you.

 

I'm sorry, I cannot tell if this post is a joke.  It reads a lot like this:

In reply to TravisTheHuman :

Which part? I agree that many sales jobs are an excellent way to drastically increase one's earnings, and often don't require college education. I'm talking about business to business sales. What he wrote pretty much described what my wife and I did. I didn't quite 3x my pay, but close enough, and my wife went beyond that. We didn't stick 50% of our pay in the market, but did about 20%, paid off all debt and a big chunk of the house. I know dozens of people with similar results. 
 

Being in industrial maintenance, he's likely already got contacts with vendors and distributors that sell to his facility. Those vendors and distributors usually pay their sales people well, and they would likely see the benefit of his knowledge and experience. They may not hire straight away for that position- but it's not uncommon to get hired on as a sales trainee while you learn the ropes of the business. You need to be good with people and be self motivated, but the opportunity is there. 

In reply to The_Jed :

The flywheel that I posted earlier, does that seem like the problem the Minivan is experiencing?  

I ask because the next step is that I would like to recommend a "community wrenching session."  I think you're in Illinois??  We have many GRM'ers in that area included in the Triangle of Bad Decisions.  The repair is easiest with a lift but with many hands it can be done "on the flat" also.  

Question for Jed:  Where are you?

Questions for all GRM: Are you near there and willing to help work on the minivan?  

Remember, this is not just a manual labor event, this will be a fellowship and camaraderie event.  If you've ever taken a hand in a "Parking Lot Build" at The Challenge then you know how fun these group projects can be.  Many hands has a way of taking what seem like a daunting tast and reducing it to light work.  Personally, I am 5 hours out from metro Chicago but I have a Prius and I can travel cheaply...

Who has some work space in the area? 

Jed, you are no short-timer here at GRM.  I'm sure you've been here for 20 years and that more than makes you "one of us"!  I assure you we can't solve it all but I know we can solve this Grand Caravan!  

I'm too far away to help wrench but I'd throw a few bucks into a kitty to help cover parts. 

TravisTheHuman said:

CrustyRedXpress said:

The_Jed said:

   I'd say roughly 100% of you guys are more successful than me. I would really like to know just how in the berkeley any of you made it to where you are today. 

Just fix your money issues. I graduated college with a philosophy degree, but most of my wealth came from 3 things:

I'm sorry, I cannot tell if this post is a joke.

Sorry if I wasn't clear-what part did you interpret as a joke?

The 3x income came from jumping from non-comission retail (~40k) to B2B software sales (~115k). Wife was increasing her income during that time as well but I can't  remember how much...we were able to put ~50% into the market (or Real Estate investments) because we kept our cost of living the same as it was when we were making far less.

It's been alluded to earlier in the thread but this sort of thing is pretty common in the FIRE community.

MrSmokey said:

For starters give 10% of your income to church or charity off the top before paying for anything else. You won't miss it and you'll likely start to prosper if you're doing the rest of the money management right... it's kinda like a law of nature

Somebody is at the end of their financial rope, and your suggestion is to tithe 10% because "you won't miss it"?  C'mon man, read the room here.  

MrSmokey said:

For starters give 10% of your income to church or charity off the top before paying for anything else. You won't miss it and you'll likely start to prosper if you're doing the rest of the money management right... it's kinda like a law of nature

I recommend The People Fund. 

Puddy46 said:

MrSmokey said:

For starters give 10% of your income to church or charity off the top before paying for anything else. You won't miss it and you'll likely start to prosper if you're doing the rest of the money management right... it's kinda like a law of nature

Somebody is at the end of their financial rope, and your suggestion is to tithe 10% because "you won't miss it"?  C'mon man, read the room here.  

That post made me lol wut hard. 

In reply to MrSmokey :

Tithing for profit, misses the point entirely.  And misses the point of the thread, as well. 

Don't feed the troll.

I feel better when I give money to tv preachers

In reply to johndej :

To paraphrase Ron White, I'm aware I have the right to remain silent, I just seldom have the ability. 
You are quite right. 

Either way, back on topic.   And in attempt to turn this in a positive direction:

The_Jed - I believe we've established by majority rule that you are NOT, in fact, terrible at life.  You've been dealt a E36 M3ty hand, for sure, but you're playing the cards you currently hold to the best of your ability.

So, that leaves changing the cards. 

What you need, my friend, is a goal.

The question you asked is "How do people succeed?"    I think you need to define what you see as success, and maybe we can help you get a direction towards it?

For example, do you define success as having enough to retire in 20 years?  What does "enough" look like to you?

Is success a better job, better house, etc., etc.?

Can you move to Canada for work?

Lots of places here in the prairies are looking for people. The job requirements are usually "show up".

Pay out here may not be great but it's cheaper to live so being broke is easier.

Got an email in my inbox the other day, power company is looking for linesmen in Oregon.

Pay is $65/hr and $100 per diem

Anything over 40hrs is double time.

BUT (and there is always a but)

• Its 6x10s
• Its in the middle of nowhere
• You gotta have your Journeyman's card

So thats $250k a year give or take.  But its a lot of work.

As Thomas Edison put it. "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work"   

In reply to ShawnG :

If I recall he does the same thing I do and we discussed that possibility in the past. Not sure why he never pursued it. 

Sounds like you're in a depressed small town with almost no opportunities. If I went back to my small town of 400 people in a very dead part of WV, I'd be starving or working at Dollar General. 

My advice is to move to a thriving area. I understand it takes money to move so my statement above is easy to say hard to execute. 

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

That's a good point. 
 

I lived in a dead town for 15 years. When I sold my house, I had to take a $20,000 loss. I hated that after 15 years there was no growth at all. 
 

I moved to a high growth area. I was discouraged that I had to spend so much to buy a house there. A friend said "Well, the good news is that you are back in the appreciation cycle".

He was right. I sold that house 5 years later for a $200,000 gain.

I love living in a sleepy town without much drama and low costs.  But it's not a place for financial growth.

(although in this case, he may have a hard time affording to move to a thriving area)

In reply to SV reX :

That is a point, I moved from the small town I was living in to Pittsburgh seeking opportunities, didn't pan out, left there for the DC area where I had more contacts and it worked. 

I'm definitely better off than the vast majority of people who stayed in the small town I grew up in, or the one I lived in for college.

In reply to SV reX :

Exactly. Jed could no doubt make a lot of $$$ in DC or Miami. But he'd likely be poor again to afford the cost of living. 

Another though I had would be long haul trucking since the kids are old enough to be self reliant. That's what my neighbor does. He's an immigrant from Uzbekistan. Guy came here with little money or skills. Works as a trucker. His wife retail. They just bought a $400k plus home after living in a small apartment and saving up a down payment. Dude works his ass off but is doing well. His kids are thriving. I have a ton of respect for him. 

Sorry, didn't intend to rock the boat so bad... I'm only suggesting what has worked well in the past when I was in financial trouble and is still working for me and many others I know. Also, it's not tithing for profit and it doesn't necessarily need to be 10%. Anyway, carry on... 

In reply to John Welsh :

Thank you. Your kindness is overwhelming. I'm not at the point where I can tear into the van just yet but, thank you.

Peabody said:

In reply to ShawnG :

If I recall he does the same thing I do and we discussed that possibility in the past. Not sure why he never pursued it. 

I did pursue it, I just failed to get the job and housing, etc. In fact, I tried a few times. 


There were a couple in the states too, Wasington, NorCal, Western Colorado, etc.


But, at this point, with one kid in their senior year of high school and the other a junior, I'd rather not uproot them and move away from everything they've known.