If you’d like someone to review your income and expenses, I’m willing to help, and I’m sure many others are as well. Please make a post if you would like some advice.
I appreciate the offer, but my income just isn’t enough to live on. I track every penny and while there are a few expenses I could cut, the money saved by depriving myself of those little luxuries wouldn’t pay a single overdue bill. And after job searching for almost an entire year while unemployed, I also know there are no higher paying jobs that I’m capable of getting.
That may be, or it may not. I don’t know your income, expenses, or what’s reasonable in your area. However, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got, and by your own words, what you’ve got isn’t working for you.
If you think your income is the issue and you’re having trouble finding better paying work, you should probably try something different. Talk to a career counselor, get a certification/degree, start a business, etc. There are lots of options for improving your job options, such as:
- apprenticeship at a trade - plumbers and electricians are in high demand I hear
- apply to drive a truck and get a CDL - I see signs in my area saying they’ll pay for your training to drive, and once you get a CDL, your options expand a lot
- night school - nursing is a big one in my area, but lots of programs exist; you may qualify for assistance as well
You can’t control who will pay you, but you do control how you spend your money and your time. Getting a better paying job takes a lot more than just sending out applications, it involves being bold, following up (call places you’ve applied), and adjusting your resume based on the feedback you’re getting (if you’re not getting interviews, make some changes for the next batch of applications, and ideally tailor your resume for each job). You have nothing to lose when applying for a job (worst they can do is say no), so you might as well give it your all.
but you _do_ control how you spend your money and your time.
This is a privileged viewpoint that doesn’t realize that the poor literally have less time and less flexibility, and in a lot of cases no control over how they spend their money because it ALL goes into basic necessities like housing and food.
There’s a reason they say the easiest way to get rich is to start with a lot of money. Money buys flexibility and time. When you are very poor, there is a ceiling that is near impossible to break out of without a lot of luck and some form of privilege that one may not recognize others might not have the same access to.
I broke out of that through years of turmoil in school and obscene student debts. I would not have been as able to without someone to live with who took care of me (my now wife) and had a much better job than me at the time. I also likely would never have been able to if I were a parent at the time, or more severely disabled.
I caution how easy you make it sound. It’s offensive to some who literally can’t “just go to night school.” Time is a luxury the rich have more of than the poor.
