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Originally Posted by Smooth23
I guess it would be advantageous to say that I just turned 21 in june. My current job pays 14.98/hr +benifits and the #5 401k plan in the country. The benefits and pay make this job hard to leave, but it consists of standing on an assembly line every day building air conditioners for cars. It's a brain numbing thing, when you can occasionally fall asleep and wake up a half hour later and still be working away.
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Been there. First reaction: "Wow, the day's almost over and it felt like just a minute went by. Great!" Second reaction: "DAMMIT, that's one day of my life, gone forever, and I didn't even LIVE it!" Didn't they just make a movie about that?
Here's the deal: $15/hour will never really get you that far ahead, even when the living's cheap. And what happens if production moves south of the border or west of Japan in the name of global competititiveness?
If I were you, I'd keep the job for now but:
* Start taking the night classes. Get moving on a college degree or professional certificate, even if slowly. I have no problem with technical schools or two-year degrees, if they teach something that you'd enjoy doing, and which is remunerative. Welding, machinist work (both involve your brain), high-end industrial plumbing and pipe-fitting (my dad's trade -- worked on oil refineries, nuclear submarines, etc.), emergency med tech and law enforcement. The list goes on.
* Start paying off your orthodontistry and car payments faster. If you can, put an extra 50 percent on each each month.
* Drop the cell phone, eat at home more, and pack your lunch. If you're living with the parents, keep doing it.
This way, you set a goal and start making your way towards it, and about 18 months from now you'll be closing in on debt-free. At that point you can go into high gear on the education and you'll only have to work minimally while grinding at the books.
One way or another, you should move forward and meet the future on your own terms, rather than wait passively on the assembly line. You see what that's done for the others.