Smooth23

This is where I don't turn my life over to you, but I do ask for some help with descisions. I'll start off by saying, my girlfriend just dumped me, and that was just icing on this cake I call life. So I have a dead end job which I hate-though I make very good money with good benifits. I want out of there. I want to go to school and then do something good. I don't really know what I want to go to school for yet, I just know I want to be able to see the outside, while being either sitting on my ass or inside most the time. Here's the choices.
Heres my current bills:
Car- $5200 160/mo- 3 1/2 years left
Orthodontia- $3700 195/mo- 2 years left
Insurance- $250/mo
Cell-$70-80/mo
Option 1: Stay working where I'm at(40+ hrs/week, 7:30pm -5:30am typically). and take classes one or 2 at the most at a time till I get enough so that I can quit and get a job in the field I want to go into.
Option 2: Quit current job, go to school, and find a part time job or 2 just to scrape by.
Option 3: forget about getting any kind of degree, and go take some classes at a tech school or something and get into a job that probably wont pay the best, but will get me out of the shop.
Option 4: Stop thinking about it and read whatever you guys wrote as option 4.

thespian86

I say this as someone who is spoiled and supported mostly by my wealthy grandfather and my parents/SOs parents. I say drop some of the frivolous things that are dragging you down fianancially. Focus on your degree more then anything because that is more then likely going to help you get out of this funk. Atleast it will give you a few more options (but perhaps not, it's always a gamble). stay with your current job because although it is hard, so is life, and it's fucking difficult as it is to get a good paying job that also leaves you time to take classes in the day. Don't fuck it up. Know what I mean? And if it comes to the point where you need, and i stress the word need, to find a new job be very strategic in your planning. Make sure it fits your schedule and your needs well enough to continue schooling. Stay in school. Thats my two cents.

PMF21

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Sage

ok... Where's the "frivolous things" on that list? Cars are important, he's already had the braces, so you can't really "drop" that, insurance is really important, and cell phones are too.

What I would recommend first is looking into getting a cheaper insurance policy and cell phone. My insurance is $500/6mo with a $250 deductible and 20% co-pay. Do you really get sick/go to the hospital/doctor enough to justify having a low deductible and co-pay? If not, that's one way to save money. Also... what in the crap are you doing with your cell phone that makes it worth $80 a month? Unless it wakes you up with a blow job every morning, go find a cheaper plan!

Using the money you save by toning down your cell and insurance bills, start paying extra on the car and the orthodontia. The sooner you get those paid down, the better. I know you're all jumping at the gun to quit your job and go to school, but it SUCKS HUMONGOUS MONKEY TAIL to have to work AND go to school. Get as many of your bills out of the way as you can BEFORE you go to school full time. Now, that's NOT saying you can't take classes now. Take one or two night classes just to see if that's really where your heart is- just relax! When you're thinking about making a transistion like this you want to take it slow and make sure all your bases are covered.

You can totally quit your job and go to school. You can also totally get another job. Each option requires planning and thought, however, because you're an adult now and have got bills to take care of. Good for you for being responsible about the whole thing!

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maleficent

is the insurance health insurance or car insurance?

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Jimellow

Just a note: A college degree does not guarantee a great job.

You seem to have work experience, and that would compliment a degree very nicely, but it's also possible that you could get a better, more enjoyable, job without a degree.

I would highly recommend college, if only because I found it to be one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life. The degree is nice also, but I didn't go to college with employment in mind, but instead to better myself and be immersed in a field I am intersted in. For that reason, I would recommend going to college and taking classes.

That being said, it's much easier to say "I am going to quit my job and get another one, etc." I would recommend you do some planning first, because while your job may suck, it seems to pay well, and for now you at least have money coming in. If you quit your job and have trouble finding another, you may quickly regret leaving your current one as soon as you did.

I tend to be a very optomistic person and that advice directly above is not really from me, as much as it is my parents, as they tend to be the more realistic voice on ideas and plans I have in life.

Ultimately, you have to balance enjoyment and employment. It would be great if you could get a job that transcends both, but in order to do that you have to think about what you enjoy doing and what jobs exist that re-create that experience. I've been unable to find it myself, but I'd imagine it's a goal of almost every person that is immersed in a working environment.

Good luck.

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level five

man, tough stuff. basic needs are pretty ikportant and your finances are part of that. you can usually suck it up and deal with many things you don't like but you sure can screw up if you get in a bad cycle of poverty. if you are scraping by and one bad financial thing happens, that cycle can begin.

do you have a long term vision? having that usually allows you to make better short term decisions from a factual rqther than emotional place. and right now with the girl friend thing and hating your job you are obviously quite emotional.

why don't you give things some time so you can see more clearly. do some meditation, take some yoga classes. i'm sure there are a few positive things at work you can focus on to help you get past the things you dislike so much until you are able to take the next step.

good luck and don't do anything short term you will regret later. get some perspective. see a therapist who will help you see things objectively. and remember the long-term objectives.

longbough

How old are you? What you would do in your 20's would be much different than what you'd do in, say, your 40's.

If you know your ideal job/profession then focus on making it happen. And don't "half-ass" it ... go all out to realize your dream. In life your first responsibility is to yourself ... make your sacrifices early while you're still young. If you hate your job ... then 25 years from now you'll be kicking yourself as to why you wasted your whole life doing it.

Perhaps mine was an extreme example. In my case I was in my mid-20s in a nowhere job when I decided to go to medical school. Everyone said I was crazy. Even doctors I talked to tried to discourage me saying, "Don't do it ... it's too long a road." But that only made me more stubborn than ever to make it happen. I already had a bachelor's degree but I had to take a pre-med classes for a couple of years while working just to qualify to take the MCAT exam for medical school admissions.

I ended up moving to the Caribbean for medical school ... but it was no "vacation" because the years of training were mental and emotional torture ... but that's a whole 'nother story. I was basically living out of my luggage at the time ... moving around to clinical rotations in the UK and all over the east coast of the US (mainly around NY and CT). It was terrifying to think that if I quit at any time I will have only assumed a ton of debt with no way to pay it back. Quitting was not an option.

Of course my GF back in San Francisco dumped me saying she wasn't going to "wait for me." But I had already sacrificed a career move for love once before in my life ... I learned that sometimes practicality outweighs romance.

I did my medical residency at Brown University and became the chief resident of internal medicine and a member of the Brown University Medical School faculty as a result.

At the end of this crooked road I returned to California feeling a bit like Rip Van Winkle ... 12 years older but working in a specialized niche of medicine that I enjoy completely (I love going to work!) earning better than $300K per year. It was well worth it. Friends I had left behind were married and/or in the same job ... some still struggling and some in a stable lifestyle. I can only hope they're as happy as I am now.

It's a blessing to enjoy your work. You become a better person for it and you can enjoy life. Make your sacrifices while you're young. Even if you get burned (I had big "ups" and "downs" too where I thought I had made a terrible mistake) nobody can say you never took a chance in life.

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. It's hard on the hands- lots of people end up leaving with carpal tunnel and having surgery. Its also hard on the feet standing all day. Its also hard on life, it seems the only people who get married while working there, are marrying others who work there. It seems everyone working there has lost relationships due to the hours and I can't help but put alot of blame on it for me losing my relationship. I also have no real good idea what I want to do in school.

edited to add: Raises aren't the easiest thing to get either, I know a few people who've been there 5 and 7 years, and still only make as much as I do.

thingstodo

Do they have tuition reimbursement? If so, let them pay for your school!

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Rodney

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.

Sage

I think another important question would be where the crap does the rest of your money go? If you're working 40 hours a week you're making what... $1800-2000? That's at least $1000 a week left over after all the bills you just mentioned. Do you pay rent? Eat out a lot? Buy a bunch of useless shit you don't need? Like I said before, once you get your bills paid down you can TOTALLY afford to go to school. And yeah, the job you have now has good benifits and pay, but it's sucking your soul out one day at a time. Start thinking of what you can do to get a better, less soul-sucking job. I'd say that's the first step to going back to school- getting a job that won't leave you too drained to take night classes. Then take some night classes while you work on paying down your debt, and after that think about going part time or even full time if you can swing it finacially. Don't forget about student grants and loans- I know that I was getting $5000 a semester in student loans the last two years of college, and even tho I have to pay it back one day, that money helped me TREMENDOUSLY in that I didn't have to also work 40 hours a week on top of going to school.

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snowy

Unfortunately, because Smooth is only 21, his income AND his parents' income will count on his FAFSA, so he won't get as good a student aid package as he could were he older.

But yes, school gives you a huge advantage, even if it's just a professional program. Here is a link to a relevant article from the NYTimes (registration required, but it's free) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/us...rtner=homepage about how men without degrees are less likely to marry than those with.

The point is, education opens a lot of doors, and a lot of them are doors you haven't even seen or thought about yet. Start out with some night classes at the local community college, see what you like, and go from there. Definitely file a FAFSA to see what kind of aid you would get. Even the tiniest bit of aid helps.

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krwlz

Personally, I say keep the job, and start school. Just a figure to toss out there, the local comm college around me is dirt cheap, but have a lot of great programs. My little brother, 18, is going there for electrical trades, and after 2 yrs, is more or less garaunteed a union job when he gets done.

Welding and Machining also are high demand jobs, so if hands on is your thing, there are options in that direction.

And having A degree, regardless of which one (to some extent) it says something about your character to most employers. So yea, Degree is a total bonus.

Smooth23

I'm glad someone mentioned almost word for word how I have been talking about this job to my few friends. That it is sucking my soul out day by day, and each individual day is easy to get through for the amount of money I make, but in the end that day led to presicely nowhere.
More background on the company I'm with. Its Japanese owned (TICO-toyota industrial company at 60% and Denso owning 40%). Slowly our benefits are trickling away, though they try to hide it. Examples of benefits going away: Birthday lunches gone, bonuses from ~1500 twice a year to 150+19 hours, minimizing overtime. Trying to cut $6,000,000 in cost this year alone. They admit over the next 5 years they see a decline in business, however they try to claim that building more of the sub-assemblies and small parts we assemble in shop will offset that.

I've thought about going into law enforcement, but honestly don't know what it would take, don't you need a criminal justice degree for that?

Edited to add: I take home about 950-1150 every other week, currently have $2800 in savings. Yes I currently live with my dad, but I try to help out with some of the bills, cause he's a cheap bastard that doesn't care about me wanting to go to school and thinks I'll just drop out. God I wish he would hurry up and die.

analog

keep the job, go to class. take as many classes as you can, working towards getting your AA from a 2-year community college. this will be much cheaper than a university. Try taking some classes online if you can, because then you can do the work any time. while you're working towards the AA, pick what kind of degree you'll eventually want and aim for it. you're 21, you're in a great position to educate yourself and land those higher-paying, more fulfilling jobs in the future. just start working on it now, and don't stop until you're graduated.

Rodney

No. Many police departments have their own academies for training rookies, or send them to someone else's. What you need is 1) decent grades in school, 2) a clean record, and 3) to pass the drug test. A two-year administration of justice degree wouldn't hurt, and of course college is great if you're going for a top spot in a big department, or a specialist job. Call a large local PD, or visit their website, and see if they're recruiting.

In some parts of the country, the cops are having trouble recruiting. Out where you are, maybe not so much. Still, it's more than worth a shot.

Smooth23

Think the fact that I have a GED and not a diploma would be an excluding factor rodney? I will say I was 99th percentile on all but math(95 percentile there) on my ged

Sage

I know here in Asheville the PD would be THRILLED to have a competent person apply for the squad. They're currently like... 14 people short and are expecting to lose 20-30 more if the guy expected to win the county sherrif election wins it. Go for it!

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oberon

Having a degree does make it easier to break into careers. Most employers prefer people with at least some experience in their field for most job openings. In other words, they don't usually like to train new people too much. Even folks with 2-3 years of experience have some trouble getting work. Of course it depends on the field. But regardless, the best way to get through that is to make friends. College provides a great opportunity since there's no pressure. You can still do it through coworkers too, of course.

Also, $15/hour comes to about $31,000/yr. The current purchasing power parity per capita in the US is about $42,000/yr. You're young, though, so there's growth potential. Good luck.

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Rodney

It's going to depend on the department, their standards, and what they're looking for. Here are the minimum requirements from my local PD, out on the California coast. Sounds like they'd take a GED:

Like I said, though, it depends on the locale. Your local PDs may well have their requirements up on the web, or at least the city HR department might. My city is currently not hiring recruits, simply offices who have already been trained somewhere. But that varies from time to time and place by place.

longbough

Law enforcement is an excellent option.
I have more than one friend in the field .. it's never dull ... you get the opportunity to exercise your authority to make a positive difference in the world (... even despite the negative impression some citizens have about the profession) - Believe it or not, there ARE some of us out there who get job satisfaction out of community service.

Depending on where you work the pay can be quite good.

If you decide to get your AA you might also consider nursing. Nurses, for the amount of schooling required, have an incredible earning potential ... and have tremendous flexibility. Corporate nurses, Travelling nurses and nurses that become pharmaceutical representatives can command a lot of personal autonomy as well as a respectable income. Think about it.

highthief

I'm pursuing option 1, but that suits my own situation. My job is tolerable and is advantageous to me in a number of ways, btu eventually, I want out, and so, I'm doing one or two courses at a time until I'm done.

You have to evaluate your own needs, however. I have a mortgage and a family, quitting and returning to school FT isn't an option, maybe for you it is?

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