living simply, still broke!

[mporter012]

Here's my deal. 32 y/o male, single/no kids, no savings, $30,000 in student loans, $5,000 credit card (in a debt reduction program called ACCC) with payoff 03/2018. The credit card debt is old: nowadays I live a VERY simple life, much to the tune of MMM.
I studied sociology at university and never really figured out how to be a ''professional'' person, so to speak. Tried social work but didn't enjoy it really. I spent several years working menial jobs pursuing art and just having fun living in Chicago, then became interested in sustainable agriculture and started working on organic farms, and worked up to a management position at a farm in Pennsylvania, but the money was never great because we were in a poor market.

So I'm in this situation where I've become really passionate about sustainable agriculture/cooking/baking, but I'm also an artist, and attempting to find a logical path forward in my life to get financial freedom. Their is certainly money in sustainable farming, and I'm talking to some investors now about the possibility of starting a farm of my own, but I also don't necessarily want to have that much responsibility, and have a bit of a fear of going more broke if it doesn't work out.

MMM said on Tim Ferriss's show that "making money is easy." I WISH!!

WTF am I doing wrong? I'm a smart dude, did really well in school, and am generally upbeat, happy, and enjoying life, I'm just on this path to financial ruin, despite living simply.

Save me!

[undercover]

Go where the money is? Getting rich from farming sounds about as easy as getting rich from starting an airline.

I mean, it's pretty simple. When you don't make a lot of money, you don't save a lot. Consider looking into sales or a more technical career path. You might have to suck it up for a while and do something you don't necessarily think you'll enjoy (which you may end up doing so) in order to start moving in the right direction.

[marty998]

Sorry if this comes across as brutal... but I can point out problems in every line

Here's my deal. 32 y/o male, single/no kids, no savings (this means you have problems everytime a large expense comes up, which put you into a hole you need to dig out of), $30,000 in student loans(32 and still have loans means you've paid a lot of interest over the years), $5,000 credit card (in a debt reduction program called ACCC) (You should have no revolving credit card debt) with payoff 03/2018. The credit card debt is old: nowadays I live a VERY simple life, much to the tune of MMM.
I studied sociology (why? What career was this heading towards?)at university and never really figured out how to be a ''professional'' person (hint, this is where the money is) so to speak. Tried social work but didn't enjoy it really (social work exposes you to the worst of society... you need to have strong resilience and support networks to endure it). I spent several years working menial jobs pursuing art and just having fun living in Chicago (menial jobs + having fun in an expensive city = no money leftover), then became interested in sustainable agriculture and started working on organic farms(this is another problem), and worked up to a management position at a farm in PennsylvaniaOk this is a really really good sign, things are turning around!, but the money was never great because we were in a poor market oh crap..

So I'm in this situation where I've become really passionate about sustainable agriculture/cooking/baking(good to know you've figured out your passion), but I'm also an artist(ok unless you are Picasso, you're not going to make a huge living out of this, and even then, Picasso only made a shit ton of money when he died), and attempting to find a logical path forward in my life to get financial freedom. Their is certainly money in sustainable farming, and I'm talking to some investors now about the possibility of starting a farm of my own, but I also don't necessarily want to have that much responsibility(Gah! Yes you do. This is where the money is), and have a bit of a fear of going more broke if it doesn't work out. (Take a chance - only certainty about not doing anything is carrying on as you are)

MMM said on Tim Ferriss's show that "making money is easy." I WISH!!

WTF am I doing wrong? I'm a smart dude, did really well in school, and am generally upbeat, happy, and enjoying life, I'm just on this path to financial ruin, despite living simply.

Save me!

[Jon Bon]

Welcome to the Forms!

You have got to spend some time chasing money if you want to get out of debt and or retire. It sounds like you have spent some time chasing jobs that give you fulfillment and not necessarily a good paycheck. This is a fine path, but it comes with a trade-off. It sounds like you have been living on the edge of your finances for a while and just now are starting to pull it all together. Posting a  case study might be the thing for you so the community can give directed advice.

If you truly are living a MMM lifestyle you have got to increase your income to FIRE, it is the only way. You need to find work that pays, this can be entrepreneurial or it can be more traditional. Maybe you end up working for Monsanto, but you need the paycheck more then you need your ideals right now, no? I only say this because I have watched family members chase fulfillment in their work and only end up with a empty bank account and piles of debt.

Making money is easy!!!!!* (but you need to have some experience) You need that work experience, maybe share some more of the types of jobs you have gotten? That will help us help you.

Good luck and go apply for some jobs now!  Seriously, sign off the forums and find some postings to apply too. Do this   every.   single.   week.   This is how I did it, its not fun, but I set a time 1 day a week which I would check the boards and apply to at least 1 job that looked appealing.

[Villanelle]

Making money probably would be fairly easy.  But you have to be willing to do the things that actually make money.

For now, your art and farming aren't making money. And that's okay.  You just need to decide what you want more--breathing room in your budget, or to follow those passions and not have to be a "professional".

In your shoes, I would likely commit myself to working any and every decent paying job I could find for at least 5 years.  Or you could set a goal of having $x in savings before you can quite.  If you keep your expenses super low, you may then have enough saved that you can live off that and a part time job, while spending most of your time on your art and farming hobbies (which may also bring in money, in which case they are a nice side hustle).

Also, look for other ways to create income.  If you know a lot about sustainable farming, consider self-publishing an e-book.  Or better yet, several related e-books.  Create art classes and find a cheap place to run them.  (Paint and wine parties seem to be huge right now, and while that may not be serious art, it seems like it could be serious side-hustle money.  Likewise, art parties for kids are popping up all over my Facebook page, so clearly that's A Thing.)

It seems like you want to have your cake and eat it too--not have to work at a "professional" job, but have professional-job money. 

[YttriumNitrate]

I would also suggest you tune out all the sustainable farming gurus selling books, classes, etc. In that particular space it seems like there are several profitable media companies going around portraying themselves as profitable farms.

[GuitarStv]

Making money is easy.  You just have to work hard at something that people need until you become very good at it and someone is willing to pay you lots of money.

You talk a lot about passion . . . and I really think that's a bad way forward.  You don't need to be passionate about your work.  You don't need to follow your dream.  You need to be able to tolerate it,  work hard at it, and learn to be good at it.  You need to slowly improve until you have valuable skills, and then you need to chase the good paying jobs.

From your post it kinda sounds like you've been searching for a hobby - not a career.

[Reynolds531]

I think he wants us to help him define what the something is that he's supposed to do.

[former player]

I'm not sure OP needs any more exhortations to make money, he needs to know how to do it.  Which pretty much means breaking into the "professional" classes, something he has failed to do.

How does someone in the US, intelligent and educated but without contacts and experience in the professional world, get to the position where they are earning a "professional" level salary?  How does this person get out of poverty?  What is the magical stepping stone?

There are millions of people in a similar position: stuck at entry-level/poverty-level earnings.  How do you get to be one of the few lucky ones that makes it out of there?

[charis]

I'm not sure OP needs any more exhortations to make money, he needs to know how to do it.  Which pretty much means breaking into the "professional" classes, something he has failed to do.

How does someone in the US, intelligent and educated but without contacts and experience in the professional world, get to the position where they are earning a "professional" level salary?  How does this person get out of poverty?  What is the magical stepping stone?

There are millions of people in a similar position: stuck at entry-level/poverty-level earnings.  How do you get to be one of the few lucky ones that makes it out of there?

You have to get those contacts (seek them out / look for possible contacts in your own world that you may not have considered before) and work in the professional world.  Be flexible, jump at opportunities, and follow the money. 

[Mr. Green]

What about indoor growing, like aquaponics or areoponics. It seems like they're the next big thing for some types of growing. I've read articles where companies are now growing lettuce and other vegetables indoors and the yields they're getting are phenomenal. I don't know what kinds of jobs are associated with those places but I'm sure there are people that have to make sure all the hardware associated with growing is operating properly, etc. It's a new enough field I'm sure they're still researching what kinds of light grow plants the best, what kind of fertilizers produce the best yields, etc. The link below is an article about a company in Japan but I know there companies here in the US doing it too.

http://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-largest-vegetable-factory-revolutionizes-indoor-farming-1882004257.html

[SKL-HOU]

You don't sound like you want to do anything except whatever is fun for you. Unfortunately your idea of fun doesn't seem to translate into much money.
You tried social work, didn't like it... well a lot of people work jobs they don't like.
You want to get into farming but you don't want to take responsibility... without responsibility, you don't have many options but menial jobs.
You never figured out how to be a "profession"... well learn it now.
You can be the smartest person in the world, you can graduate at the top of your class but if you don't want to work, then you are not going to make any money. I am not sure what kind of magic you are looking for. You are living simply but when you don't have the income to even live simply, you will not get anywhere.

[pbkmaine]

Are you still in Pennsylvania? I would look for an entry-level job at Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. You will be surrounded by a topic that interests you and paid a living wage. Your farm experience will actually look good on your resume. State College has a vibrant arts community, too.

[Fishindude]

Lot's of good advice here. 
Time for a career change to something that is in demand and pays well, or get used to being poor.
 

[ElleFiji]

Oh, hi!

So I studied philosophy. I don't regret it, but by 26 I knew it wasn't going to let me be financially stable or independent. So I trained for a dream job I was passionate about (this is your farming). A step up for both of us, because at least we'd finally worked out that we need to have a job that actually exists.

But guess what? Farming and my passion, both had more opportunities than nothing, but often are at a subsistence level.

Explore your farming options hard, and your living options harder. You need a career that will pay you double what you can live on.

Pbkmaine has an excellent idea for how to keep your passion in your work. Otherwise look at lists of jobs that don't require a degree to make more than $50 000, and go after one of them hard, while keeping painting and farming on the side
 You can be a full time artist/farmer soon if you FIRE.

I'm one year into my 3rd career, and am making more than I ever had before. It's possible.

[pbkmaine]

https://psu.jobs/jobs

[lthenderson]

I've never really heard the phrases "rich artist" or "well-to-do artist" in a conversation but I have heard the phrase "starving artist" lots of times. I'm guessing there is a reason for that.

[Sailor Sam]

You should read MonsterMonster's journal. She's also passionate, and lived in voluntary poverty for many years. You might find some stuff that resonates. Ladystache in Baja also has a journal, where she describes the life of an expat farming in Mexico. They seem like people you should network with, for more concrete ideas.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

What is your source of income now?

[mporter012]

Thanks for all the replies. Lot's of great ideas.

So I probably apply to 5 jobs a week, sometimes more. So I'm applying. I have a coherent resume, but it leans heavily towards horticulture/botony/farming and as I've stated, the best I could hope for would be to get a job that pays $40,000 in these fields, unless I'd go back and get a PhD in Botany, and teach, then I'd be looking at more debt, and still, the money isn't great.

I'm certainly willing to relocate and just about anything/everything. The challenge is, what the hell do I do!? Just out of curiosity, I went through the US News and World Report's list of the Top 100 occupations in the US, and it's basically medicine and tech. I haven't an ounce of interest in medicine, and I'm a world class hypochondriac, so that's out! Tech is a possibility, of course, but I have no education in anything tech related. I could go back to school, but this seems anti-FIRE.

I'm not necessarily hell bent on retirement, but I can clearly see the path ahead: With $40,000 annual salary jobs, even living like GHANDI, I won't be even remotely close to FIRE until I'm 70. Case in point: If I live off of $20,000 a year. I need $500,000 to get to that 25x annual spending #. That will take me 25 years. That assumes nothing f-ed up happens, like I get sick and have absurd medical bills, have kids, etc.

What am I missing?

[mporter012]

What is your source of income now?

I'm working with a small farm-to-table farm/restaurant group north of NYC. I make $2000/month, but have housing provided and, of course, my food costs are pretty low.

[Bracken_Joy]

Thanks for all the replies. Lot's of great ideas.

So I probably apply to 5 jobs a week, sometimes more. So I'm applying. I have a coherent resume, but it leans heavily towards horticulture/botony/farming and as I've stated, the best I could hope for would be to get a job that pays $40,000 in these fields, unless I'd go back and get a PhD in Botany, and teach, then I'd be looking at more debt, and still, the money isn't great.

I'm certainly willing to relocate and just about anything/everything. The challenge is, what the hell do I do!? Just out of curiosity, I went through the US News and World Report's list of the Top 100 occupations in the US, and it's basically medicine and tech. I haven't an ounce of interest in medicine, and I'm a world class hypochondriac, so that's out! Tech is a possibility, of course, but I have no education in anything tech related. I could go back to school, but this seems anti-FIRE.

I'm not necessarily hell bent on retirement, but I can clearly see the path ahead: With $40,000 annual salary jobs, even living like GHANDI, I won't be even remotely close to FIRE until I'm 70. Case in point: If I live off of $20,000 a year. I need $500,000 to get to that 25x annual spending #. That will take me 25 years. That assumes nothing f-ed up happens, like I get sick and have absurd medical bills, have kids, etc.

What am I missing?

What you're missing, for one, is market returns. You're not stuffing all that cash into your mattress and waiting for retirement. You need to invest, and make your money work FOR you.

A couple blog posts you may not have seen, since it sounds like you came over from Ferriss' podcast (welcome!).
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/07/25/50-jobs-over-50000-without-a-degree-part-1/
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/05/50-jobs-over-50000-without-a-degree-part-2/

[ElleFiji]

32+17=49! That is lots before 70! Even with 5 years to hit those debt payments, you're going to be fine.

The two articles that BJ linked to are the lists I was talking about. It isn't too late, you aren't too poor, retirement is in sight

[mporter012]

32+17=49! That is lots before 70! Even with 5 years to hit those debt payments, you're going to be fine.

The two articles that BJ linked to are the lists I was talking about. It isn't too late, you aren't too poor, retirement is in sight

Haha, ok I'm being a bit sensational! I'll check the articles out.

[Cali Nonya]

Thinking about semi-flexible jobs that could boost your income, have you looking into fields such as being and insurance adjuster or tax accountant (or sales?).  These are usually flexible or seasonal, and can add that missing income, though in the short-term you will probably have to put the art on the back-burner.

Another thought is how seasonal is your farming?  If you have winters off (or better yet part of the summer), consider adding in some seasonal short-term positions that targets your off-season (such as seasonal based tourism).  Some things such as tour guides can make decent money, but it usually take a few years to get into the better positions.

Better paying work usually isn't anyone's passion.  You just need to be good and competent. 

[monstermonster]

Hi! I'm experienced at the being broke & struggling with the "earning" side of equation. I really have been having to learn how to have a profit motive, always having (like you) chased jobs that give me fulfillment at the expense of $$. I read the book Overcoming Underearning which is targeted at women but so helpful towards dealing with these things regardless of your gender.

[mporter012]

Hi! I'm experienced at the being broke & struggling with the "earning" side of equation. I really have been having to learn how to have a profit motive, always having (like you) chased jobs that give me fulfillment at the expense of $$. I read the book Overcoming Underearning which is targeted at women but so helpful towards dealing with these things regardless of your gender.

I'll check the book out.

[mporter012]

Interestingly enough, MMM's 50 jobs over $50,000 post has "boutique organic farmer" at #49.

[monstermonster]

Interestingly enough, MMM's 50 jobs over $50,000 post has "boutique organic farmer" at #49.

I have never met an organic farmer who pulls in $50K a year after expenses, and I know a TON of organic farmers.

[mporter012]

Interestingly enough, MMM's 50 jobs over $50,000 post has "boutique organic farmer" at #49.

I have never met an organic farmer who pulls in $50K a year after expenses, and I know a TON of organic farmers.

Some organic farmers make really good money - see The Urban Farmer for an example. Curtis is making $100,000 on 1/3 acre. He's possibly the exception to the rule though. Everyone in the country eats 3x a day, don't forget, so there is money in it, for sure. I just can't seem to crack the code.

[I'm a red panda]

unless I'd go back and get a PhD in Botany, and teach, then I'd be looking at more debt, and still, the money isn't great.

Can you get recruited into a program that will pay for your degree and pay you a stipend while you do it?
Many people make money WHILE doing their PhDs.

[monstermonster]

Some organic farmers make really good money - see The Urban Farmer for an example. Curtis is making $100,000 on 1/3 acre. He's possibly the exception to the rule though. Everyone in the country eats 3x a day, don't forget, so there is money in it, for sure. I just can't seem to crack the code.

I'd never heard of him, just googled him and found the course Profitable Urban Farmer - I assume you've heard of it too? Is the $100K after expenses & COGS? I mostly know CSA farmers and boutique farm-to-table farmers, and they live well and simply and make good money overall, but after expenses, they are not pulling in 6 figures or even $50,000.

[mporter012]

I'd never heard of him, just googled him and found the course Profitable Urban Farmer - I assume you've heard of it too? Is the $100K after expenses & COGS? I mostly know CSA farmers and boutique farm-to-table farmers, and they live well and simply and make good money overall, but after expenses, they are not pulling in 6 figures or even $50,000.

Yea, I know of the course. It's too much $$, and my skill set is pretty advanced (not to be arrogant, at all...).

Yea, that's what I can't figure out. If he's grossing $100K and how high are the expenses. Yea, that's what I was doing - more a CSA style operation. I listen to this podcast called farmer to farmer and there are regularly farmers on his show that are pulling in 6 figure incomes, but I can never quite figure out whether they are full of shit or not.

I'm 75% through a business plan, and looking at my own numbers, the profit potential is there, but it's full of risks.

Check out 'The Market Gardener' for another example, if you're interested. Another Canadian!

[Hargrove]

You do not save literally 500k at 20k/yr, one year at a time. The market doubles the starting balance roughly every 10 years (counting inflation). At 40k, if you enjoy that job and you decide to prioritize it higher than money, you could retire early by living well.

If you prioritize big-money work instead, or temporarily prioritize big-money work, you could save 100-200k over 5-10 years and have retiring covered down the road, then go back to farming if that's your thing. I'm planning to save about 200k (167k + pension), then quit the rat race for dream jobs.

[mporter012]

You do not save literally 500k at 20k/yr, one year at a time. The market doubles the starting balance roughly every 10 years (counting inflation). At 40k, if you enjoy that job and you decide to prioritize it higher than money, you could retire early by living well.

If you prioritize big-money work instead, or temporarily prioritize big-money work, you could save 100-200k over 5-10 years and have retiring covered down the road, then go back to farming if that's your thing. I'm planning to save about 200k (167k + pension), then quit the rat race for dream jobs.

Can you elaborate? Or does MMM have an article on this? This is all new to me. I came over from the Tim Ferris podcast just this week.

[Bracken_Joy]

You do not save literally 500k at 20k/yr, one year at a time. The market doubles the starting balance roughly every 10 years (counting inflation). At 40k, if you enjoy that job and you decide to prioritize it higher than money, you could retire early by living well.

If you prioritize big-money work instead, or temporarily prioritize big-money work, you could save 100-200k over 5-10 years and have retiring covered down the road, then go back to farming if that's your thing. I'm planning to save about 200k (167k + pension), then quit the rat race for dream jobs.

Can you elaborate? Or does MMM have an article on this? This is all new to me. I came over from the Tim Ferris podcast just this week.

What you're looking for is understanding the idea of "compound interest". http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-power-of-compound-interest-2014-7 In the simplest terms, it is why debt is bad, and investing is good. It is why we do not have to save, dollar for dollar, nearly as much as we need to retire on.

[prognastat]

You do not save literally 500k at 20k/yr, one year at a time. The market doubles the starting balance roughly every 10 years (counting inflation). At 40k, if you enjoy that job and you decide to prioritize it higher than money, you could retire early by living well.

If you prioritize big-money work instead, or temporarily prioritize big-money work, you could save 100-200k over 5-10 years and have retiring covered down the road, then go back to farming if that's your thing. I'm planning to save about 200k (167k + pension), then quit the rat race for dream jobs.

Can you elaborate? Or does MMM have an article on this? This is all new to me. I came over from the Tim Ferris podcast just this week.

Assuming you achieve the market average of 7% real return over those 10 years it will double the real value of your investments. If you were to put 100 on a calculator and multiply it by 1.07 10 times you would end up with 196.71(so almost doubled in real value). The actual dollar amount would be more than that since the non inflation adjusted return is 9% on average.

This is assuming you have the money invested in a diverse low fee index fund that closely matches the market for the whole 10 years and also does not count any fees/taxes.

[Vindicated]

A Facebook friend of mine is selling services to friends to help them build garden boxes, and give gardening advice.  Maybe that's a side gig you could look into?

[snacky]

What is your source of income now?

I'm working with a small farm-to-table farm/restaurant group north of NYC. I make $2000/month, but have housing provided and, of course, my food costs are pretty low.

$2k a month and no housing costs? Where is this money going? I feed and house my whole family for $2k a month, so this amount for a single person with no housing expenses seems very high to me.

Sure, you could make more by changing what you're doing, but also, what are you doing with all this money?

[mporter012]

Sure, you could make more by changing what you're doing, but also, what are you doing with all this money?

Well, this is a relatively new job, but the money is going straight towards these credit cards, and then I guess I have to figure out what I'm doing from there.

[monstermonster]

What is your source of income now?

I'm working with a small farm-to-table farm/restaurant group north of NYC. I make $2000/month, but have housing provided and, of course, my food costs are pretty low.

$2k a month and no housing costs? Where is this money going? I feed and house my whole family for $2k a month, so this amount for a single person with no housing expenses seems very high to me.

Sure, you could make more by changing what you're doing, but also, what are you doing with all this money?

Yea is this pre-or-post tax $2000? Because that strongly points to you having big financial leaks if you're not able to pay down your debt & save on that kind of income.  Your income side of the equation is important, but the expense side is important as well if you don't know where 2 grand a month is going.

[monstermonster]

This board loves to see:

• Your budget
• Your debt payoff timeline

Interested in working that out because we can help more if so. Are you tracking your spending now? You should be able to crush those credit cards in MONTHS instead of a whole year from now.

[mporter012]

Yea is this pre-or-post tax $2000? Because that strongly points to you having big financial leaks if you're not able to pay down your debt & save on that kind of income.  Your income side of the equation is important, but the expense side is important as well if you don't know where 2 grand a month is going.

[/quote]

Pre-tax. So I'm gonna lost something like 20% of this.

[mporter012]

This board loves to see:

• Your budget
• Your debt payoff timeline

Interested in working that out because we can help more if so. Are you tracking your spending now? You should be able to crush those credit cards in MONTHS instead of a whole year from now.

Okay. Should I just add an attachment? Or type it in the dialogue box?

[monstermonster]

Yea is this pre-or-post tax $2000? Because that strongly points to you having big financial leaks if you're not able to pay down your debt & save on that kind of income.  Your income side of the equation is important, but the expense side is important as well if you don't know where 2 grand a month is going.

Pre-tax. So I'm gonna lost something like 20% of this.
[/quote]
Okay, I make around $1700 pre-tax a month, making $1250 after taxes. I spend of that on $805 housing & groceries. So theoretically, if you have similarly low expenses, you should be able to put $750 towards your debt each month while also focusing on a side hustle.

That side hustle will help you accelerate your debt payoff and then start working towards FIRE. But you need to deal with the debt & income situation simultaneously before you start working towards FIRE aggressively. What are the interest rates on your SLs?

If you break out a budget for us, we can help more specifically.

[monstermonster]

This board loves to see:

• Your budget
• Your debt payoff timeline

Interested in working that out because we can help more if so. Are you tracking your spending now? You should be able to crush those credit cards in MONTHS instead of a whole year from now.

Okay. Should I just add an attachment? Or type it in the dialogue box?

Here's the thread: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/case-studies/how-to-write-a-'case-study'-topic/

[mporter012]

Here's the info. Fire away.

[NorthernBlitz]

I have a coherent resume, but it leans heavily towards horticulture/botony/farming

I'm not a professional resume writer / coach, but here's my $0.02

If you want your resume to be applicable in other fields you could have "significant accomplishments" at the top. I think that the purpose of these accomplishments is to highlight (1) transferable skills that you have and (2) demonstrate that actions you've taken have delivered value to your employer. so I think it's great if you have dollar amounts in at least some of these points.

You're trying to show a company that you will deliver more value to them than what they're paying you, so I think that you want short active sentences here that hopefully have a dollar value impact.

Things like:
- Supervised X employees that annually produced Y amount of product at a value of $Z
- Implemented <something you did at this job> that <increased revenue by $X / reduced costs by $Y / reduced spoilage by $Z>

You can also highlight the transferable skills that you've developed instead of the tasks that you were doing when you developed those skills.
- When you were in management, did you have to work on communicating effectively / conflict resolution?
- Were you responsible for purchasing decisions? Dollar values are good to add here I think.

I think these bullets will also end up being the stories that you will tell them in the interviews that you have.

Another thing that you said that I think you should highlight is that you worked your way into a management position. This means that another employer recognized you as someone who could handle responsibility.

You can also discuss your willingness to use your skills and develop new ones in a variety of different fields.

It's been mentioned here already, but building a network is very important. It would be great if people were hired only off their resume and their accomplishments. But, knowing people is important.

[begood]

mporter012,  have you applied at Wegmans?

Wegmans Career Areas

They have a culinary area, a huge produce (organic and non), and customer service opportunities galore. It might be a place where you could start and move up the ladder. Even better, you can put your sociology background to work: the behavior of people in groups will be fully on display in an environment like Wegmans, and your "inside" knowledge can give you a leg up.

[mporter012]

This board loves to see:

• Your budget
• Your debt payoff timeline

Interested in working that out because we can help more if so. Are you tracking your spending now? You should be able to crush those credit cards in MONTHS instead of a whole year from now.

This is probably easier. Yea, when I sat down and really added everything up, it's quite a bit worse than I made it seem.

Mr. Money Mustache Info
 
Topic: Save me from financial quagmire (and/or hire me!).
Life Situation: Single, no dependents.
Gross income: $24,000
Individual of pre-tax deductions: ? No taxes taken out.
Other ordinary income: +/- $5k/year
Qualified Dividends: 0
Rental income: 0
AGI: $24k-$29k
Taxes: IDK - $3600ish from the 24K income
Current Expenses:
​- ACCC (American Consumer Credit Counselling): $225/month
​- Bank of America CC: $70/month
​- Paypal: $50/month
​- Citibank: $50/month
​- Discover: $100/month
​- Federal: Deferment
​- Debt to Parents: $50/month (needs to increase, clearly)
​- Phone: $45/month
​- Healthcare: $125/month
​- Food: $200/month
​- Rent: $0/month
- Gas: $50/month
- Savings: $25/month
​- Taxes: $300/month @ 15% self-employment tax @24k/year
​- = $1290
Expected ER expenses: ?
Assets: Some FANCY outdoor gear!
​- Car: $500
​- Organs?
Liabilities:
​-ACCC: $3978 (Final payoff, includes all interest).
​- BOA: $4468.94 (4%)
​- Paypal: $394.98 (18%)
​- Citibank: $3315.47 (3.87%)
​- Discover: $9391.94 (%5)
​- Federal: $19,000ish… (?? I think 3%)
​- Debt to parents: $17,000 (0%)
​- $57,546
Specific Questions:
- See first post