Author Topic: Case Study  (Read 1745 times)

mynameisno

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Case Study
« on: July 15, 2019, 10:21:23 PM »
Case study
« Last Edit: June 15, 2021, 10:01:37 PM by phaedruswhowas »

Travis

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Re: Case Study - 23 and overwhelmed at work
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2019, 12:23:30 AM »
It sounds like you're off to a rough start with your career. Here are a few quick tips/answering some questions:

Buying a house - hell no.  Just no. Buying and flipping into a rental takes more than finding tenants.  It has to be a profitable venture that takes homework to figure out.

6-12 mo e-fund - since you're not sure whether you can handle your employment situation, save as much as you can.  My advice is to tough out the new job for a while and see if this stress is temporary/growing pains.  If it turns out you actually hate it, you'll need to ride your savings until you can find something else which might include more school/training.  If this happens, the gym and fun stuff gets thrown out the window. Any reason why you can't cut your own hair? You can buy a complete set of clippers for $25.  Try the bike commute.  Saving 12 months of expenses shouldn't take you long if your expenses actually turn out to be $1800/mo.

Credit worthiness is important. It'll help with how you look to landlords and utilities.  Don't do anything that requires you to spend extra to build it up though.  Your credit history takes time and is a natural progression.  Having a credit card, paying it in full every single month, and just paying bills is a good start.

Hirondelle

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Re: Case Study - 23 and overwhelmed at work
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2019, 12:33:45 AM »
Hi phaedrus!

First of all, you don't have to do it all at once. All your worries are fair ones, but most things you can delay for quite some time.

You have some small savings which is nice. How much longer are your parents ok with you living there? Another few months would allow you to build up a nice cash cushion.

Regarding your expenses, they're too high, let's go through them:
- Vet costs seem high. Also, why do you have your own pet when you live at your parents' house? Did you live by yourself before and then moved back in with them when you couldn't find a job?
- Phone is too high. There's several threads that discuss cheapest phone plans. Have a look at those.
- You spend $265 a month on sports. $200 on personal training. How did you EVER get into that? Are you a professional athlete? Were you morbidly obese and desperately needed to loose weight? None of those 2? Then you're just a bit crazy to spend your first salaries on this. Dump the PT, keep the other sports.
- Clothes is fairly high, but maybe you've needed some new work clothes and it will smooth out over the next months?
- At your current place you don't need a car. Seriously, an 8 minute commute??? While you're paying $265 for exercise?? So you're paying $470 for the privilege of not biking to work while still staying fit. You're 23 and living with your parents, not a millionaire who doesn't know what else to spend their money on. (Yes I know you may need the car for other things, but I just wanted to point out the ridiculousness of your exercise + commute situation)

For work stress; I know the feeling. You don't really describe what kind of field you're in so it's hard to give recommendations. Many people on these forums have changed careers, gone part time or started their own business. I'm sure some of them will come over here with recommendations and if you start reading around you'll find inspiring stories everywhere.

For the house; I agree with Travis on 'hell no'. You don't know how long you can handle this job which means you may end up being unemployed or switching jobs (with a potential move) in several months time. If you want to leave your parents place asap just find a nearby rental for now and tell them you'll keep watching the market but that you want to be more confident in your job situation before pulling the trigger on buying.

former player

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Re: Case Study - 23 and overwhelmed at work
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2019, 02:32:35 AM »
Your finances are fine (you might consider alternatives to so much personal training), your concerns about work are an issue.  No need to tell us more than you want, but you might like to think about a few things. 

For instance, is overtime mandatory or expected?  If not, stop doing it now.  If yes, try to limit it or make it more predictable.  If you are struggling with stress at work you need to protect your time to decompress and relax.

Secondly, is there anyone at work you can look to as a mentor?  That might be your boss, it might be a colleague who has been there longer than you.  Someone you can talk to about what is causing you stress and who might have solutions.

Thirdly, if you have only been at your job for 3 months don't be afraid to ask questions.  You are still new, still learning, not just about the technical content of your job but also about your place in the organisation, about the personalities who work there and the relationships between them, about the geography of the building you work in, about the facilities you have to work in/with, about the procedures for getting things done.  Don't be afraid to ask about things you don't understand, or just to confirm things you think you do know.  People you work with would rather have you knowledgeable and unstressed because that makes their working life better too, so you shouldn't get any negatives from asking.

Fourthly, work is a marathon not a sprint.  It is difficult to judge how you are doing when you are only a few months into a new career, but you've got your foot on the ladder, and now slow and steady is the way to climb it.

mcraw25

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Re: Case Study - 23 and overwhelmed at work
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2019, 08:15:33 AM »
Phaedruswhowas,

Sorry to hear of the job, stress. I can relate. One tip that helped me greatly was to consider my job as a game. I win if I am the strongest and most professional person in the room. Thats as much as anyone can ask. Dont stress over the results past that point. You probably cant control them anyway.     

$55k is pretty good coming out of college, you should see solid raises as long as performance is good. Its significantly more than I made right out of school at least. You are ok financially, this seems to be a career choice issue.

Speculating here since you mentioned it took you a year to land this job and that the town is a smaller college town. Have considered moving to find a better job and launching your young career in a direction of your choice? Unemployment is extremely low in the US, jobs are plentiful if your willing to relocate.  It might take a few experiments to find the work you love.     
 
Good luck. 



MayDay

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Re: Case Study - 23 and overwhelmed at work
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2019, 08:48:58 AM »
I agree with the PP's who say not to buy a house.  You are currently saving an e-fund- this can totally become a house fund at some point!  Keep adding money until your E-fund/future house fun covers 6-12 months.  Perhaps invest the money over what is needed for a 6 month e-fund.  If your parents encourage you to buy, let them know you are actively working on saving, and once you have a down payment, you'll start thinking about it, but for now you just need to save. 

For some people, buying a house and working on those projects would be a fun stress relieving hobby- it isn't for me!  If you think figuring out why the fridge has stopped cooling and fixing it is a fun way to spend your weekend, maybe home ownership is for you :) 

Meanwhile, what is it about your job that is stressful?  You are a new grad and still learning- is it just the general overwhelm of being new to the field?  Is it an unhealthy work environment?  Do you find you hate the type of work you went to school for? All of these require different plans of action.