Do what you love

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#41
I think there can be a middle ground between "really stressful/high pay" and "more rewarding/crummy pay" and honestly I'm at a point in my life where I don't NEED to love what I do or for it to have a purpose. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to those things and I'm blessed to have them in my career - but even though I love it, it is stressful AND it doesn't pay that great. So I think I'd also be perfectly happy with a job where I went in, put in my time, and then went home and lived my life. (I suppose if I actually ever did that I'd get bored and miss it, though, lol.)
 

Beanie

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#42
It's fine if people don't want to like their job. What irritates me is when people say it's impossible for anyone to love their job, and if they love it, they're doing it wrong. I LOVE what I do. It's that simple. Yeah, it's hard work and the pay sucks. But I'll take that over being miserable every day for the rest of my life - and honestly, if I'm going to be miserable every day, why bother living at all? I've been in jobs where I wished I'd have some sort of medical crisis or even just ****ing DIE so I could get out. No thanks.
I don't think anybody has said it's impossible to love your job. But I do think the overall opinion is that if you love your job, it probably pays ****-poor. It depends on the job, obviously. My friend's fiance is a carpenter. LOVES his job and even if he didn't do it for his every day work, he'd be doing it on the side for fun. And it pays very nice.

I really thought money would stretch further than it does. I have a decently paying job and live in a low cost of living area but things add up like you wouldn't believe. It seems this year was month after month of being in the hole with unexpected things needing large sums of money. Which is why I'm still in my shitty townhouse instead of buying a home. Sigh.
Same here. Truthfully I can "live" on what I make now, which is the same as I was making when I worked in radio (and believe me, it really upsets me that I'm making the same amount of money and yet not getting to work in radio...) But I got a raise when I took this job and I was SO relieved because it meant all of a sudden things were going to get just a bit easier. Then our pay cut happened and now I'm right back to where I started. Panicking about how I'm going to pay my bills. Closely examining when each bill is due and when each pay day is so I can make sure I don't overdraft. Putting off going to the grocery store as long as humanly possible so I can at least feel like I have an extra $20 that week. Eating pretty much nothing but eggs and chicken stock for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Thinking this might be what the rest of my life will look like is exactly why I keep considering how to kill myself.
 

PWCorgi

Priscilla Winifred Corgi
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#43
I like the job I'm doing right now (front desk at a vet clinic) more than I have any previous job, though it can be quite stressful at times due to overly needy clients. However, I would never turn it into a career due to pay. I'd rather work all day at a job that I like, and have financial stability, than work at a job I love and stress about money constantly. Right now, I stress about money constantly and it sucks big ones.

Once I graduate I will hopefully have a job that I really enjoy, in an environment that I really enjoy, with pay that makes vacations/training classes/etc something I can enjoy rather than something I want to enjoy but just stress about financially instead.

I am really really looking forward to that :D
 

Saeleofu

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#44
I could not live on $25k here. $40k or less is considered poverty here and qualifies you for the free low income apartments in town. For a family of four, it's $60k.
It varies by area, we all know that. Starting pay for my industry in the Chicago area is $22/hour. It's the same job. Pay rate varies where cost of living varies and that's true of pretty much every industry.
 

Saeleofu

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#45
I don't think anybody has said it's impossible to love your job. But I do think the overall opinion is that if you love your job, it probably pays ****-poor.
Not in so many words, no, but that's how it's sounding - and not just here on Chaz, it's all over.

I'm never going to apologize for loving my job and making do with the pay I get for doing it. It shouldn't be my "duty" to find the highest-paying job possible just because it's there, even if it sucks. I'm just so tired of everyone berating me for choosing this career path because the pay is modest. I'm not getting government assistance or anything like that even now while making $700 a month, so I don't see why it's anyone else's concern that I won't be making enough full time (again, not just here on Chaz, everywhere).
 

yv0nne

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#47
My boyfriend is a carpenter ..loves it. Plus, he can come home& still build things after building things for other people all day. Works out well for me ..he'll build me shelves, hang photos, build agility equipment. He did, however, turn down a few automotive jobs. He prefers just doing custom work on the side for people. Got really sick of the mechanical part of it when he was doing it constantly.

I did photography& did really well ..was super busy. Ended up being burnt out& hating it. Stepped back into a different role, make a little less money but at the end of the day being a small business owner? So not worth it for me. I will always shoot on the side for people& I still down requests weekly. Still ..owning a small business is exhausting AND it took the joy out of capturing my own photos.

Moral of the story? Different strokes for different folks!
 

Southpaw

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#48
I'm just so tired of everyone berating me for choosing this career path because the pay is modest.
Yeah it gets pretty annoying always having people ask me "why didn't you just go all the way to vet school? You'd make more money." Because.... I don't want to be a vet? They make it sound like it's such a shame that I wasted my time/money on such a silly career. Like, I was never under the illusion that vet techs make a billion bucks so I certainly didn't choose this job for the money. It just appealed to me more than higher paying options. Yeah I work full time and still can't support myself, but knowing I don't hate my job, makes me not mind that so much... at least, not yet. :p
 
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#49
Yeah it gets pretty annoying always having people ask me "why didn't you just go all the way to vet school? You'd make more money."
Next time burst out laughing until you cry, then ask "wait, were you serious?" and ask them if they know how much student debt vets graduate with these days.
 

PWCorgi

Priscilla Winifred Corgi
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#50
Next time burst out laughing until you cry, then ask "wait, were you serious?" and ask them if they know how much student debt vets graduate with these days.
One of my vets named her amount of debt at graduation. I thought she was kidding. She was not.
 

SpringerLover

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#51
When I worked at the general practice clinic, I loved what I did (but couldn't support myself on my own) for the most part. What I couldn't deal with was the complete lack of understanding of (and adamant resistance to learning) behavior. In the end, I got so tired of dealing with it I took a job in a completely unrelated field (that paid better and allowed me to move to the cities). Where I promptly learned that even when there is enough money to pay all the bills, put money in savings, AND have fun money every month... hating my job wasn't worth it.

So, here I am in school for a second time. To likely make less money than my other degree would pay me.

Oh well. I love, love, love my rehab job.
 

Laurelin

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#52
I don't think anyone is saying you need to earn X amount of money to be successful. If you can live off of your salary and are happy with it then that's all that matters.

But what I meant was really that not supporting yourself is just not an option for a lot of people. I know I didn't have another option after college. The rule was always once you're done with school, you're on your own and paying your own way. Which I think is more than fair. I guess I could get room mates to help out but I hate having room mates.
 

Jules

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#53
I agree with Laurelin.

Success, to me, should not be measured by the $$ you make, and in the end, it's up to each individual what makes you successful. For some, it's getting up on time and holding down any kind of job.

Add here comes into play what you want with or from your life: I'd hate to have a job where I would have to rely on living at home or with roommates for unforeseen lengths (not because you are hitting a rough patch or are going through school, etc.). When you're in your own place and have to pay all your bills by yourself, it adds up. And it adds up quickly. I don't think it's sad or pitiful to be in a job that you don't love that allows you to pay your bills and be able to put money on the side and have some to play with.
 

Zoom

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#54
It really does come down to if you can find some measure of satisfaction at work and bring home enough to make a comfortable living. That level will vary for everyone. I know some people who are totally fine living in a studio apartment, have a beater car for bad weather but ride their bikes or use public trans every other day. They make enough money to support their hobbies (which mostly involves snow sports out here) and that's fine by them. Others have different needs.

Like I mentioned before, I'm not exactly over the moon thrilled with my job, mostly because of the hours and the extreme variance in pay, but such is the lot of having a commission-based job. I bring home enough to mostly support the lifestyle I want, so it works. I mostly shoot for the days like yesterday, where I had super happy customers who were just over the moon that they were able to get into their dream cars. My last sale of the day also gave me a list of new music artists to listen to, which is a nice little side bonus. I've made some interesting connections through this job.
 

BostonBanker

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#55
I could not live on $25k here. $40k or less is considered poverty here and qualifies you for the free low income apartments in town. For a family of four, it's $60k.
Yeah, 25k a year is under liveable wage for our county. I bet it just hits that level in some of the counties further out.

Everyone has a level of comfort they need or want from their lives, and there is nothing wrong with someone having a different one from you. I want to be able to compete my dogs - it means I need extra income on top of what I need to live off. Right now, I kind of scrape by, because I have the massive expense of Tristan, who gets to be taken care of as long as he lives. I love him beyond all reason, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit a bit of relief when the vet suggested we can probably keep him comfortable for about 2 years. My life will be SO much easier when I don't have that expense.

I had to buy new snow tires yesterday after a flat demolished one of mine; finding $700 that wasn't planned on hurt. Badly. I need to reach a point in my life where that isn't a huge fear. Because that is what I need to feel comfortable.
 

Elrohwen

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#56
Knowing my personality, I think anything I do for work (like 40 hours a week to earn a salary) will always be work and not fun. I just don't have the energy and the passion for anything to want to work hard at it 40 hours a week. I like to relax, take my time, and do things at my own pace. I specifically didn't go into a career with animals because I knew that it would go from hobby to work very quickly and I wouldn't enjoy it much anymore.

I'm good at my job (engineer; I actually work with LostandConfused's husband!) and I like it well enough. It challenges me and I like the people I work with. It's still just a job and if I won the lottery I would be out of here. It just takes up so much of my time and at the end of the day, it's not what I would choose to do with my time.
 

smkie

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#57
How do you explain not doing what you love full time to care for what you love? I would have no problem being in a studio 24 7 and stopping only to eat and sleep. I could do that easily. IT's stopping to care for those I love, being accessable for Hyia is something that has to be, at a moment's notice. Maybe one day I can. IF I had a studio I could paint in, I would never leave. Painting in this apt with this crappy carpet, dirty ducts, and animal hair I am never going to get rid of means that anything using acrylics has come to a complete stop. I miss it dearly. AT least it gets in clay, it all burns up. ONe thing I have always felt lucky about is I always knew what I was about, and what I needed to do.
 

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