Month: July 2023

I work at a factory and make what is considered a “good” wage where I am. For reference i am in upstate New York. I make about $23.50 an hour and work full time. Not to mention I work overnights, yet the differential is only 50¢, which is another complaint on its own. But overall, one of the better wages around me, considering I don't have a college degree. I don't usually pay too much attention to the details on my paystub, but today I looked at the net pay out of curiosity since we're halfway through the year. My net pay for these past 6 months has been just under $17k. Maybe I just can't do math in my head or just thought it would add up to more, I don't know. But that's it? So roughly $35k by the end of the year… And I'm expected to live…

So, I think I need to quit my job. It's stressful, but all of my friends, family, neighbors, even my doctor says it's time to quit. I want to write my thoughts down and see what you all think. Pros of the job: my coworkers are awesome. I have a lot of say in what projects I seek out and work on. I'm given a lot of free reign on buying tools I need. I also care about the work I do and enjoy it. Compensation is decent as well. Cons: my boss/company owner. She doesn't have the business acumen she thinks she has. She has extreme micromanaging issues. She uses fear as a form of discipline, and ensures that you know she can fire you at will. I've watched multiple people get fired. If something doesn't get done on her timeframe, she's looking for someone to blame. Twice now,…

Very long story short, I agreed to take a job as a receptionist for my parents when I was pregnant as I live in a small town and it was hard to find work while expecting. My father is a new doctor (practicing out of residency less than 5 years as a second career) and bought a clinic from a retiring doctor. This other doctor lied to our family about the practice and it turns out we bought a clinic that was at a $30,000/month deficit. Then the pandemic hit. My parents spent 2 years getting the clinic back on its feet so they didn’t have to close their doors as they were the only family practice in town at the time (another small clinic has opened, which helped). As they transformed the practice to a model that didn’t accept insurance (DPC model, another long story, google it if you…

How is it that employers justify forcing their employees to work in an office when the job can be done from home? They don’t even reimburse you on the gas nor the time wasted driving to and from work. No, I’m not more productive. If anything, waking up early and driving in traffic already puts me in a tired and cranky mood for the rest of the day.

So let’s start this off right. The median house in 1950 was around 100k in todays dollars. Currently the median house value is around 450k. So there you go housing is 4x more expensive now in this generation. Rent in my city is 2,500 for a studio and the median income is only 3,000 a month here. Ok housing sucks but what else? Well the price of college has actually outpaced inflation by 3x for the last 40 years. College now is around 100k for the whole package while graduates on average make 50k coming out. Next, the cost of living is actually insane across many parts of the country. Hell, the used car market is up 100% from three years ago. Used to be able to buy a used car for 5k that ran now that’s at least 10k. You thought I was done. Nope. Healthcare costs are now…