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Below is my personal experience with different job situations: Between 17 and 20 I never travelled more than a few miles for work. I worked as a server at a re

Below is my personal experience with different job situations: Between 17 and 20 I never travelled more than a few miles for work. I worked as a server at a resort ($14/hr), as a night auditor at hotel where I had 1 hour of work to do and 8 hours to do it ($8.25/hr) and as an entry-level web developer ($10-15/hr). All of the jobs paid more than I needed and I had ample free time. The main drawback for these jobs was that I wasn't treated as well as I wanted. With one of the web companies, I happened to see a recent hire's check and saw that he made more than me. I asked the owner why this person made more than me when I had more experience, and her answer was that I made a lot for my age and that the other person had a degree. From 20-24 years of age I worked as a freelancer, starting at $25/hr and going to $90/hr, billing about 30 hours a week and working about 50. I always worked remotely, and for a year during this period I lived in Hawaii. The perks of working from home are many. I always lived near the beach and could take beach breaks during the middle of the day. I had a lot more time because I had no commute at all. The main drawback was that I didn't have enough social interaction. I'm still discovering what a huge, negative effect this has had on my life. These days I make $100/hr, 40 hours a week, and I commute between an hour and half and two hours every day, depending on traffic. I listen to audiobooks on the ride in, but going home they make me too sleepy. Because of the audiobooks, I don't mind the commute as much as I would otherwise. I feel like I learn valuable things during my time in the car. Also, because I earn more and bill for more hours, I make about twice as much as I did previously. This year I'm planning on traveling around the world, something I've never been able to do. I've also been able to afford a lot of little niceties like improv lessons and snowboarding lessons. I'm very glad that I'm able to buy these experiences. I'm also trying to make friends with the people I work with. I already consider my immediate colleagues to be good friends and great people, and it makes me very happy to know them and see them every day. The long-ass commute does get me down sometimes. I'm still trying to figure out how to make more time for my personal projects. With the amount of money I'm making, though, it's feasible that I'll be able to take little vacations just to work on my ideas, something which wasn't possible before. So overall, the long commute is definitely worth it.

MikeCapone 17y ago
Thanks for taking the time to write all this. Question: Is there anything keeping you from living closer to where you work?
- thirdstation 17y ago
  Not always an option. In my case, moving closer would quadruple my taxes. Decent neighborhoods are 40 minutes away (average commute in my office is about 40 min). There's also the question of working spouses and kids. If it were for a boffo CEO position I'd consider moving but, to be just another seat warmer, not so much. (disclaimer: I really like my job which is why I drive 2 hours each way. If I can work out moving closer that would be beneficial to all involved I would. I won't get within 30 minutes though - that I already know).
  - jbooth 17y ago
    Quadruple?? If you're talking a state boundary, I think you're probably missing something. Some states have higher income tax, some have higher real estate tax (which you pay for indirectly via rent). Quadruple your cost of living, I could believe. EDIT: Additionally, somewhere around 80% of the taxes that you do pay go to the federal gov't -- so it'd be really, really hard for a change in state to quadruple your tax burden.
    - thirdstation 17y ago
      Hyberbole retracted after a little research. I was speaking of property taxes specifically. It's possible to quadruple my property taxes by moving to the same state in which I work. That would put me about an hour from my office and is the most expensive area in the state. Being within 30 min of my office would be 1.5 - 2 times more expensive property tax wise.
- nonrecursive 17y ago
  I moved August of last year, and got my current job in October (after my main client, a startup owner, just up and stopped paying me.) I don't want to move again for maybe another year. There are other personal factors involved. Other reasons to stay put are that my current living place is of really high quality for the price. I live in a very beautiful area very close to beaches, which I means a lot to me. I also have a great landlord that I consider a friend. The cul-de-sac I live on is pretty close-knit, which is pretty rare and which I appreciate a lot. A lot of the people who live on the street (or within visual range) are relatives. A month after my girlfriend and I moved in, we got invited to their family reunion by the... 'patriarch' of the family, and we had a good time with them. That level of friendliness and familiarity really does a lot for me.

MikeCapone 17y ago

Thanks for taking the time to write all this. Question: Is there anything keeping you from living closer to where you work?

thirdstation 17y ago
Not always an option. In my case, moving closer would quadruple my taxes. Decent neighborhoods are 40 minutes away (average commute in my office is about 40 min). There's also the question of working spouses and kids. If it were for a boffo CEO position I'd consider moving but, to be just another seat warmer, not so much. (disclaimer: I really like my job which is why I drive 2 hours each way. If I can work out moving closer that would be beneficial to all involved I would. I won't get within 30 minutes though - that I already know).
- jbooth 17y ago
  Quadruple?? If you're talking a state boundary, I think you're probably missing something. Some states have higher income tax, some have higher real estate tax (which you pay for indirectly via rent). Quadruple your cost of living, I could believe. EDIT: Additionally, somewhere around 80% of the taxes that you do pay go to the federal gov't -- so it'd be really, really hard for a change in state to quadruple your tax burden.
  - thirdstation 17y ago
    Hyberbole retracted after a little research. I was speaking of property taxes specifically. It's possible to quadruple my property taxes by moving to the same state in which I work. That would put me about an hour from my office and is the most expensive area in the state. Being within 30 min of my office would be 1.5 - 2 times more expensive property tax wise.
nonrecursive 17y ago
I moved August of last year, and got my current job in October (after my main client, a startup owner, just up and stopped paying me.) I don't want to move again for maybe another year. There are other personal factors involved. Other reasons to stay put are that my current living place is of really high quality for the price. I live in a very beautiful area very close to beaches, which I means a lot to me. I also have a great landlord that I consider a friend. The cul-de-sac I live on is pretty close-knit, which is pretty rare and which I appreciate a lot. A lot of the people who live on the street (or within visual range) are relatives. A month after my girlfriend and I moved in, we got invited to their family reunion by the... 'patriarch' of the family, and we had a good time with them. That level of friendliness and familiarity really does a lot for me.