4 ms·

"You mentioned poor people skills like fixing cars - couldn’t you market those to make some money on the side? Not easily. Poor people skills like fixing cars,

"You mentioned poor people skills like fixing cars - couldn’t you market those to make some money on the side? Not easily. Poor people skills like fixing cars, appliance repair and Craigslist purchasing are absolutely essential to the family-on-an-extreme-budget experience, but they don’t translate very well to making more money, usually." It's so bizarre to read this, as I personally know so many people who make some really decent coin doing exactly these things mentioned (quite a few from dirt-poor backgrounds, and two who are functionally illiterate). To be fair, I run a fairly successful business selling used games for a living, so my social circle would look different to the author's - but on the other hand "selling poor people skills" basically describes every single Lebanese guy in Australia.

willyt 5y ago
The economics of fixing cars must be quite different in the US maybe parts are a lot cheaper but new cars are more expensive? I had a 10 year old Toyota estate car that was basically worth the scrap value of the metal but it ran ok. In year 11 it failed its yearly safety inspection, the part I needed to fix this was £700 on ebay I would have needed ramps to get under it and probably an oxy cutter to cut the old parts out as the bolts were all seized up. It would have cost me about £1400 for the local garage to do this work. I don’t have anywhere covered to do this work and it would have taken me days to do it in the rain with a significant chance of screwing it up. The garage that inspected the car told me to scrap it as it was not worth fixing. There’s no scrap dealer near me and it’s illegal to drive it so I phone the scrap dealer and the best I can get is to get it taken away for free. I looked online and found to my surprise that a new car that would suit us fine was ~£2300 per year in payments. I looked at what I had spent on repairs on the old Toyota and some other old cars I had and how much the depreciation had cost me and the figures are within £30/month. Which is why most people around here are driving quite new cars even though I know they are not making a much money.
imtringued 5y ago
I don't get it. Why on earth would anyone want a random person to fix your car? An apprenticeship in Germany only takes 3 years and then you are a real car mechanic. I get that people want to go to a cheap family owned garage but even those have competent and properly trained car mechanics.
- scarface74 5y ago
  People who can’t afford to get their car fixed by a “real” mechanic.
- porknubbins 5y ago
  What would be the body of knowledge of a competently trained mechanic? The basic principles are simple enough that anyone with mechanical aptitude can pick up auto work without formal studying and the rest is complicated details of things that vary by manufacturer and vehicle.
  - nicbou 5y ago
    Not necessarily the body of knowledge, but the tools. When I pay for repairs, it's usually because I'm not nearly as well-equiped as the local garage.
  - yobbo 5y ago
    I'm guessing, for example, safe torques on various bolt dimensions based on thread force and tension. Experiencing the various failure modes of each operation (or part), and learning to recognize them by sight and ear. Being able to explain with technical detail which situations impact drivers are unsuitable or dangerous. Hardness of various metals and coatings, metal nobility and understanding and recognizing galvanic corrosion. And so on ...
- Spooky23 5y ago
  Where I live, mechanics billing rate is $90-120/hr. Usually the shade tree mechanics are like $30-40, and usually work off books.
schwartzworld 5y ago
The standard of excellence for diy is lower than with a professional. Being good enough to keep your car running a couple extra years isn't the same as being good enough to charge.
dsr_ 5y ago
The author lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Think of it as being Sydney, but in the desert, with a government that doesn't provide any of the social services you think are basic human rights.
- buescher 5y ago
  Ah yes, Phoenix. The thunderdome of the United States! Where, unlike anywhere else in America, there is no public education, no food stamps, no Medicaid, no Section 8 housing, no disability insurance, no Social Security or Medicare...
  - stevenicr 5y ago
    For many years I would mutter a similar response to several issues brought up. Then I started actually helping people get to these services to help them with a hand up instead of hand outs. What I found - section 8 housing - 18 month waiting period for the actual housing complexes - with priority given to X people with Y situation and Z thing. Section 8 vouchers can be navigated to, but finding a place that will take them, and take them before your limited window expires is not possible. Disability insurance? that thing you have to afford and pay for before you need it, that only covers a portion of your previous income for a period of time - yeah everyone has that and it saves all. Food stamps are taken away when you start making 11.35 / hr (TN - no idea what it is in AZ)- the living wage for a person (Nash, TN) with 1 child is like $30 / hr here - https://livingwage.mit.edu/ https://livingwage.mit.edu/ - and I have no idea where MIT is finding housing around here for 1200 / mth - the average apt without utilities is now $1800 just for rent I believe. medicaid / care and SS are awesome when you can get it - and I'm glad they exist. For many people actually getting it is not going to happen. There is public education - which is a god send for keeping childcare costs down and a meal a day. Depending on your social class you may not score good grades and learn as well as you could, and you could be permanently damaged mentally / emotionally from the lack of actual care, especially if you are not in a protected class... but you may know algebra and geometry when you get kicked out into a world that pays you the same if you can't even speak english / never passed the sixth grade.. but it'll save your parents from paying for a meal and babysitting for some years - so they are subsidized in being able to work cheaper for whatever company benefits from that. No phoenix is not a thunderdome of the US - the US is the US. except for those water use issues- then phoenix is the most unsustainable city in the world ( https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2b88bcee697c4ca682136f10091bf434 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2b88bcee697c4ca682136f1... ) - haha - but we pay for it somehow. yourLocationMayVary

willyt 5y ago

The economics of fixing cars must be quite different in the US maybe parts are a lot cheaper but new cars are more expensive? I had a 10 year old Toyota estate car that was basically worth the scrap value of the metal but it ran ok. In year 11 it failed its yearly safety inspection, the part I needed to fix this was £700 on ebay I would have needed ramps to get under it and probably an oxy cutter to cut the old parts out as the bolts were all seized up. It would have cost me about £1400 for the local garage to do this work. I don’t have anywhere covered to do this work and it would have taken me days to do it in the rain with a significant chance of screwing it up. The garage that inspected the car told me to scrap it as it was not worth fixing. There’s no scrap dealer near me and it’s illegal to drive it so I phone the scrap dealer and the best I can get is to get it taken away for free. I looked online and found to my surprise that a new car that would suit us fine was ~£2300 per year in payments. I looked at what I had spent on repairs on the old Toyota and some other old cars I had and how much the depreciation had cost me and the figures are within £30/month. Which is why most people around here are driving quite new cars even though I know they are not making a much money.

imtringued 5y ago

I don't get it. Why on earth would anyone want a random person to fix your car? An apprenticeship in Germany only takes 3 years and then you are a real car mechanic. I get that people want to go to a cheap family owned garage but even those have competent and properly trained car mechanics.

scarface74 5y ago
People who can’t afford to get their car fixed by a “real” mechanic.
porknubbins 5y ago
What would be the body of knowledge of a competently trained mechanic? The basic principles are simple enough that anyone with mechanical aptitude can pick up auto work without formal studying and the rest is complicated details of things that vary by manufacturer and vehicle.
- nicbou 5y ago
  Not necessarily the body of knowledge, but the tools. When I pay for repairs, it's usually because I'm not nearly as well-equiped as the local garage.
- yobbo 5y ago
  I'm guessing, for example, safe torques on various bolt dimensions based on thread force and tension. Experiencing the various failure modes of each operation (or part), and learning to recognize them by sight and ear. Being able to explain with technical detail which situations impact drivers are unsuitable or dangerous. Hardness of various metals and coatings, metal nobility and understanding and recognizing galvanic corrosion. And so on ...
Spooky23 5y ago
Where I live, mechanics billing rate is $90-120/hr. Usually the shade tree mechanics are like $30-40, and usually work off books.

schwartzworld 5y ago

The standard of excellence for diy is lower than with a professional. Being good enough to keep your car running a couple extra years isn't the same as being good enough to charge.

dsr_ 5y ago

The author lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Think of it as being Sydney, but in the desert, with a government that doesn't provide any of the social services you think are basic human rights.

buescher 5y ago
Ah yes, Phoenix. The thunderdome of the United States! Where, unlike anywhere else in America, there is no public education, no food stamps, no Medicaid, no Section 8 housing, no disability insurance, no Social Security or Medicare...
- stevenicr 5y ago
  For many years I would mutter a similar response to several issues brought up. Then I started actually helping people get to these services to help them with a hand up instead of hand outs. What I found - section 8 housing - 18 month waiting period for the actual housing complexes - with priority given to X people with Y situation and Z thing. Section 8 vouchers can be navigated to, but finding a place that will take them, and take them before your limited window expires is not possible. Disability insurance? that thing you have to afford and pay for before you need it, that only covers a portion of your previous income for a period of time - yeah everyone has that and it saves all. Food stamps are taken away when you start making 11.35 / hr (TN - no idea what it is in AZ)- the living wage for a person (Nash, TN) with 1 child is like $30 / hr here - https://livingwage.mit.edu/ https://livingwage.mit.edu/ - and I have no idea where MIT is finding housing around here for 1200 / mth - the average apt without utilities is now $1800 just for rent I believe. medicaid / care and SS are awesome when you can get it - and I'm glad they exist. For many people actually getting it is not going to happen. There is public education - which is a god send for keeping childcare costs down and a meal a day. Depending on your social class you may not score good grades and learn as well as you could, and you could be permanently damaged mentally / emotionally from the lack of actual care, especially if you are not in a protected class... but you may know algebra and geometry when you get kicked out into a world that pays you the same if you can't even speak english / never passed the sixth grade.. but it'll save your parents from paying for a meal and babysitting for some years - so they are subsidized in being able to work cheaper for whatever company benefits from that. No phoenix is not a thunderdome of the US - the US is the US. except for those water use issues- then phoenix is the most unsustainable city in the world ( https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2b88bcee697c4ca682136f10091bf434 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2b88bcee697c4ca682136f1... ) - haha - but we pay for it somehow. yourLocationMayVary