5 ms·

The truth is, most jobs these days are rather bloated themselves. I do wish you luck in finding a job, but I would also give you this following piece of advice:

The truth is, most jobs these days are rather bloated themselves. I do wish you luck in finding a job, but I would also give you this following piece of advice: at the same time while trying to find a job, think about strategies where you can work less and contribute more to society in your local community. I truly believe that the real opportunities out there are those which are mostly divorced away from the typical LinkedIn posting where it's just some company trying to push more consumerism on the world.

mronetwo 3y ago
Ideally, this. Realistically, not sure about this. It might be a bit of a crapshoot. It might yield very rewarding "jobs" but it's difficult to put your mind into it, when you just want to make a living. It just feels like you have to cross certain wealth threshold to do this. It might not reflect reality but this feeling of "I need a 9 to 5 to just keep myself afloat" is real.
- vouaobrasil 3y ago
  You're right about that. And this is something I've been thinking about for quite some time. My rejoinder is that most people have a set of compromises they can make that might make them a lot wealthier than they think. For example, a friend of mine was complaining that he had to work hard to afford a house. However, he was dead-set on a set of ideals and a location he wanted to settle at. Maybe part of that was preference, but it was clear that part of that was some sort of preconceived notion hammered into him by society and peer examples. Instead, he could have aimed to buy a cheaper house in a smaller town while working/renting in the current town and just moved out. In my home town, even smaller houses cost at least 400K but there are plenty of nice places where the houses are 60K. So, buy one of those instead and move away once you've saved up enough... By taking a month and seriously going through what's important to have a happy, "basic" life, most people will find things that they can give up, but that will make them happier in the long run. Like living in a certain neighbourhood, buying this or that, taking a certain number of vacations, having an extra child, a dog, etc. Most people end up saving TOO much for retirement...and while caution is good, our society hammers this idea of an extremely consumptive lifestyle that these endless 9-5 jobs support.
  - ctoth 3y ago
    > there are plenty of nice places where the houses are 60K. Citation super needed. Where in the US can I buy a house for $60,000? Does it have a roof?
    - vouaobrasil 3y ago
      Well, I was thinking of Canada. I found quite a few nice, basic houses (by this, I mean a place you can actually live in, not reno projects) for around $60K USD. I'm talking about sparse provinces like Saskatchewan. I also found some now with a quick search in Alabama (US) for around $70K. Check out sparsely populated, small places in the US, and search for small houses. Hey, I never said it would be a mansion.
      - frfl 3y ago
        Houses under 100k CAD are either - So far away from a major (by Canadian standards) city you're basically living in the middle of nowhere - Run down and you're looking at 100k in renovations and upgrades - Unless you're working remotely or are already well off, there are no well paying jobs out in the middle of nowhere - Education is an issue: far away from schools for kids and only southern BC, southern Ontario, southern Quebec have high ranking universities/colleges Any house in a desirable location is out of reach for many people. More and more people are now looking further out, thus driving prices higher in those locations as well. I don't think these people are looking to necessarily move out into the middle of Saskatchewan or other middle-Canada provinces where they can get those 100k homes for the reasons listed above.
        swader999 3y ago
        100k house in Canada is a mobile home.
        frfl 3y ago
        Not really. There are actual homes, but they're old and no where close to major cities Couple of examples https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25857143/101-galway-street-limerick https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25857143/101-galway-stree... https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25917262/323-pottery-street-eastend https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25917262/323-pottery-stre... https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25938347/3-pacholok-avenue-ethelbert-r31?view=imagelist https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25938347/3-pacholok-avenu...
rhyme-boss 3y ago
I was offered a job coaching under-12 soccer for the top local club where parents pay thousands a year. The offer was $700 a month to run (by myself) 3 practices a week plus a game on the weekend. So less than $20 an hour, which doesn't even cover transportation costs. Similar story applying to work at a bakery down the street, and same for working for animal control. I agree doing work in your local community is rewarding, but it amounts to full time volunteerism. Our economy is truly horrific for the middle class and below.
- vouaobrasil 3y ago
  Yes, it is true, sometimes it is hard to find alternatives right away. It is not easy because the price of everything is so high. Our high-growth economy has given us two things: a high paycheck, but in exchange for selling our soul and becoming drones. I left full-time work a while ago, but I admit, it can be VERY scary, especially after being exposed to so much capitalistic propaganda.

mronetwo 3y ago

Ideally, this. Realistically, not sure about this. It might be a bit of a crapshoot. It might yield very rewarding "jobs" but it's difficult to put your mind into it, when you just want to make a living. It just feels like you have to cross certain wealth threshold to do this. It might not reflect reality but this feeling of "I need a 9 to 5 to just keep myself afloat" is real.

vouaobrasil 3y ago
You're right about that. And this is something I've been thinking about for quite some time. My rejoinder is that most people have a set of compromises they can make that might make them a lot wealthier than they think. For example, a friend of mine was complaining that he had to work hard to afford a house. However, he was dead-set on a set of ideals and a location he wanted to settle at. Maybe part of that was preference, but it was clear that part of that was some sort of preconceived notion hammered into him by society and peer examples. Instead, he could have aimed to buy a cheaper house in a smaller town while working/renting in the current town and just moved out. In my home town, even smaller houses cost at least 400K but there are plenty of nice places where the houses are 60K. So, buy one of those instead and move away once you've saved up enough... By taking a month and seriously going through what's important to have a happy, "basic" life, most people will find things that they can give up, but that will make them happier in the long run. Like living in a certain neighbourhood, buying this or that, taking a certain number of vacations, having an extra child, a dog, etc. Most people end up saving TOO much for retirement...and while caution is good, our society hammers this idea of an extremely consumptive lifestyle that these endless 9-5 jobs support.
- ctoth 3y ago
  > there are plenty of nice places where the houses are 60K. Citation super needed. Where in the US can I buy a house for $60,000? Does it have a roof?
  - vouaobrasil 3y ago
    Well, I was thinking of Canada. I found quite a few nice, basic houses (by this, I mean a place you can actually live in, not reno projects) for around $60K USD. I'm talking about sparse provinces like Saskatchewan. I also found some now with a quick search in Alabama (US) for around $70K. Check out sparsely populated, small places in the US, and search for small houses. Hey, I never said it would be a mansion.
    - frfl 3y ago
      Houses under 100k CAD are either - So far away from a major (by Canadian standards) city you're basically living in the middle of nowhere - Run down and you're looking at 100k in renovations and upgrades - Unless you're working remotely or are already well off, there are no well paying jobs out in the middle of nowhere - Education is an issue: far away from schools for kids and only southern BC, southern Ontario, southern Quebec have high ranking universities/colleges Any house in a desirable location is out of reach for many people. More and more people are now looking further out, thus driving prices higher in those locations as well. I don't think these people are looking to necessarily move out into the middle of Saskatchewan or other middle-Canada provinces where they can get those 100k homes for the reasons listed above.
      - swader999 3y ago
        100k house in Canada is a mobile home.
        frfl 3y ago
        Not really. There are actual homes, but they're old and no where close to major cities Couple of examples https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25857143/101-galway-street-limerick https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25857143/101-galway-stree... https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25917262/323-pottery-street-eastend https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25917262/323-pottery-stre... https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25938347/3-pacholok-avenue-ethelbert-r31?view=imagelist https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25938347/3-pacholok-avenu...

rhyme-boss 3y ago

I was offered a job coaching under-12 soccer for the top local club where parents pay thousands a year. The offer was $700 a month to run (by myself) 3 practices a week plus a game on the weekend. So less than $20 an hour, which doesn't even cover transportation costs. Similar story applying to work at a bakery down the street, and same for working for animal control. I agree doing work in your local community is rewarding, but it amounts to full time volunteerism. Our economy is truly horrific for the middle class and below.

vouaobrasil 3y ago
Yes, it is true, sometimes it is hard to find alternatives right away. It is not easy because the price of everything is so high. Our high-growth economy has given us two things: a high paycheck, but in exchange for selling our soul and becoming drones. I left full-time work a while ago, but I admit, it can be VERY scary, especially after being exposed to so much capitalistic propaganda.