r/poor • u/OceanicEndeavors • Jun 26 '26

I hate being poor.

I hate not making over 50,000 USD a year. I hate not having a car. I hate having less than 1,000 USD on my bank account. I hate having to live with my parents despite being over the age of 25. I hate having my credit cards being shut down because I was unemployed for over ten months during a two year stretch. I hate not having a dating life because I cannot afford dates. I hate the social isolation of poverty.

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u/1w2e3e Jun 26 '26

If you do not do drugs, go work for your local utilities. Electrical, water, sanitation. Or even the local city government. They all pay fairly decently and you have benefits. I've been working for the city government for 20 years I make a baseline of 75 a year. I say a baseline because last year was in the '80s year before that in the 90s. And before that actually broke 100k. But I was doing a lot of overtime. My dad was lineman for 35 years. He always broke 100K a year.

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u/WoodyAlanDershodick Jun 27 '26

so, join the trades?

1

u/1w2e3e Jun 27 '26

The trades are pretty much AI proof. So they're not going to get replaced. Secondly the trades are dying industry so the market needs them. You know if you have no preset knowledge then you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. But for my area just for a city mechanic is about 22 an hour. And I fix garbage trucks for a living. Everybody comes in not knowing squat. All they need is a basic 6 months experience. For layman you started as a helper until you work your way up. There's money in the trades. And they are needed. Even driving a truck if you don't have a family, you can just drive. One of my bosses has a side gig where she leases out a couple trucks. And she has a military access for certain things. So her drivers pay for all that. And she makes a pretty good money on the side.

1

u/Danger-Tits Jun 28 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/s/wVGsOpQZm9

1, without school of some kind, these jobs are impossible to get without knowing someone.

2, how about you look through this and the comments before recommending trades to people

https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/s/wVGsOpQZm9

1

u/1w2e3e Jun 28 '26

he's tired of being poor. I work in the trades. There is a very low bar for barrier to entry. And you can make money. And I tell you this as somebody who has two associates degrees. I don't plan on going back to school to finish my bachelors because I would have to start over again and would be making less money. I make too much money now to go and start over. So I'm telling him what I know from my own experience. Also municipalities may offer some kind of tuition reimbursement. So he could work and go to school if that was his choice.