Crying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I rent a one bedroom shack in DC because my rent is $950. Last week a guy got shot 15 times at 2pm in front of my apartment. A two bedroom runs you about $1800 to $2400 and $1800 is a steal. I make $70k. Sometimes a little more. I keep making more $, but my boss keeps adjusting my commissions structure so I stay at $70k. I am actively looking. I could make more laterally, but want to get into about the $150k range...which doesn't seem impossible...just waiting for the right thing to come along anywhere in any country!

I make 29k and I went to college. You are making 70k and struggling? You may want sit down and figure out where all your money is going. I rent a one bedroom in a basement for my child and I, my child attends school now but I paid for daycare on my own. No help from the father or the government. It can be done. I would be rich if I made 70k. You are getting depressed from being on this site.

I have to agree. I make 68k now but made about 20k less when DD was born a few years ago. OP doesn't have child care expenses. This isn't poverty living at all. Perspective is needed.

+1. Are there other huge expenses? With $950 rent and no childcare, you should be doing pretty okay. Definitely have your H look into getting a part-time job.

[Anonymous]

I live in the hood in an apartment the size of a cardboard box with no washing machine. I am 37 with $20k in a 401k. I am so far behind...if you are close to 40 with no savings...you are going to be fucked or work until you die or your mind goes...whichever comes first. There has to be more to life than living check to check at 40! I will figure it out, but trust me...anyone who is like I need the perspective...I think you need perspective unless your house is paid off or you bought something in the 90's or you are maxing out your 401k...70k is great for a single person with no kids in their 20's. No one probably has a clue just how much you pay in medical expenses after you get Medicare. Ha! I live this shit everyday with my family! My grandmother had $700k in her bank account...after gramps died and she lost his income...in 6 years she has $400 left. Now she needs round the clock medical care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I rent a one bedroom shack in DC because my rent is $950. Last week a guy got shot 15 times at 2pm in front of my apartment. A two bedroom runs you about $1800 to $2400 and $1800 is a steal. I make $70k. Sometimes a little more. I keep making more $, but my boss keeps adjusting my commissions structure so I stay at $70k. I am actively looking. I could make more laterally, but want to get into about the $150k range...which doesn't seem impossible...just waiting for the right thing to come along anywhere in any country!

I make 29k and I went to college. You are making 70k and struggling? You may want sit down and figure out where all your money is going. I rent a one bedroom in a basement for my child and I, my child attends school now but I paid for daycare on my own. No help from the father or the government. It can be done. I would be rich if I made 70k. You are getting depressed from being on this site.

I have to agree. I make 68k now but made about 20k less when DD was born a few years ago. OP doesn't have child care expenses. This isn't poverty living at all. Perspective is needed.

+1. Are there other huge expenses? With $950 rent and no childcare, you should be doing pretty okay. Definitely have your H look into getting a part-time job.

Student loans, car note, insurance, saving (401k to get the match), utilities and cell phone, medical insurance (500 month).

[Anonymous]

Make your baby daddy get a job.

Taking care of a grown man and a baby is stressful.

He could always work for himself until he finds an on the books job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the hood in an apartment the size of a cardboard box with no washing machine. I am 37 with $20k in a 401k. I am so far behind...if you are close to 40 with no savings...you are going to be fucked or work until you die or your mind goes...whichever comes first. There has to be more to life than living check to check at 40! I will figure it out, but trust me...anyone who is like I need the perspective...I think you need perspective unless your house is paid off or you bought something in the 90's or you are maxing out your 401k...70k is great for a single person with no kids in their 20's. No one probably has a clue just how much you pay in medical expenses after you get Medicare. Ha! I live this shit everyday with my family! My grandmother had $700k in her bank account...after gramps died and she lost his income...in 6 years she has $400 left. Now she needs round the clock medical care.

I had $0 in retirement accounts at the age of 39 when I got the first full-time job I ever had in my life. Seventeen years later (I am now 56) I have over $700,000 in retirement accounts. I expect to have $1.5 million by the time I am 65. Just because you are getting a late start doesn't mean it can't be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the hood in an apartment the size of a cardboard box with no washing machine. I am 37 with $20k in a 401k. I am so far behind...if you are close to 40 with no savings...you are going to be fucked or work until you die or your mind goes...whichever comes first. There has to be more to life than living check to check at 40! I will figure it out, but trust me...anyone who is like I need the perspective...I think you need perspective unless your house is paid off or you bought something in the 90's or you are maxing out your 401k...70k is great for a single person with no kids in their 20's. No one probably has a clue just how much you pay in medical expenses after you get Medicare. Ha! I live this shit everyday with my family! My grandmother had $700k in her bank account...after gramps died and she lost his income...in 6 years she has $400 left. Now she needs round the clock medical care.

I had $0 in retirement accounts at the age of 39 when I got the first full-time job I ever had in my life. Seventeen years later (I am now 56) I have over $700,000 in retirement accounts. I expect to have $1.5 million by the time I am 65. Just because you are getting a late start doesn't mean it can't be done.

How did you do this? Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the hood in an apartment the size of a cardboard box with no washing machine. I am 37 with $20k in a 401k. I am so far behind...if you are close to 40 with no savings...you are going to be fucked or work until you die or your mind goes...whichever comes first. There has to be more to life than living check to check at 40! I will figure it out, but trust me...anyone who is like I need the perspective...I think you need perspective unless your house is paid off or you bought something in the 90's or you are maxing out your 401k...70k is great for a single person with no kids in their 20's. No one probably has a clue just how much you pay in medical expenses after you get Medicare. Ha! I live this shit everyday with my family! My grandmother had $700k in her bank account...after gramps died and she lost his income...in 6 years she has $400 left. Now she needs round the clock medical care.

I had $0 in retirement accounts at the age of 39 when I got the first full-time job I ever had in my life. Seventeen years later (I am now 56) I have over $700,000 in retirement accounts. I expect to have $1.5 million by the time I am 65. Just because you are getting a late start doesn't mean it can't be done.

I'd also love to hear more details. Do you have children/college expenses?

[Anonymous]

Yes. I have two children. They are now both through college. One went to a public college and the other to a private college. They got some merit scholarships and we paid the rest.

I started working full-time when my younger child was in first grade. I started out putting 10 percent into my retirement accounts and every time I go a raised I increased my contribution until I hit the maximum (currently $23,000 a year since I am over 50). My employer also has a generous match on contributions to a 401k. I knew I was getting a late start so I invested fairly aggressively (heavily into stocks) and then the market crashed in 2008 I went even more heavily into stocks.

My husband is a teacher and we had been living on his salary and my part-time earnings before I got a full-time job at the age of 39, so we never had an extravagant life style. We avoided most life-style inflation when I went to work full-time although we did start taking one nice vacation a year (more important to us than material possessions). This enabled us to save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, why do you want to start a business? Do you realize the time and money you have to invest in opening one? That's pretty much the opposite of what you want to do.

I was thinking a laundromat or dry cleaner...not some management consulting firm. I would open up a hot dog stand if I could get a license. Everyone starts small. Marriott started as a hot shoppes. The barriers to entry are harder, but not impossible.

daddy needs a job.

Also businesses often fail and you need more direction then just throwing a bunch of shit on the wall hoping it will stick. What is your expertise? What is your degree? Start there not just random businesses.

[Anonymous]

Daddy can only get a minimum wage job. The cost of daycare would be more than his salary...although we would get the deduction. If I had a husband that could make good $ things might be better, but irregardless I think to myself why am I not in a better position financially??? Just me! I should have made some better choices in degrees and higher education, but now that I am where I am how can I propel myself forward without having to take a paycut!

[Anonymous]

I am a jack of all trades and an ace at nothing, but I am leaning towards seo certification from google add in word press and I might have a small stream of additional revenue coming in...but the goal was to start a business daddy can work in due to his past.

[Anonymous]

Please the father can get a job in a bar or restaurant at way more than minimum wage. Construction pays more than minimum wage too. He can deliver pizzas. Stop making excuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please the father can get a job in a bar or restaurant at way more than minimum wage. Construction pays more than minimum wage too. He can deliver pizzas. Stop making excuses.

People think they know everything. You do not get hired for felonies anywhere except Goodwill and the Metro with one felony after 10 years of having it. People think the shit is that easy. Give me a company that you know that hires felons. You know for a fact...we you earn more than minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

Untrue.

I know a few people with felonies that were recently hired in jobs paying $25+ an hour (union and non-union jobs.) Yes, background check was performed and the felonies/charges were from less than 5 years old.

Personality and a person not giving up goes a long way.

If there is really a will, there will be a way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please the father can get a job in a bar or restaurant at way more than minimum wage. Construction pays more than minimum wage too. He can deliver pizzas. Stop making excuses.

People think they know everything. You do not get hired for felonies anywhere except Goodwill and the Metro with one felony after 10 years of having it. People think the shit is that easy. Give me a company that you know that hires felons. You know for a fact...we you earn more than minimum wage.

You named 2. He can start there.

Cut grass and create your own job.
Do handyman work.
Start a cleaning business.