Anonymous wrote:Where are y'all on the rest of DCUM? I'm feeling so...normal. As long as I forget that the thread title is "terrible salaries."

I agree! I'm curious as to where everyone lives as well. In the real estate forum everyone makes 400k and lives in Bethesda or Arlington. Where do the real people live?!

OP— time to change jobs. A “project coordinator” is an entry level (or practically entry-level) position. You’re 32–you should be advancing and making more, and yes $53k is a starting salary for many people.

Don’t feel too comforted by people who are 45 and say they make that as well. You don’t want that to be you!

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Anonymous wrote:It just depends on your degree. I made more than that in 2000 (my second year out of school) with an accounting degree.

It actually doesn't depend on your degree. It depends on your hustle. At the age of 32, I was making $85,000 a year and was managing three people with an English undergraduate degree. Now, I will admit, at the age of 23, I was making $30K. But I am a hustler, and I'm very talented and professional. It's not the degree. It's how you present yourself, what opportunties you make for yourself, and how you get along with other people.

But a degree in something useful also helps. I don't know what year you were 32, but at 32 I was making $140k and I didn't have to "hustle".

OK...great? My degree is in English. Every industry needs people who can write well, think critically, and manage complex projects. You make a little more than me; I'm at $120K at the age of 39. But I got a free master's degree, have traveled to Paris and The Hague and Ireland on business, and leave every day at 4:30. I think I'm doing OK.

Anonymous wrote:Change careers/field. We start fresh grads with a comp sci degree at $75+k and IT people at $60k. Even our 26 year old executive assistant makes $60k.

We hire h1bs for software development at 60k.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the refreshing thread

There are plenty of non lawyer, finance, IT, gov, or gov contractor type of jobs out there which are interesting challenging and make under 100k

And plenty of gov and gov contractor jobs that are interesting, challenging, and make under 100k! I am a government archaeologist....trust me, there aren't a lot of is GS-15s. Off the top of my head I know of 2-3, who are at the top of the agency nationally. Most of us are scattered from GS-5 to GS-13, a lot of people top out at 12.

You really cannot compare. I'm 37, I make a bit under 90K. Most people in my circle make more. I'd love to make more but this is life.

Thanks for the refreshing thread

There are plenty of non lawyer, finance, IT, gov, or gov contractor type of jobs out there which are interesting challenging and make under 100k

You need a second job OP. You can nanny, do a weekend bar or retail job. You need to get moving.

Anonymous wrote:What have you been doing the last several years? In my organization program coordinators are entry level positions given to people right out of undergrad or grad school (if they have little work experience).

+1 Why not get PMP certification and become a project manager?

I make 60k non-profit fundraising. I'm 37. I made more in my late 20a but invested well and DH is in a smaller, well paid global niche in engineering so I was able to meander career wise. Or at least that's what I tell myself. I sometimes wonder what my career would be like without my relationship (since college, travelling for his career etc). I could still be meandering and low paid!

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Anonymous wrote:Well you're probably doing really interesting, satisfying, meaningful work, right?

A lot of jobs that pay more - finance, BigLaw, accounting, certain types of tech like coding, etc. etc. are boring AF.

Sure you make more but is it really worth it? I'd rather enjoy what I do all day for 8-10 hours then be alternately bored and stressed.

This is so true. Currently at a law firm making $400k with great benefits. Seriously considering an offer for a non-profit at $190k with no benefits. On the one hand, it seems nuts to walk away from $400k/year. On the other hand, I'm simultaneously bored and stressed.

You guys crack me up. So you think all of us not making big bucks have super meaningful jobs that are so satisfying? And that's why the jobs are not paying much?
You think your 400K job is too stressful to be worth it, then come and try a stressful 80k job. And your option for a 190k with no benefits is not really low paying. So take it if you like the job. You're still making good money.

PP here. Not at all, on either front. I am tremendously fortunate to have the option of choosing between two high-paying jobs. I have also had very stressful $60k jobs, so I realize that stress and money are not correlated. I also personally know the stress of not making enough money to pay my basic bills--I have been there and I don't plan to go back. But, let's be real; this thread is not about housecleaners, fast food workers, day laborers, and such. The vast majority of the comments are from educated people with professional jobs who feel they have low salaries. I was responding specifically to a comment about the drudgery of certain high pay/high hours/high stress jobs. I probably should have left it alone, though. And, I do realize in retrospect that commenting on this thread at all, given my situation, is entitled and insensitive. So, I apologize.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well you're probably doing really interesting, satisfying, meaningful work, right?

A lot of jobs that pay more - finance, BigLaw, accounting, certain types of tech like coding, etc. etc. are boring AF.

Sure you make more but is it really worth it? I'd rather enjoy what I do all day for 8-10 hours then be alternately bored and stressed.

This is so true. Currently at a law firm making $400k with great benefits. Seriously considering an offer for a non-profit at $190k with no benefits. On the one hand, it seems nuts to walk away from $400k/year. On the other hand, I'm simultaneously bored and stressed.

You guys crack me up. So you think all of us not making big bucks have super meaningful jobs that are so satisfying? And that's why the jobs are not paying much?
You think your 400K job is too stressful to be worth it, then come and try a stressful 80k job. And your option for a 190k with no benefits is not really low paying. So take it if you like the job. You're still making good money.

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Anonymous wrote:Where are y'all on the rest of DCUM? I'm feeling so...normal. As long as I forget that the thread title is "terrible salaries."

We really do need our own forum! (Though as a DINK with a husband whose salary is in the low $100s, I guess I'd feel like a real jerk calling ourselves "normal" - we are in the top 5% or thereabouts for American households. It is literally only on this board here that I ever feel like we haven't been graced with incredible fortune to find ourselves where we are, even if I am still paying off student loans in my mid 40s, unable to swing a European vacation every six months.)

Wait until you have a kid or two and have to pay $2-$5k a month for child care. You won’t feel so rich anymore.

We're in our mid-40s. Not planning to have kids. Life will have taken a very unexpected turn if that happens.

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Anonymous wrote:I make $50k in a public policy job. Since I work somewhere with a well known name people think I make much more. It makes things tight with 2 kids in daycare and a husband who makes $80k. I’m 36.

I think most people overestimate how much other people make.

Most people on the real Estate forum are saying they make 300k.

And I make 750K, except not really because this is an anonymous forum and I can say whatever I want

My husband makes 1 million, I SAH and pay our nanny 75K.

Now I know you are lying, because the SAHMs in my neighborhood pay their nanny $30k, max

$15/hour? Where?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are y'all on the rest of DCUM? I'm feeling so...normal. As long as I forget that the thread title is "terrible salaries."

We really do need our own forum! (Though as a DINK with a husband whose salary is in the low $100s, I guess I'd feel like a real jerk calling ourselves "normal" - we are in the top 5% or thereabouts for American households. It is literally only on this board here that I ever feel like we haven't been graced with incredible fortune to find ourselves where we are, even if I am still paying off student loans in my mid 40s, unable to swing a European vacation every six months.)

Wait until you have a kid or two and have to pay $2-$5k a month for child care. You won’t feel so rich anymore.