The Coffee House

[limr]

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

 

[Warhorse]

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

It is never the point...till it is time to pay the bills.

 

[limr]

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

It is never the point...till it is time to pay the bills.

For some people it is. Money is the goal so they can buy the things that will make them "better." They can have a bigger house than they need, drive a more powerful car than they need, make sure their kids can fail out of the very best private schools and get quietly bailed out of any trouble they get into.

I understand wanting to make enough money to be comfortable. I want to be comfortable, of course I do. But I know that it probably will take less for me to be comfortable than it would for a lot of other people. I live simply and don't care too much about "stuff." I also know that there are limits to what I will do just for the sake of more money. I could have had a different career by now. I had a chance to get into banking when I first got back to the U.S. Some people - including members of my family - told me that it would be the smarter move, that it doesn't matter if banking would kill my soul because the point of working is for money, and I should make as much as I can.

I can't do that. I can't spend so much of my life doing work that means nothing to me simply for the paycheck. And so I work at something that is meaningful but doesn't pay me enough. I tried to make it work better for me financially but it didn't happen. It was time for something new that would be more profitable, but it still has to have meaning for me. Otherwise I just would have gone back to bartending and made a killing.

 

[minicoop1985]

I'd just like to make some money again... but not sacrifice my soul to do it. My wife always wanted to work in a medical field, so she's living her dream. It's my turn, dammit.

 

[minicoop1985]

In other news.... DOOKIE!!!! Best. Album. Evar.

 

[Warhorse]

Kudos!

Now I understand, no "bourgeoisie" lifestyle for you.

 

[sm4him]

. I can't spend so much of my life doing work that means nothing to me simply for the paycheck. And so I work at something that is meaningful but doesn't pay me enough.

Boy, do I understand that!
All my life, I really wanted to be a teacher. Even through most of high school, that's what I thought I'd do in college, study to become a teacher. But by the time I was a senior, I'd seen all the cr*p teachers had to put up with, all the NON-teaching stuff they had to do, and decided it wasn't worth for what they got paid. Hearing all the teachers complain about their jobs didn't help.
So, then, I decided I might as well pick a college major that could put me in a career to MAKE money. So, I got a business administration degree, with a major in marketing (and about three minors, lol). Well, actually, the decision was a much longer story than that, but that's what it boiled down to. My plan was to go to grad school and get a masters in statistics and do market research.
After graduating, I got a job at a publishing company locally with a great market research department. I was just a "runner," but figured I'd get in the door and then take off from there. Well, I did. But not with market research. I fell in love with the publishing process, and ended up on the production side, as a Production Manager. When the firm folded several years later, I got a sweet deal that allowed me to stay home with my little ones for a while.

After that, I took a job at a non-profit, and LOVED the sense of doing something that was actually worthwhile to somebody. I've been in non-profits of one sort or another ever since, making next to nothing.

The irony of the whole situation is that I didn't go into teaching, in large part, because the pay was so lousy. But if I *had*, I'd almost certainly be making more as a teacher NOW, than my current salary. But I like what I do (I don't like the environment in which I do it right now, but that's another story), I like being part of making a difference, AND I get to satisy my teaching urge by teaching adult Sunday School classes and doing conferences and retreats for women.

It was a real struggle for years, being a single parent who worked non-profit jobs. But now that the kids are older--I make "enough" to get by, and am starting to be able to do a little travel, and dream of retiring...in 30 years or so, lol. (And yes, I'm in my 50s... )

 

[limr]

Morning, hosers!

Y'know what's funny, Sharon? I never really had the intention of being a teacher. When I decided that I would major in linguistics and then get a PhD, I thought I wanted to be an academic. In grad school, I realized that maybe I didn't want to do that after all. Amazingly full of politics - some people handled that well. I hated it. But I was also teaching the ESL classes for my TAship and was finding myself much more satisfied by being in the classroom. So I thought I could just get a degree and teach for a small college or community college so I didn't have to deal with the whole publish-or-perish crap, or the strategizing to get tenure, or all the other crap that would take up so much time away from the actual work that made me interested in the academic life in the first place.

Eventually, that's what happened. At one point I tried to get certified for the public schools, only because the money would be better. I ended up not finishing the certification because once again, I started to see that being a teacher in K-12 would require more effort into dealing with administration and parents rather than, you know, teaching. (Plus, when the Board or Ed told me I had to take another class on literacy but had misspelled literacy every single time in the letter, I knew I couldn't ever take orders from them.) The job of an adjunct at a community college doesn't pay well at all, but the work is relatively undiluted.

In the Fall, I have a chance to teach an Intro to Linguistics class. I've been wanting to do this for more than 20 years. The paralegal job is part-time for the undetermined future, so if the class gets the enrollment, I'll be able to teach it. And I am just as excited about that as I am about the fact that I can finally pay off the last lingering bit of debt I've been trying to pay for the past several years.

I think I will enjoy the paralegal work - I never would have trained for it if I thought it wouldn't suit me. Parts of the job will be boring, to be sure, but I get to do research and write, and sometimes I will go to court to help take notes...that's the stuff that gets me excited. But to be perfectly honest, if I ever get offered full-time at the college, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

 

[limr]

Kudos!

Now I understand, no "bourgeoisie" lifestyle for you.

Not even close For example: my car will be 10 years old in June. It's a base model Chevy Cobalt. Even has manual windows and locks. When I bought it, I had the chance to buy one with more bells and whistles for about $2K more, with monthly payments that I could have made, though close to my limit. I decided against it. I wanted monthly payments that were lower than my limit so I could pay extra when I had money during the semesters, but also so I wouldn't miss the payment between semesters or in the summer when my income dropped. I never missed a payment and the note was paid off a year early.

I could have gotten a new car at some point in the past 10 years, increasing my debt but who cares if I have a new car? Or I could be leasing and getting a new car every 2-3 years, even though I'd be paying money every month for something I'll never own. But I just don't work that way. I like cars a lot, but I don't care about always upgrading. My car is still reliable, gas efficient, and a lot of fun to drive. She's got 167,000 miles and as I said, is almost 10 years old, so I know that I'm probably getting much closer to the time when I'll be forced to replace her, but I don't feel like I have to get something new just to have something new.

Oh and yes, my car is a "she" and her name is Lucille (She's a blue Cobalt, so naturally I had to name her after the most famous blues guitar ever )

 

[SquarePeg]

Well, I respect you all for your principles and your desire to live meaningful lives. I confess that I am someone who has a boring "soul sucking" but very well paying job doing something that I'm great at but has no deeper meaning and is not emotionally satisfying (think spreadsheets).

I don't live extravagantly but my house is in a nice neighborhood where my daughter can get a good education in the public school and we have everything we need and more.

The best thing about having a good income and lots of paid vacation time is that I can usually find the time and money to do the things I love.

It's a choice most people have to make and everyone has different needs and responsibilities to consider when choosing their path.

I don't judge those who make a different choice, but i do sometimes envy them.

Edit to add that my car is a 2007.

 

[Warhorse]

My 2001 Ford Excursion (which I purchased new), will be sold this spring.

15 years is long enough to keep a vehicle in my opinion.

 

[SquarePeg]

I always by used. Cars and photo equipmentioned!

 

[Warhorse]

I bought my first car used in 1972.

It was such a money pit, I swore off buying used cars to this day.

 

[bribrius]

hey hosers!!!!!!!

 

[minicoop1985]

I got my first NEW car three years ago now. Hard to imagine I've had the damned thing for three years. 2nd longest I've had a car, but I'm going to have it for quite a while.