Job question for you & how much money is enough?

[AustinTXCat]

Love Orlando the city, but hate the traffic. Do you use SunRail to get around any? I've wondered how that was. My mother had an aunt that lived in Ocala. Hotter'n 40 Hells during the summer. I've spent at least a few days in every region of Florida and I will take even the worst over living in East TN. One of my coworkers retired today. He and his wife bought a condo in Celebration, and are planning on moving there at the end of November when his current tenant's lease expires. He's only 55 and plans on finding a job on a golf course. His wife teaches high school calculus and already has a job lined up. Lucky bastard he is. Can't wait to retire and get our asses down there.

I rode SunRail between Orlando-Sanford and back in December, 2014. Nice trip. Brother Willy can fill you in about Celebration.

 

[jockstrap_mcgee]

Huntington Beach, which is about 20 minutes from Irvine. It's real nice. The weather is great and I love the ocean but I want to send my kids to private school, which you can imagine what that will be out here. I also have a good set up right now but no way am I moving into some two bedroom apartment for $2,100 month again. I've done that and it's just stupid especially when that is way more than a mortgage for a beautiful home in the south.

Southern California real estate fluctuates dramatically based on the school district too. I would guess Huntington Beach has a pretty good one.

 

[RacerX.ksr]

I'd be content making what I am making, low 20s, .

I don't know what you're doing, but I was in a Hobby Lobby store today and they had a sign just inside the front door looking for people. Minimum of $15/hr with paid leave, medical and dental.

 

[Captain Forehead]

First of all, I'm going to preface this with the fact that I haven't read this entire thread. Actually just the first comment. So, here it goes....

Will there be pictures taken of me doing this "job"? Will they end up on the "internets"?

 

[Big_Blue79]

Updating my answer. Eating pistachios today, and I routinely skip the ones where the shell does not open enough to open without risking tearing off a fingernail or having to use a tool. So if I don't make enough money to feel comfortable chucking lame pistachios, then I would work more hours for more money.

 

[cole854]

The thing I've found is the more you make, the more you will want to make. You get a bump in lifestyle and are happy, but you get used to it. Then you start seeing things at the next level. It's a natural progression.

In other words, it's a material thing with you and a sense of shallowness. Essentially, you will never be content.

 

[drxman1]

More like ambition, and a drive to excel.

 

[Chuckinden]

Just flew back from Sarasota yesterday. Thought I had found a good deal on a house, but it turned out not to be for a myriad of reasons.

I am looking for something within 30 minutes of the coast with preferably a boat dock that leads to the intracoastal waterway.

 

[TheDude1]

Really depends on where you live... 75k a year in northern NJ isn't very much... you'll still struggle to pay bills. Hell, my town taxes alone are 15k, and I live in a somewhat average sized house.

As for would you give up... again, depends. How many kids? How much in savings? What is the family like, financially?

I gave up a more lucrative and "cool" career to become a teacher, because I knew that it would be satisfying in a "I've done something good for the world" sort of way, so I think you need to think more about the work than the paycheck, if you can afford to do that.

 

[UKserialkiller]

Just flew back from Sarasota yesterday.

Chuck, check out Crystal River. Just north of Tampa or do you have to be further South?

 

[d2atTech]

@HeismanWildcat85: While serving in the military and since hanging out here in the civilian workforce, I always stress two interrelated aspects for climbing from the ranks "poors" to having it "all".

- "You make your own luck in life". My father (RIP 1986) often made this statement. It still holds true.

- "It is not so much what we have, but rather how well we utilize what we already have". It's not about that which we own, but what we do with what we've got. Incidentally, except in special circumstances, I personally despise using the word "do".

I earned six figures during three different years in my life; once while on military active duty and operating a mail-order computer parts business with my wife (2000). Two other periods came in 2008 and 2009. My annual military pay over 20 years barely exceeded $30K during the final three highest years ('98-00). My first year pay was only $4,700 in 1981.

Always, ALWAYS, consider the alternatives. Quality of life is most important. Job layoffs happen, and it happened to me mid-2010. What transpired afterwards? Hell, I went back to Europe for 8 weeks, stayed with friends and family, partied my *** off and posted about the adventures here on the Paddock. My current earnings are only 55% of what I earned during the good years (2008-09), but my present quality of life is amazing and I'm happier than ever, sans workplace politics. My personal free time is unreal. Heh, between March 2012 and March 2013, I spent 8 weeks on vacation. How? Taking advantage of overtime hours. During that 13-month period, I visited my son in Germany 3 times over an 8 month period and racked up a buttload of frequent flier miles, which I later used on trips back to KY.

To answer your question, it all depends on what comprises individual happiness. Life is short. Trust me, I speak from experience. After surviving 2 strokes and colon cancer, reality arrives quickly. Live life within a comfort zone combining $$ and available time.

austincat, seriously awesome advice. sorry about the cancer and the strokes. Are you doing better now?

wish more people felt the same way as you. one of my friends made a metric crapton of money off of facebook and paypal (he was a founder). he in his forties and still is single and searching for happiness. he would trade all the $ for that perfect gal in a heartbeat, but it isn't in his cards yet.

meanwhile, i'm worth jackshit, but i still go home and bone the prettiest woman on the planet to me. not saying that life's priorities should be boning and not money, but it kinda should be...

 

[Chuckinden]

Chuck, check out Crystal River. Just north of Tampa or do you have to be further South?

I don't "have" to be anywhere and that makes it harder on the decision making progress. So many pros and cons to decipher. I'll take a look at Crystal River.

 

[UKserialkiller]

I don't "have" to be anywhere and that makes it harder on the decision making progress. So many pros and cons to decipher. I'll take a look at Crystal River.

Hahaha, of course not Chuck, of course not. You "may" want to try Hernando county.

Hernando county has a lot of springs that are right on the coast of the Gulf. It's little bit more rural and may get a few degrees chillier than the south. FWIW.

 

[Chuckinden]

I was just looking in that area earlier today. Friends of mine just bought a house in Spring Hill last week and are now full time Floridians. Of course, they spent the last 40 years in Chicago so you know they are happy.

I want to explore the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and would like to get a house on the water with a boat lift.