Honest man making an honest living

What has this world come to! What happened to an honest man making an honest living? Just wondering how many other people live pay check to pay check
It just seems to me the only way to come out ahead is to pull the wool over another’s eyes. I am self employed with a good customer base and if it was a job some where’s else I would have all sorts of overtime in but I can’t seem to get ahead but you see so many others slacking and driving shiny new equipment around and enjoying things like fishing in brand new boats and ice houses I lose a job because I am 200 over and then when there is problems I am called to repair it but the guy who runs the price down has got all the time in the world for spending on the lake in his nice equipment while my 87 alumacraft sits in and shed

I see your point. There seem to be lots more slackers today. All I can say is that no hard work goes unrewarded. Those people u referred to probably live paycheck to paycheck because they sit on a mound of debt. So are the rich??? No! are they slaves to the credit card companies. Yep! Take some time to hit the lake when you can. Nothing worth having is easy and people that go through life skating by won’t ultimately be happy. I’m in a similar boat to you. I have a salary but it’s damn hard to get ahead.

I know quite a few self employed individuals and it took many years of hard work and sacrifice to start to see the fruits of their labor.

Keep at er, nothing is instant in this world that is good.

Keep plugging away and success will come. You might not get rich but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you earned everything on your own.

Keep in mind those that are flashy want people to think they have money. Those who aren’t flashy don’t want people asking for their money.

I am not self employed but started at the bottom. Know plenty of self employed people that it’s a grind out of the gate and they get quite rewarded after putting the time in.

We live in America. We are all rich. Sorry you are frustrated with your work though, keep your chin up

40+ years of self employment and it is never easy. If one is dedicated and keeps at it you will do fine. Most blue collar jobs wether self employed or workingfor others will not make you a rich person but one with pride in what one does and accomplishes. There will always be the lowballers in every industry but in my opinion stick to your guns and always look for new ways to do things better and faster in order to make more money or be more cost effective and you will prosper. Remember to take some time for yourself and your family as life is short and there is more to it than the persuit of the all mighty dollar. Good luck!!

I love a good rant, here are the culprits

* Greedy Baby Boomers
* Debt driven economy inflating prices (especially housing)
* Idiotic school “counselors” telling kids that student loans are “good debt”
* Big business of 4-Year colleges
* The myth of “Home Ownership”
* $300 cell phone bills

Get off my lawn

I always marvel at younger couples buying a big house with 2 kids, new cars, boats, etc. Either they are totally up to their tail in dept or Grandma kicked off…..

Your options are simple.

Fight through it or get a job.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

trophy19 wrote:

I always marvel at younger couples buying a big house with 2 kids, new cars, boats, etc. Either they are totally up to their tail in dept or Grandma kicked off…..

Couldn’t have said it better myself. When you look sideways at something like that,, it’s ALWAYS sideways!

My personal favorite is this one from a younger person (lets say 35 or less) “We’re going up to the cabin this weekend” Oh really!??? wow, when did you guys buy a cabin? Oh, well it’s my uncles or parents or in law’s or we rented on or…. something else.

A Dave Ramsey curriculum should be required in all high schools

What line of work are you in? It is amazing how many entrepreneurs undervalue their time and talents. you may need to reconsider your pricing structure to be more risk tolerant.

keep yourself and your living honest,your rewards will come soon enough.
when you get called in to repair something that was bid out from under you,charge a very fair price to you to do it.
reason being that you basically are starting from scratch to do it right.

as far as getting out as much as you would like,you have to make time to do it.
if the fear of spending the money to get out is holding you back,I can only tell you that you wont be any more broke if you dont go.

an old neighbor of mine told me that after it had been eleven years since I had taken any kind of a vacation.
I gave it a lot of thought and went for it,he was right in that there always seemed to be just enough work to cover the difference when I got back.
your mental state will thank you for it.

I was going to respond with a big long personal rant, then I erased it.

Just work hard and be honest. It’s that simple.

Your rant tells me that your a guy with virtually no debt. Most of the people you speak of are balancing debt in many ways to make ends meet.

I’ll admit that I’m somewhere in between today. Nice truck, decent home, decent boat. Have debt on the truck, home and wife’s car. More than I’d like, but I have no urge to create more debt.

In your case assuming I’m correct, no matter how much stuff one has, its human nature to want more. If you can resist that urge and keep your head above water, you’re much, much, much, much better off than everyone else. Believe me.

One might have dreams of becoming rich, I actually have dreams of selling everything, paying off all debt and starting over with a home that takes only 15% or less of my income and buying EVERYTHING ELSE with cash. Then saving an extra 10%.

What has this world come to? As a self employed trades person for 17 years it seems decent to me. #1 rule of being self employed everything falls on you. There is no pointing at other people in a successful business. If you dont like whats going on change it. Adjust your prices. Learn how to sell yourself better. Getting better at managing your money. Go hire the guy that under bids you. You know he is not making much and chances are he may want out of his mess. You are self employed take advantage of it. It can be a mess or it can be fantastic. Shoot for the fantastic.

Mike W wrote:

Learn how to sell yourself better.

Agree with everything Mike said, especially this point. Doesn’t matter how much you know or how well you can do it, if the customers don’t feel they can trust you you’re dead in the water.

I’ve been there with ya man, watching other dudes make hay while you grind out 80hrs week for crap. Bitterness comes easy. Challenge yourself to look at other guys doing it who are succeeding and see what you can do to replicate their success. There are reasons!

I will echo what everyone else stated. DEBT is part of the American dream to many families and it blows my mind. Some people don’t care about buying new toys and paying thousands later just to keep monthly payments affordable now.

I’m self employed in construction also. It took me 10 years to make anything reasonable. I have always tried to do my work better than anyone else. I can now stand firm on my prices because my clients know they are going to get a perfect job. I make over 3 times what I did just 5 years ago.
I have always wanted a new glass boat so I put in over 800 hours extra work in one year and paid cash for a new ranger. You make your own luck. Go get after it.

Not even sure what the point of the original point was. Sympathy?

There’s a lot of judgement and stereotyping being thrown around here.

Starting out earlier in life I was pay check to pay check as many are. From then to now was a 25 year journey. I think people can fall into a trap and try to look at what the “Joneses” are doing. The problem with that is you cant realistically control what other people do. Worrying about things you cant control is a recipe for misery.

I’ve always tried to follow the simple approach of focusing on my end of the stick. Take care of the things I need to take care of so I can capitalize on the opportunities as they present themselves.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Not even sure what the point of the original point was. Sympathy?

There’s a lot of judgement and stereotyping being thrown around here.

Not even sure what your point is. Defensive on some stereotypes perhaps?

nhamm wrote:

Not even sure what your point is. Defensive on some stereotypes perhaps?

Well, I am 36 with a nice home in a nice neighborhood, decent vehicles, and a family cabin. Apparently, there is something wrong with that.

Perhaps we’ve also worked hard for what we have. Judging others isn’t going to improve anyone’s situation.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Not even sure what the point of the original point was. Sympathy?

There’s a lot of judgement and stereotyping being thrown around here.

It’s what we do.

Dutchboy wrote:

It’s what we do.

So true.

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ralph Wiggum wrote:</div>
Not even sure what the point of the original point was. Sympathy?

There’s a lot of judgement and stereotyping being thrown around here.

It’s what we do.

And we do it quite well!

tegg wrote:

Starting out earlier in life I was pay check to pay check as many are. From then to now was a 25 year journey. I think people can fall into a trap and try to look at what the “Joneses” are doing. The problem with that is you cant realistically control what other people do. Worrying about things you cant control is a recipe for misery.

Exactly, reminds me of one of my favorite songs….”The Grand Illusion” by Styx. Only some of you may remember them and that song.

And to Mike W’s point…I think it is a bit presumptuous to say
“but you see so many others slacking and driving shiny new equipment around and enjoying things like fishing in brand new boats and ice houses.” Or to imply that they’re in irresponsible debt or that it was some kind of inheritance. I know of many highly motivated individuals who started with basically nothing and earned all that they possess from their own hard work.

Wood butcher wrote:

but you see so many others slacking and driving shiny new equipment around and enjoying things like fishing in brand new boats and ice houses I lose a job because I am 200 over and then when there is problems I am called to repair it but the guy who runs the price down has got all the time in the world for spending on the lake in his nice equipment while my 87 alumacraft sits in and shed

I used to think this a lot too, and while there are those who ‘luck’ into an easy living, I think it’s a lot more rare than people think.

There’s also just the reality that some industries/skillsets are more sought after in today’s world than others.

I know data engineers that are doing contract jobs for $150-$225/hr. It’s a hot field, large companies need those skillsets and there aren’t enough of them around.

So yeah, they might appear to not be working hard, but you could say the same thing about the Doctor down the road that’s on the golf course 4 times a week. The fact is they probably aren’t working as hard, but that’s just life I think.

I turned down a plant manager position for the largest Toro plant in the US… So I could fish regularly out of a Sylvan… Rather than a $80k boat 3x per year.

Life is what you make it.