Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
Most of the jobs are from $17 to $25 an hour, depending on experience. One roofing job is offering $20 to $35 an hour, depending on experience. Mind you a lot of these jobs slump down in hours during off seasons, like in the winter for construction, or in the fall and spring for food, entertainment and transportation.
But say you (generic "you" not "you" personally) have experience as a roofer and somehow get work all year long, 40 hours a week all 52 weeks without a single break and have zero debt. Then according to NerdWallet, you could afford the $450,000 house after nearly $102,000 in down payment and closing costs and you'd be paying 1/3 of your pretax income on housing.
If you have experience in something else and make the maximum of $25 and hour, were sure you'd work all 52 weeks a year full time and had zero debt, then you could afford the $300,000 house.
But if you make $20 or less or have enough debt or bad credit with the $25 to $35 wages, then you can only afford an old trailer in a mobile home park that doesn't want you there, or room with someone in a shared house.
Lots of people here live in their car. There is no good way to commute from a cheaper town or suburb.
I wonder what I'm doing wrong. I've been here for 16 years and also make $25 an hour. Oh well, that's what I get for not going to college, I guess.
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Lots of factors. Corrupt politics usually is to blame for housing shortages with restrictive zoning laws, or disincentives to build such as "rent control".
Those seasonal workers that get much more work during some periods will be making crazy overtime when it's busy. Most will spend every penny they make immediately, and then suffer during the lean times. Unfortunately that's the consequence of not being good at controlling consumer behavior. I lucked out in that my spending habits would not change regardless of getting paid weekly, or once a year in a lump sum. In fact, I only ever look at my income, expenses, and balance once a year when I do taxes. No budget required when you live well below your means.
I lived in my car for 2 years when I was young, which gave me a big headstart on accumulating a downpayment on my first house, which I purchased and then rented out 3 of the rooms. I did this on a $17/hr wage. At the very end of my last job, I was making $25/hr. I had saved so well that I paid cash when I got married, paid off my wife's debt (student loans and CC), put her through a medical program paying in cash, and bought another house.
Those that spent every penny they had when they were young are at a disadvantage when they finally begin to raise a family. Those that amassed a large amount of college debt and earned a worthless degree area also at a huge disadvantage.
$25/hr is an excellent wage, especially for someone without a degree. It's not an extravagant amount to raise a family on a single wage, but doable.
As an aside, my dad as the only income in the family never made more than $35k in a year working at Safeway. That was about 15 years ago. I had an excellent childhood despite a relatively lean upbringing. He never got food stamps despite qualifying for them. Back in the day, there was a certain amount of pride in being self-sufficient to the degree possible. What little of that value that existed then has long since eroded away. We see corporate fat cats getting bailed out and then give up trying to live honorably.