Ideas for those who can't find good employment

Post Reply New Topic

I'd like to share some financial ideas for those who have AS like me.

Because the primary difficulty I face as an adult with AS is finding and maintaining a decent income stream, I've chosen to focus everything I have on attacking that problem in whatever way I can. Since finding a high paying job isn't an option, I need to look elsewhere. What I ended up realizing a couple of years ago is that if you work hard for a few short years and use your money very strategically, you can retire comfortably at a young age.

When my wife and I both graduated from college in 2009, we were immediately faced with a brutal job market and had to take low-end jobs. She has now moved up a bit because she works for a large corporation, but I work in a small business and haven't been able to find anything better.

Anyway, what we did was to move into a crappy little apartment and do everything within our power to save as much money as possible. We went to extremes such as never running the a/c or heat, only shopping at discount stores and hunting for bargains, never eating out, and driving as little as possible. By the end of just 1 short year we had amassed $30,000 from our pathetic incomes.

With this money we purchased a very modest but nice 2 bedroom condo, financing $70,000 of the $100,000 price. We still have the same low-end jobs, but now just over a year later, we only owe $40,000. I have no doubt that around the end of next year we'll have it paid off entirely. Just having the property paid off will allow us to save a great deal more money, and we will soon purchase another property with the intent to rent it out.

As you can see, it really isn't all that difficult to cut expenses, buy a property to cut expenses even more, then buy another property in order to gain passive income. Soon enough one won't need a regular job. Obviously, I'll never live an extravagant lifestyle with this strategy, but I don't need that.

the only thing that saved my hide, is getting an inheritance. otherwise, i'd be living under a bridge somewhere. i failed totally at college, so i never earned much, and what i did earn was largely wasted on bad investments. a financial genius i am not. but my older brother got himself "millionaire next door" status by doing like you did, though. he is a jack of all trades so when one of his properties had a mechanical or electrical or plumbing problem he'd go over there and fix it himself. but he got tired of getting repeatedly stiffed on rent so he sold his properties as soon as he got his company pension, then invested in a total return income fund.

You assume that we're having any job or any income. That's a false assumption for a lot of us here.

Yes, cutting down expenses is good, but it doesn't help me enough when I have /no/ incoming money. You got a low-end job, you can do your low end job, that's farther than many of us have gotten.

Well that's why I qualified what I said with "good employment". I understand that some aren't able to find any work, but obviously finding a $40k/yr+ job is about 1,000 times harder for someone with AS because they universally require you to be highly personable in an interview. This is mostly directed at people who aren't able to break into that level of income.

obviously it helps a lot to have an extra income earner in one's household. some folk are lucky that way.

I am looking into buying an existing business. I have enough money set aside for about 2-3 years but it truly sucks going to interview after interview (even for TEMP jobs) and not getting hired for whatever reason. But like with looking for a job, trying to find a business and getting information isn't easy either. Sellers & Business Brokers (who would represent the buyer) seem very standoffish for a $200,000 purchase.

I can't find anything do to my poor work history and poor interview skills. It is pretty upsetting feeling that I am locked out of the working world and feel like I am behind a locked brick wall looking outside thru a very small hole in that wall.

Then I read these threads on other boards about all these jobs that are in demand and realize that I am too old (age 36) to retrain and people seem very standoffish & unfriendly in the real world (outside of online & the internet) if you ask or inquire about any advice. Admissions counselors & advisers at colleges seem like an extension of corporate HR now..

I don't know how many people here are married. So they may be dealing with just 1 crappy income instead of 2.

As for me I'm not to excited about the idea of being a landlord. My parents tried that and I wound up helping them clean the place after it was trashed by their renters.

a lot you can do with two crappy incomes

then imagine 4 crappy incomes oh lah lah...

then imagine 6, 8, 10

Scale get's bigger and bigger... I know friends who have gone 50-50 in property

gosh I remember talking to a potential employer ranting about his alcohol antics... I had to smile nod and agree... lol... And turn conversation away from drinking back to combined common interest, architecture.