Pilots Guide To Living Off Of $12,000 A Year
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Pilots Guide To Living Off Of $12,000 A Year
Besides dented cans and sleeping in cars does anybody have some tips on how to get by?
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just curious
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There's a book called how to survive without a Salary by Charles Long. Borrow it from the library, that'll save you $20 right there 
Park your credit card inthe freezer. In fact freeze it in ice so that you have to thaw it out (not in the microwave!!!!) to be able to use it.
Eat as much as you can ingest at breakfast, then you won't be tempted by the$8 dollar fries and 12 dollar cheeseburgers at the airport.
Don't buy the name brand Kraft Dinner. In fact, learn how to make stuff from scratch, in larger quantities and freeze it so that you aren't paying the 180% mark up on pre-made crap, which won't taste as good anyway.
Drink coffee at work, not at home.
Use tupperware style containers for lunches rather than throwaway ziplocks.
Buy big roasts, and eat leftovers rather than buying cold cuts. Learn to make soup in gallon lots from scratch. Freeze it into meal sized portions. If you live in a city, use coupons all the time. Learn to barter for stuff. You want a painting, the artist needs his deck repaired... no cash, no GST (well you would volontarily submit the GST based on the estimated value of the work wouldn't you?).
Get a bread maker at a yard sale. Use it.
Learn how to make big honking meals, soups stews and chilli in a crock pot. Stuck at work for an extra hour or six? No longer a big deal. Freeze the excess.
Wear work clothes to work, not your clothes from your former life. Why wreck expensive stuff? Sew up anything that is starting to rip now rather than having to replace it in a week when it finally gives completely.
Delay any expensive purchases for a week. Didn't need em...? Delay for another month, etc...
Bring your own bags to the graocery store.
Park your credit card inthe freezer. In fact freeze it in ice so that you have to thaw it out (not in the microwave!!!!) to be able to use it.
Eat as much as you can ingest at breakfast, then you won't be tempted by the$8 dollar fries and 12 dollar cheeseburgers at the airport.
Don't buy the name brand Kraft Dinner. In fact, learn how to make stuff from scratch, in larger quantities and freeze it so that you aren't paying the 180% mark up on pre-made crap, which won't taste as good anyway.
Drink coffee at work, not at home.
Use tupperware style containers for lunches rather than throwaway ziplocks.
Buy big roasts, and eat leftovers rather than buying cold cuts. Learn to make soup in gallon lots from scratch. Freeze it into meal sized portions. If you live in a city, use coupons all the time. Learn to barter for stuff. You want a painting, the artist needs his deck repaired... no cash, no GST (well you would volontarily submit the GST based on the estimated value of the work wouldn't you?).
Get a bread maker at a yard sale. Use it.
Learn how to make big honking meals, soups stews and chilli in a crock pot. Stuck at work for an extra hour or six? No longer a big deal. Freeze the excess.
Wear work clothes to work, not your clothes from your former life. Why wreck expensive stuff? Sew up anything that is starting to rip now rather than having to replace it in a week when it finally gives completely.
Delay any expensive purchases for a week. Didn't need em...? Delay for another month, etc...
Bring your own bags to the graocery store.
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just curious
- Rank Moderator
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- Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2004 9:29 am
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dont_snag_it
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Last edited by dont_snag_it on Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
When people hear I make $22,500 a year, they're usually pretty surprised. And I can't say I blame them. It's a handsome salary to command. But sometimes I think they have the wrong impression, imagining me living some sort of extravagant lifestyle. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but $22,500 a year simply doesn't go as far as you probably think.
Now, make no mistake: I'm comfortable. Working as a copilot at Country Mountainside Airlines, my expenses are met, and I get a heck of a lot of perks. But, no, my friends, it's not all limousines and champagne. You'd be amazed how fast that kind of money goes.
To illustrate what I'm saying, let's break down the $22,500. That's $1460 a month. Right off the bat, my rent and utilities take $450 out. I realize I could live someplace a little cheaper, like a boarding house or the Y, but I work hard, and I choose to reward myself with a nice efficiency. So already we're down to $1010.
Now, I can't very well walk from my apartment to the airport, so I gotta lay out more scratch for transportation. My monthly bus pass costs $60, so now we're down to $950.
You blue-collar types may not realize it, but working in the field that I do, I am required to present an attractive and professional appearance at all times. That's not just my preference; it's on the employee-conduct sheet I was given when I first got hired. I must wear a nice white shirt and clean black pants to every shift. Between the regular wear and tear and the occasional accident, I can spend up to $30 a month at the Laundromat. I'm not kidding! Takes dough to make dough, the old saying goes.
Now, believe it or not, rich guys gotta eat, too. And the sad fact is, Shurfine macaroni and cheese ain't free. So that's a good $60 down the hopper each month for food, more if there's a holiday and I decide to treat myself to some primo Kraft stuff. That, I admit, is one of the dandier perks of wealth: If I feel like it, I can buy some premium-brand macaroni and cheese, and the money will be there. But I have to work for it, you know: My life isn't just lounging around and sipping daiquiris by the pool, if I had a pool!
So the small amount of money left over at the end of the month either goes into savings or toward my huge Visa debt, and that, sorry to say, is the reality. I don't have a big, Uncle Scrooge vault of gold coins I swim around in. It's actually a very sober life of maintaining my standard of living through scrupulous saving and, yes, cost-cutting.
Nope, I'm not ashamed to say it: I cut costs. Like this one time, regional flight diverted from another airport for bad weather and they had a whole tray of coffee cakes left over. They were supposed to be thrown away, but while the CSA wasn't looking I pocketed about a half dozen. That allowed me to eat dinner that night, breakfast and snack the next morning while banking my per diems for a net gain to me of $22! How's that for savings?
So, though I'm very well off, I'm not exactly running around like some Mr. Moneybags, tossing big handfuls of silver dollars into the air. But in just ten months, I'm up for performance review, and I could get as much as a $2500 raise. Yup, thats an extra $165 big ones a month! If that happens, I'll still be the same old guy I was before, but who knows what sort of luxuries I'll be able to splurge on? I could get some plastic chairs, a bread-toasting machine, or maybe even basic cable!
Not that I'll forget the little people. All of my old friends will be welcome to come over to enjoy my majestic 12-channel lineup. (Though I'll have to ask them to take off their shoes before entering, so they don't track street dirt on my priceless throw rug, a family heirloom my dad threw out when he was redecorating his office.) After all, if it weren't for the little people—like Bubbles, who told me that hiring was going on, and Jo-Jo, who drove me out there on his way to his mother's—I would not be in this privileged position today. You can't ever forget your roots, even if you remember them through the sapphire haze of a Corningware plastic tumbler brimming with Co-op Gold.
(with credit to onion.com)
Now, make no mistake: I'm comfortable. Working as a copilot at Country Mountainside Airlines, my expenses are met, and I get a heck of a lot of perks. But, no, my friends, it's not all limousines and champagne. You'd be amazed how fast that kind of money goes.
To illustrate what I'm saying, let's break down the $22,500. That's $1460 a month. Right off the bat, my rent and utilities take $450 out. I realize I could live someplace a little cheaper, like a boarding house or the Y, but I work hard, and I choose to reward myself with a nice efficiency. So already we're down to $1010.
Now, I can't very well walk from my apartment to the airport, so I gotta lay out more scratch for transportation. My monthly bus pass costs $60, so now we're down to $950.
You blue-collar types may not realize it, but working in the field that I do, I am required to present an attractive and professional appearance at all times. That's not just my preference; it's on the employee-conduct sheet I was given when I first got hired. I must wear a nice white shirt and clean black pants to every shift. Between the regular wear and tear and the occasional accident, I can spend up to $30 a month at the Laundromat. I'm not kidding! Takes dough to make dough, the old saying goes.
Now, believe it or not, rich guys gotta eat, too. And the sad fact is, Shurfine macaroni and cheese ain't free. So that's a good $60 down the hopper each month for food, more if there's a holiday and I decide to treat myself to some primo Kraft stuff. That, I admit, is one of the dandier perks of wealth: If I feel like it, I can buy some premium-brand macaroni and cheese, and the money will be there. But I have to work for it, you know: My life isn't just lounging around and sipping daiquiris by the pool, if I had a pool!
So the small amount of money left over at the end of the month either goes into savings or toward my huge Visa debt, and that, sorry to say, is the reality. I don't have a big, Uncle Scrooge vault of gold coins I swim around in. It's actually a very sober life of maintaining my standard of living through scrupulous saving and, yes, cost-cutting.
Nope, I'm not ashamed to say it: I cut costs. Like this one time, regional flight diverted from another airport for bad weather and they had a whole tray of coffee cakes left over. They were supposed to be thrown away, but while the CSA wasn't looking I pocketed about a half dozen. That allowed me to eat dinner that night, breakfast and snack the next morning while banking my per diems for a net gain to me of $22! How's that for savings?
So, though I'm very well off, I'm not exactly running around like some Mr. Moneybags, tossing big handfuls of silver dollars into the air. But in just ten months, I'm up for performance review, and I could get as much as a $2500 raise. Yup, thats an extra $165 big ones a month! If that happens, I'll still be the same old guy I was before, but who knows what sort of luxuries I'll be able to splurge on? I could get some plastic chairs, a bread-toasting machine, or maybe even basic cable!
Not that I'll forget the little people. All of my old friends will be welcome to come over to enjoy my majestic 12-channel lineup. (Though I'll have to ask them to take off their shoes before entering, so they don't track street dirt on my priceless throw rug, a family heirloom my dad threw out when he was redecorating his office.) After all, if it weren't for the little people—like Bubbles, who told me that hiring was going on, and Jo-Jo, who drove me out there on his way to his mother's—I would not be in this privileged position today. You can't ever forget your roots, even if you remember them through the sapphire haze of a Corningware plastic tumbler brimming with Co-op Gold.
(with credit to onion.com)
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Snagmaster E
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Snagmaster E
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corn-shoot
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Snagmaster E
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wow! are you guys hiring?-
Panama Jack
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- Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:10 am
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Some excellent pointers by Just Curious. Don't forget my two favorite brands-- namely "No Name Brand" and "President's Choice."
As Just Curious said, crock pot cooking is ideal for the pilot. I picked up a nice one at the Walmart recently for about $25. Just throw everything in, turn it on before you go to work. When you get home, it will all smell sooo nice, be tastier and healthier than the microwavable dinners and probably be enough food for a few meals. Freeze it, and nuke it at work when lunch time comes.
Finally, an economics professor told me once "the secret to wealth is being able to discriminate between what you NEED and what you WANT." So often we say we "need" something-- but do we really? Not to say that we shouldn't from time to time buy things we WANT. However, this little gem of thought has saved me over the years a fair amount of cash in dumb impulse purchases.
As Just Curious said, crock pot cooking is ideal for the pilot. I picked up a nice one at the Walmart recently for about $25. Just throw everything in, turn it on before you go to work. When you get home, it will all smell sooo nice, be tastier and healthier than the microwavable dinners and probably be enough food for a few meals. Freeze it, and nuke it at work when lunch time comes.
Finally, an economics professor told me once "the secret to wealth is being able to discriminate between what you NEED and what you WANT." So often we say we "need" something-- but do we really? Not to say that we shouldn't from time to time buy things we WANT. However, this little gem of thought has saved me over the years a fair amount of cash in dumb impulse purchases.
I used that on my past 2 ex's
"Do you need that....or do you want it"
They got smart (as all of them are) and used the following when negotiating money outta me.
Them- "honey I really 'needed' those 200$ jeans" or "honey, I need a dimond ring the size of a door knob"
That sort of thing!!
However, no matter which way you look at it men get
every which way.
So I decided to be like Mark Messier. @ 43 he's still living the dream and not married...
"Do you need that....or do you want it"
They got smart (as all of them are) and used the following when negotiating money outta me.
Them- "honey I really 'needed' those 200$ jeans" or "honey, I need a dimond ring the size of a door knob"
That sort of thing!!
However, no matter which way you look at it men get
every which way.So I decided to be like Mark Messier. @ 43 he's still living the dream and not married...
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Panama Jack
- Rank 11
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- Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:10 am
- Location: Back here
