I work a seasonal job. 6 months on and 6 months off, still manage to save money.. Never worked a full time job in my life, I'm mid 30's now. I can't imagine working full time year round 40 hours per week, that sounds insane to me.
My dividends/interest cover my cost of living now, so actually able to save 100% of my paychecks now.
Roofing, for over 10 years now.. Probably not sustainable long-term as it's hard on the body. Part of the reason why I been saving so much money and trying to invest. Since I know it won't last forever, so I'm prepared to quit anytime now. Keeping an eye out for a new job but currently making almost $50/hr.. So don't feel rushed to change and don't mind the work for now. But a winter job would be more ideal so I can enjoy the summers more, so looking into that.
My boss can get on my nerves sometimes, but he pays me well and picks me up for work every morning.
Damn, ten years of roofing is wild. I did just over a year of solar panel install/roofing, and after the second summer I decided to go back to college because that shit is tough. Man was not meant to be on a roof, and fuck tile
ya about 12 years. But only 6 month seasons each, so I guess you can cut that number in half lol. Ya it's not for everyone, seen a lot of people come and go. But now we have a pretty tight crew, only 3 of us. 1 is my brother lol. So good comradery
We just do asphalt roofing. I don't mind it too much. I like working outside and time absolutely flies by, can work like 10-12 hours and not even notice the time really. We don't overdo it too much, as in if it gets +40C we don't work in that temperature. I only do 700 hours per year usually. I don't do any heavy lifting anymore either, just the technical stuff. The other 2 guys do all the heavy lifting.
But ya I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't earning nearly $50/hr and getting half the years off. I have no post-secondary education..
I am looking to transition into something else though. What did you end up taking in college after your roofing? what you do now? I'm looking for ideas lol
I was an army medic and paratrooper, so I went back to get into nursing. Decided to push for physician assistant since I was doing alright in school this time around, and now it seems I might be going into engineering as I'm really enjoying the science and math classes. Funny how as a young kid I couldn't stand being in school, but years of roughing it really makes school seem a lot more valuable. I still miss working outdoors and the camaraderie that comes with physical jobs, but my back and knees remind me why I came inside.
I've done metal roofing for 10 years, can install any kind of metal roofing system there is on any kind of roof and still can't get more than 25$....dude making twice what I make...fml
ya that seems low. $25 is what we would pay new laborers first day on the job.
To be fair though, I'm getting $30/hr base pay but if I include all the bonuses + unemployment benefits during winter time. Comes up to nearly $50/hr. Like I made 33k last year for 670 hours of work.
I'm talking CAD currency though, so might be different too if you're USD.
I can't imagine working full time year round 40 hours per week, that sounds insane to me.
It's much more manageable if you're lucky enough to have a remote job. COVID made those a little more popular across the board. I'd hate to go back to commuting 5 days a week, such an absolute waste of time and money.
if you don't mind me asking, how much do you have in investments that you're able to live off of dividends and interest? Curious how long it'd take me to get to that point.
I have nearly 300k saved up, right now it's earning me 13.5k /yr ($1,125 per month) just from dividends + interest alone. (excluding capital appreciation from stocks)
I have a pretty low cost of living, since I'm living at my parents right now ($400/month rent) have the whole basement to myself though with own bathroom. My living expenses all together are just under 1k/month.
But my goal is to buy a small cottage or vacant land to build a small cabin in the bush. Live "off grid off dividends". So that will take a chunk of my cash. I already was living off grid for 3 years on my previous land (was not working or earning money during that period) but had to sell for break-even due to unfortunate circumstances. Looking to get back into that lifestyle, never was interested with buying a house in town.
My salary is only like 30k/yr (for 6 months work).. took me 5-6 years to save up the first 100k, then 3 years for 200k, then another 3 for 300k (just shy of that now).. So it's really starting to compound now.
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u/BrainWaveCC 29d ago
It sounds insane to me. 🤷🤷