Caught Between A Rock And...

[Costafarian]

I wasn't really sure where to post this, so forgive me if I've posted in the wrong thread. Though I figured this would be better suited for INTRO posts due to this being more about me and my current situation.

More about me is at this intro thread, I will assume most of you have read it when getting to this post.

A little background:

Back in high school there were a lot of kids who were ecstatic to get their drivers license. I, however, was not.

I attribute this mostly to a few factors, being 16 and having no job or money put me in a position where I have had no way of reasonably affording a car of any kind. And while I got my permit, I never followed through with getting a license.

I look back on those days now and think how things would have been different if I had just sucked it up and got a shit job to save money during the summer.

But knowing myself back in high school, I didn't want to sacrifice the summers where I would have no responsibilities and focus on making films. Being creative, and enjoying my freedom.

I was a big picture thinker, but I wasn't thinking in the long term back then.

Flash forward over a decade, still no drivers license and no way of reasonably affording a car (with a shit 9-5 job anyway). I get to work via Uber, carpooling, or whatever means I can use at my disposal.

Most of the jobs in my area are skilled trades (biggest one in the area being landscaping @ $20 p hour 80 hours a week), customer service, or require long years of college courses.

I have pursued the potential of making it with online business. As that would only require a computer and internet connection to start. And just try everything and see what works.

I post this because I am curious what others on this thread would do in this situation. As I assume most of you have a car and your freedom.

And it continues to discourage me the amount of money it costs for car insurance rates. As those would kill my wallet, and I would have almost no money left to invest in my own business ventures.

I plan to ask for a raise at my current job, but the prospect is not promising as the owner doesn't seem to budge on this.

What would any of you guys do?

 

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[ryanbleau]

A car is a tool used to make money. It acts as a multiplier. It allows you to travel to better locations and better employment. Stop making excuses.

 

[NateTheGreat]

I didn't read your other intro thread, but I'll provide some advice to help you along.

Are you currently working one job? Is it manually intensive? Have you considered getting another job? I would first lower your expenses as much as possible. I noticed that you were a filmmaker as well. Have you attempted to use this as an outside business? I have personally made several thousands working as a wedding videographer part time. Depending on your area, you could do very well with little of your time. You can film the wedding and outsource the editing through UpWork or Fiverr. You can also do freelance work through UpWork or Fiverr using your film-making skills.

What are your strengths? Focus on those and develop ideas from those.

What are your goals? We all want to make money. What do you define as "being successful"?

 

[Costafarian]

Are you currently working one job? Is it manually intensive? Have you considered getting another job?

Currently I'm a full time cashier at a liquor store, not terribly labour intensive unless I'm hauling boxes of booze around the store or on a truck.

I've considered another job, my challenge is just getting around to all these jobs myself. My town is a summer economy so more work usually comes up around then. But right now, not a lot of options for me.

I noticed that you were a filmmaker as well. Have you attempted to use this as an outside business?

I have, I used to freelance in the city all the time. However, now that I'm in what is essientially a giant retirement community, its difficult to find work. I have considered being an independent online video marketer for small business.

Which is what I have considered for a while. I will have to post on there soon.

What are your strengths?

• I can build and maintain several active social media accounts at once (currently looking into way to monetize 13,000 Facebook members)
• Can fix and maintain Mac computers, intermediate PC skills
• Advanced video editing skillset
• Decent copy writing ability
• Sales e

What are your goals? We all want to make money. What do you define as "being successful"?

Ultimately I'd like to create a service or product that helps people. As I find myself in low level positions unable to accomodate customers based on whatever limitations the owners leave me with.

Something that will allow me my freedom and help my parents retire.

 

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[NateTheGreat]

I've considered another job, my challenge is just getting around to all these jobs myself. My town is a summer economy so more work usually comes up around then. But right now, not a lot of options for me.

How far are the jobs from you? You could easily purchase or borrow a bicycle and ride it to your jobs. I don't believe transportation is truly the problem at hand here. Are you willing to put in the effort? Have you had your "F This Event (FTE)" yet?

• Can fix and maintain Mac computers, intermediate PC skills

• Advanced video editing skillset

• Decent copy writing ability

These alone can create you wealth fairly quickly. You have a great skillset that you can take advantage of. The internet is a powerful thing. You can do freelance work remotely.

I am currently looking for a video editing service for my wedding videos. PM me and maybe we can get something going. You could start up a video editing service and/or photography editing service. From the one's I've researched, they're all outside of the U.S. or have high price tags. I am looking for a high quality video editor and cannot find one. There's the problem. Could you be the solution? I hope so!

I think you have several options. I'd recommend reading TMF and Unscripted if you haven't yet. And I'd look into other self-help/entrepreneurship books. There are several recommendations on the forum.

I'm rooting for you! There are plenty of others that can offer advice. Simply reach out!

 

[minivanman]

I agree, transportation is not the problem. I rode a bicycle through a couple of winters. It would be so bad, no cars were on the road but I was riding my bike to work at 5am with wind chills that could have killed me. Transportation = excuse, not problem.

 

[Bekit]

I wasn't really sure where to post this, so forgive me if I've posted in the wrong thread. Though I figured this would be better suited for INTRO posts due to this being more about me and my current situation.

More about me is at this intro thread, I will assume most of you have read it when getting to this post.

A little background:

Back in high school there were a lot of kids who were ecstatic to get their drivers license. I, however, was not.

I attribute this mostly to a few factors, being 16 and having no job or money put me in a position where I have had no way of reasonably affording a car of any kind. And while I got my permit, I never followed through with getting a license.

I look back on those days now and think how things would have been different if I had just sucked it up and got a shit job to save money during the summer.

But knowing myself back in high school, I didn't want to sacrifice the summers where I would have no responsibilities and focus on making films. Being creative, and enjoying my freedom.

I was a big picture thinker, but I wasn't thinking in the long term back then.

Flash forward over a decade, still no drivers license and no way of reasonably affording a car (with a shit 9-5 job anyway). I get to work via Uber, carpooling, or whatever means I can use at my disposal.

Most of the jobs in my area are skilled trades (biggest one in the area being landscaping @ $20 p hour 80 hours a week), customer service, or require long years of college courses.

I have pursued the potential of making it with online business. As that would only require a computer and internet connection to start. And just try everything and see what works.

I post this because I am curious what others on this thread would do in this situation. As I assume most of you have a car and your freedom.

And it continues to discourage me the amount of money it costs for car insurance rates. As those would kill my wallet, and I would have almost no money left to invest in my own business ventures.

I plan to ask for a raise at my current job, but the prospect is not promising as the owner doesn't seem to budge on this.

What would any of you guys do?

Hey Costafarian,

That's a tough spot to be in. I just want to acknowledge that. I know how it feels. I didn't buy my first vehicle until I was in my late 20s. I was living in my parents' home, making minimum wage at a part-time job, which was all I could find in rural East Tennessee where we were living, despite having a college degree. I rode my bike to work for a year until I could scrape together $3000 to buy my first car. It was a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis - a granny car that nevertheless had a V8 engine and therefore got around 9 miles per gallon. So definitely nothing special. More like the bottom of the barrel.

By the time I got the car, I was SICK AND TIRED of having to depend on other people for my ability to get around. I'm sure you are, too.

It sounds like you're being resourceful to get around and make it to your jobs despite the handicap of not having a vehicle.

From your intro thread, it also sounds like you're extremely creative and intelligent, with TONS of promise. You're never going to be content as a cashier. That much is clear. You'll be miserable at all the boring, rote jobs out there (retail, bank teller, mindless drone, minion). So throw all that creativity into solving this one problem. Solving this one problem will be symbolic of how you go about solving the next problem. If you poured all your focus, expertise, creativity, intelligence, and insight into solving the problem of getting yourself a car, how long would it take you to solve it?

How much money have you saved? Can you get a reliable old car for $2500? (Tip: If you look in other areas of the country, you'll have better luck. Older cars in Boston/Cape Cod will be rusted through. Older cars from the South will have tons of life in them. Look at ads posted in the lowest cost-of-living cities in America, and the price of the car will be cheaper, too. Of course, you'll still have to factor in the cost of transportation to go pick up the vehicle if you go this route. But it can be an option.)

My car insurance is about $25/month. That's not that much. If you get an older car, and it's paid off, your insurance won't be an enormous bill. You're almost definitely spending that much per month on Uber rides, only to not have the flexibility to go wherever you want, whenever you want.

Getting a driver's license is not difficult or expensive. Go down to the DMV. Ask for the book. Study the book. Schedule your written test. Pass your written test. Enroll in Driver's Ed if you have to. If you don't have to, get a buddy to teach you to drive. Schedule your road test. Pass your road test. Done.

Since your goal is to build a business that relies only on your internet connection, are you already creating content for your own personal brand? Start producing something. Start providing value now. Start solving problems. Start putting yourself out there. Publish your own "newspaper" on filmmaking. Or start a podcast where you interview the giants in the industry. Or whatever. There are tons of ways to do this. All of them will start small. All of them will feel scary. All of them will require patience and persistence and perseverance before they pay off.

You've got this.

 

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[YoungPadawan]

Get a moped. Cheap to fix and run. High mpg. Cheap insurance. You can buy a cheap tao tao online for like 800 bucks.

Or get a gas powered bicycle. I bought a bike and engine kit on Amazon for $270 and it goes 30+ mph and gets 70+ mpg and requires no insurance.

 

[Costafarian]

How far are the jobs from you? You could easily purchase or borrow a bicycle and ride it to your jobs. I don't believe transportation is truly the problem at hand here. Are you willing to put in the effort? Have you had your "F This Event (FTE)" yet?

Currently, I'm about 8 minutes away from my current job. Driving distance. Bicycling is an option, but the fastest way there is on a pretty busy road. A moped would sound more efficient. But this is something I have been considering to make more money.

I am happy to put in the effort, currently my fear is putting effort in the wrong places. I've been experimenting with a Facebook page I run trying to sell cool t-shirts. I'm going in completely blind on that business model.

I can't say I've experienced an F-This event. I've just got this overall dissatisfaction with the way my life is going and I want it to change. I read a lot and take courses on things I want to learn about as often as I can, and I've gotten to a point where I've been throwing everything on the wall and hope something sticks.

I had a significant death in the family 4 years ago, and a pretty bad scare with another last November. Neither of which made me change my path, it's been sort of a slow, gradual process.

I think you have several options. I'd recommend reading TMF and Unscripted if you haven't yet. And I'd look into other self-help/entrepreneurship books. There are several recommendations on the forum.

Read them both now to the point of owning a physical copy to highlight and mark pages with for quick reference. As well as a digital copy.

I'll do some searching, thank you!

 

[Costafarian]

That's a tough spot to be in. I just want to acknowledge that. I know how it feels. I didn't buy my first vehicle until I was in my late 20s. I was living in my parents' home, making minimum wage at a part-time job, which was all I could find in rural East Tennessee where we were living, despite having a college degree. I rode my bike to work for a year until I could scrape together $3000 to buy my first car. It was a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis - a granny car that nevertheless had a V8 engine and therefore got around 9 miles per gallon. So definitely nothing special. More like the bottom of the barrel.

Been trying to scrap up the exact same amount to buy my fathers Honda Civic. I've just not been disciplined enough in saving.

You're never going to be content as a cashier. That much is clear. You'll be miserable at all the boring, rote jobs out there (retail, bank teller, mindless drone, minion). So throw all that creativity into solving this one problem. Solving this one problem will be symbolic of how you go about solving the next problem. If you poured all your focus, expertise, creativity, intelligence, and insight into solving the problem of getting yourself a car, how long would it take you to solve it?

I've been at this liquor store for almost 7 months. I've witnessed another worker starting around the same time as I did, take on more responsibility. But see no rise in pay. Which doesn't really bode well for me IMO.

I'm not making enough money, so I figure offering her some value that I can help her in some way that would get me out of the cashier position. Email marketing and web design is what I considered. As she has no website and hardly any knowledge of modern tech. And I have plenty of experience.

Convincing her for a raise would be the next step.

The variable I'm worried about is her stubbornness and lack of trust of her own employees. Though I like to think I have gone out of my way to be trustworthy.

The other way is selling some junk in my house to save money, or find a way to make some extra cash online

Otherwise, my only alternative would be to ride out working there for a year or two and get on an even stricter saving routine.

How much money have you saved? Can you get a reliable old car for $2500?

Not alot, the money usually ends up going towards business ventures and bills. Which in my eyes makes more sense in the grand scheme of things. Why spend $3,000 on a car and god knows what for insurance, when you can build a business cheaply online and make that money back to put towards a future car?

Thats what I keep telling myself anyway

Since your goal is to build a business that relies only on your internet connection, are you already creating content for your own personal brand?

Speaking of which, today was the start of a t-shirt launch. I run a Facebook page with 13,000 members, and I have been working to figure out how to monetize. It's pretty active and features a prominent gaming niche. Doing a dropship t-shirt launch to test if my audience will be receptive, along with testing some conversion ads.

Pretty daunting, but I'm going all in. And I hope to learn a lot, regardless if it makes money.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Your issue isn't a car, it's your mindset. You don't want a car because it costs money? That's like saying, "Well I know this book can change my life, but it costs $19.95 + $3 in shipping!"

Grow up. Get a license. Get a better job. Buy a moped, a motorcycle, or a 10 year old car.

You have some untapped potential in you lurking, but this type of miserly money mentality will kill you before you even start. And then you'll be working at a liquor store for the rest of your life.

Not trying to be rough, we're in your corner. But reading your post was some what infuriating.