this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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I absolutely feel your pain and was in your situation for a long time. For over a decade as an adult, I lived well below the poverty line and was homeless for a couple stretches.
I obviously don't know you or your situation beyond what you shared, but I believe that you can improve your life just like I did. I was so poor and struggled for so long that I finally had enough and vowed to never be in that situation again. While the mindset helps, it was a long time of extra effort that got me into a comfortable position.
For me the biggest help was no one thing; it was a bunch of incremental improvements over about a decade. A jump to different jobs that pay even $1.50/hr more buy breathing room. I know you're not "buying too much avocado toast," but there might be ways to stretch your necessities budget; I hear that sometimes things get missed when using self checkouts.
Depending on where you are, there are hopefully food banks and living assistance services in your areas. If you need internet and don't have it, libraries are great places (and you can still check out books and movies for entertainment).
I wanted to write code for a living, so I got a computer science associates degree (not even a bachelor's); I went to school in the evenings and delivered pizzas when I didn't have class. This was on top of my day job. It was no picnic; I had a few meltdowns from being overworked and exhausted. You don't even need to go the school/degree route. We need skilled tradesmen. Pipe fitting, welding, carpentry, electrical work, etc... are always in need and they can provide a good quality of life.
My general view is fuck corporate loyalty. If you can jump ship and make more money elsewhere: do it. If you can't afford some recurring bill: stop paying it. You are more important than those business.
Look into assistance services now. Always be looking for a new job that will pay more. Identify a five year career goal and work toward it. It's not a today solution, but that was basically how I escaped being crushed by our system.
I wish you the best.
Hi there, I am trying to claw myself out of a financial hole myself and I would value your opinion.
I am currently pursuing an associates in computer science myself, I am curious how far/what kind of job that landed you. I am just wanting to see my options once I achieve getting the degree as well.
Thanks in advance.
Not OP, but here are my 2 cents. You can't really go wrong with that degree imho. Even if you only land an entry level job at the beginning, you can quickly advance from there. You just to have keep learning.
If you haven't done so already, get a raspberry pi, install docker, get used to how it works. Destroy everything, start over. Get another pi, learn kubernetes.
You can stand out and succeed if you can learn and adapt to new technologies. The system doesn't matter, it's how you approach it.
Beat of luck to you!