I started to write out a comment that turned into a bigger piece that I was hoping to get some feedback on so I decided to post it here instead. It’s great to hear from readers of all different ages and it’s also nice to get feedback from people who grew (are growing) up in other parts of the world. I don’t know if it’s gaming, or simply luck of the draw, but the diversity in this audience is pretty amazing. Well, aside from the lack of females. But still! Five years from now who can say where we’ll be..
I love all the responses. It was a lot of fun to read about where everyone has grown up and what they think of where they live. It’s great perspective and good information to have.
Up until recently I hadn’t given much thought to where I live because it really wasn’t an option to live anywhere else. Of course, much of that has changed with graduation and working as an RN which makes it simple to grab a job anywhere. Things that weren’t even on the radar are now significant factors. Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems?
TLDR; OK is far from the worst place on the planet, it’s just not a state that most people actively seek to move to. It’s a state that people from away from. Regardless of your political, religious, or economic views, I’d assume most people would be happier in states that have for a variety of reasons, people actively seeking to move there.
I’m also a bit embarrassed with how much it appears I stressed the importance of $$. I don’t lead an extravagant lifestyle, although I’m sure I would be more grandiose if I made millions of dollars. I don’t desire to eat out at all the best restaurants every day of the week, so once I buy a TV or two, my consoles and a computer, I’m pretty much set.
If I wanted to make a lot of money I’d be going back to school in order to get a degree in business and working my ass off to make it big. My father is a fairly wealthy man and I have to say that under no circumstances am I willing to work as hard as he has to make that much money. It seems like such a waste of time. Life is so short and as far as I’m concerned we only get 1 shot at this so I want to make the most of it. I want enough money to get around, but I don’t want to spend my life making it either. It’s a tough balance.
Anywho, back to my original point about emphasizing the size of my wallet. I’m a pretty typical college grad with large amounts of student loans and it’s really expensive to pay those back in combination with also taking care of basic bills such as rent/food/utilities. Thank god I have my car paid off otherwise I’d really be hurting.
I did attend a private school which increased the tuition for becoming an RN, however I can’t even think of any non-private institutions that offered RN programs so it’s a bit of a moot point. School was about 45k a year or so which puts me into six figure debt for the next 20-30 years (depends on how fast I pay it off). As of right now that’s enough to make my student loans cost around $800/month. When I start factoring in everything else, my paycheck starts looking fairly underwhelming compared to what my friends are making doing the identical job back home.
I really don’t place money that high on my list of priorities, but having school loans kind of forces you to rearrange them. It doesn’t matter as much what I want because of how much I owe. Priority number 1 at this point is making sure I’m able to just pay my damn bills. I could go on and on about how this affects the types of jobs people pursue , the degrees they obtain, or people being forced to manage debt with more debt, etc.
I really don’t know how most people make it in today’s world. If the average family income for a family of 4 is $45,000 and I feel as though I’m barely making ends meet on $40,000, how do other people do it? How the hell does anyone possibly afford to live with children making less than I do?
The idea of making double what I do now seems…surreal. Not only that, but it just doesn’t seem fair. How much money does any 1 person need to live? Need to survive? How does it make sense that any 1 person deserves to make life altering amounts of cash but other people struggle to simply make their way through life?
I remember finishing up the last of my clinicals when the realization that I’d be making more money that I had ever had before in my life started to hit me. My first thought was “Woah, that’s crazy”. My second thought was more along the lines of “This doesn’t seem fair.” Are you telling me that I was only worth $8.00/hr before my degree and now I’m worth $40? What?! I don’t buy or agree that I deserve to make that much more than another human being. Examining the ratio of salaries paid to top-tier CEO’s versus those of the average employee yields the following information (excerpt taken from Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris):
Britain – 24:1
France – 15:1
Sweden – 13:1
United States: 475:1
Could anyone really come up with an argument as to why any given human being should be making 475 times more than another? Hah, I know I’ve gone off on a bit of tangent but I despise money and I hate that it has to be such a big component to my life. That said, it really does simplify things and man, it sure is nice making more than $8.00/hr. I can’t fathom what it would be like to make anywhere close to six figures and not have children to support.
Edit: As you can plainly see, I don’t mind talking about specific financial figures (and it doesn’t hurt that I make nominal amounts of $$ so people can’t accuse me of showing off). The reason why I do this is because it was such a fucking mystery as to how much people made and what the costs were to just…live. My own parents refused to share anything with me and when I tried to ask teachers or aunts and uncles, they’d just laugh it off and you don’t talk about those sorts of things. Horseshit!
How are you ever supposed to learn or gain any perspective without knowledge? If you’re embarrassed about how much you make then you should probably go back to school or find a different job. Preferably a CEO.
While I have no issues sharing this with everyone, I would prefer if the actual figures didn’t make their way into the top comments on subsequent videos or spammed all over twitter (yes I realize the inherent risk in posting this). However, I do want people to feel safe talking about finances and breaking down that barrier or taboo that surrounds how much people make.
My parents reasons for hiding what they make revolved around status; those who made more are seen as superior. Youtubers often do it to hide the fact that they’re making large sums for minimal effort (play PoE and watch people discuss how much they think Kripp makes).
There’s no shame if you’re not in the six figure club and according to statistics from the US census bureau, most Americans aren’t and even if you are, what you’re making is still orders of magnitude less than some corpora CEO’s bonus check.
I’m a 13 year old but I know most of the bills in my family (That happens when your dad forgets his reading glasses :P) We live in Australia and the living costs are quite high here. But the most expensive are our studying fees. My school is a private/independent school and my sister goes to another different one. My older two siblings go to uni and stay on campus. All up it costs about 80 000 per annum. Fortunately my dad is a hard working dentist so we can afford the bills.
The property here is quite expensive compared to America. ($250 000 – $300 000 for a 4 bedroom house in a town with a population of 40 000). The power bills are also going up. So I guess I am fortunate to have this opportunity to study well.
I also travel a lot to play basketball. It’s about $20 000 due to accommodation and fuel mostly. I sure hope I can do this for my children one day (not too soon I hope!)
Gingura(Quote)
Money is always a stressful topic to discuss, I’m about to be 20 and I took a year off from college so I can hope to work, and with shit for experience I can only get hourly pays at jobs that I don’t want to do. As for college, I’m terrified about student loans, especially if I choose to attend a private university. I’m planning on doing ROTC in college so I can be (mostly) financially secure after I graduate.
You also need to factor in the cost of living, I don’t know The cost of living where you are, but I’m from NYC. The cost of living here is high as most people know, and while 40k is attainable for a single person with no dependents, 45k for a family of four is a very bad situation.
As to what you said about growing up an your elders not discussing finances; the same thing with my family. While knowing how much my parents made, I was told to never repeat it to anyone else. Whenever asking about anything related to money is was a huge disrespect to people, how is someone supposed to know how to live on their own when you neglected to talk to them, and inform them on serious factors of life.
As always good to hear your perspective and keeping it honest.
Cody(Quote)
In NZ you can get an interest free student loan provided by the government (rare you wouldn’t be eligible for it) that only requires compulsory repayments if you earn above a certain amount at which point you will pay a 10% of your earnings above said specified amount.
I am coming up on 5-6 years of study at university, I graduated with a BCA in Marketing and Management found it not quite where I wanted to be so am back studying again this time in e-commerce and information systems, after all that my student loan might have hit $25k when I finish my study next year.
I am so detached from my loan bouncing from interest to interest because it plays virtually no part in my life and with the median income hitting just under 63K and relatively low expenses (computer, tv, internet and basic necessities) I would have no trouble paying it off. I cannot fathom how different I would be if I grew up in an environment with the figures you provided waldodude, certainly a more motivated existence I’m sure.
Casper(Quote)
If I made as much as you do I would be living the dream, literally. I made just over 10k last year and I have no clue how I got by other than by the skin of my teeth, lots of ramen and cheap tuna. Plus hand outs from friends and some family. Then again I live in Georgia, in a small spit hole town, working for a penny pinching boss who believes her workers are only worth an additional .15 cents per year. Work out here is scarce and it’s a stroke of excellent luck if you can find a factory job or something that pays at least $8.00/hr starting off.
I honestly hate money and everything about it. If you need something, chances are you are going to have to pay for it. If you got it for free, someone else paid for it. It would be super totes legit if the world didn’t have such a raging hard on for money. Especially here in the states where just about every CEO and business owner hoards every cent and dollar for themselves to make themselves feel good and seem ‘important’.
Let’s not forget that some places over work their workers, under staff their shifts and still don’t pay their workers even dog shit for the amount/how hard they work.
Jim Potter(Quote)
I am 18 years old, soon to be 19, studying at a university in Greece(Europe, if anyone hasn’t heard of us by now). Our country currently owes billions of money and things are pretty rough over here. Jobs aren’t available, unemployment has reached outlandish numbers and frankly for a young student like me is pretty discouraging hearing my friends leaving abroad to search for a job, or getting underpaid in jobs that require no degree whatsoever. Honestly, I too am thinking of moving to another country if things in 4-5 years that i will have my degree stay the same(or even get worse).
Young people that are lucky enough to have a job in their field here are straggling to make a living out of what they make and most of them end up staying in their parents’ homes until even the age of 30. So yeah money is a very big issue here. My parents luckily have the ability to support me without a problem until I get my degree, but then I will have to worry a little more about how to make a living and honestly I don’t think I am gonna have so much of a problem as some of my friends will, because despite the fact that a lot of young people are leaving abroad for jobs, as i mentioned above, a lot more are very scared of the idea of living somewhere else in the world.
Panos(Quote)
Oh and i forgot to mention in my comment that the average salary here is as low as 550 euros(you can convert that to dollars) and reaching as high as 1500 euros for younger people depending on your field and how lucky you are. For families i don’t even feel like talking because things are quite depressing.
Panos(Quote)
We in America do everything bass ackwards in terms of minimum wage and tuition costs and dozens of other things. If there is a better system that another country is using, then why wouldn’t we follow their example? “Yeah, but we’re America and we do what we want.” Bullshit! Stubborn pride won’t help people get out of debt, get a job, or go to school. If something works in another country with a similar government system, then why the fuck WOULDN’T you at least try to do the same?
Forgi(Quote)
glad to be canadian then i guess.
Obs(Quote)
I’m sure you know by now that salary isn’t even remotely the only thing that determines relative “wealth”. There are also things like the cost of living in that area and how extravagantly your lifestyle is. From what you’ve said before, yes, salaries in your part of OK are much lower than they were in Oregon, but the costs of housing, food, etc. should’ve all decreased proportionally.
The median income of the county in which I live is 100k per goddamn family. That’s fucking huge amount! Yet the average house costs upwards of 500k and the larger neighborhoods will easily push into the millions. Living in a big city like New York or San Francisco is even more goddamn insane.
thatsleepyguy(Quote)
Thanks for sharing Waldo! I grew up in a family with old money and parents that made quite good money, but we lived well below our means. I went to a state university in Ohio which was cheap, and the GI bill paid for it. And believe me I earned every fucking cent and then some of that fucking thing, 3 tours of pure hell! I got in good with BP America when they still had offices in Cleveland so I later got the job I just left, working client relations for a law firm. Made 110k a year not counting bonuses and honestly I had no idea what to do with the money, also never had time to spend it. Most people I was around just wasted it on stupid shit, was with two guys in France when they both dropped their 50k bonus on a watch. I drive an okay car, own an okay house in an area with low cost of living and invested or saved most of my money. I live like I’m broke and that is okay with me. Money is not everything but it helps, still doesn’t make me happy or healthy.
klax04(Quote)
The thing about how does it seem fair that some people are making 475x what others are:
It doesn’t seem fair, but when you think about it it can be justified. Going to what you said about how much work you are willing to put into your career. The people at the top put in a shit ton of work to get started, or had made a really good product (which usually involves a lot of work…). What did the people who he makes 475x as much as do? Probably not too much.
Steven Bonnell II @Steven_Bonnell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8kZg_ALxEz0 … When you watch this, do you think, “Man, this guy is a fucking asshole, why is he so mean?” or do you think “Damn, maybe this guy’s right, at the end of the day it’s results that determine who you are.” Watch it every day until you think the latter
Roland(Quote)
I am also kept in the dark about money by my parents. One thing I don’t understand about my Dad, is that he still pays for a lot of luxury while putting 4 kids through college soon 5. And 2 of them are private (my mom helps too, but my dad makes the big bucks, but not so big that he can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for tuition, ( and yes I know student loans help, but they can only help so much with 4 kids). And my mom (my parents are divorced) some how pays for a really nice house not really making that much, but my step-dad is really good with money and loans so that helped. And my mom makes a lot of big purchases. Maybe I am just dumb.
LordRump(Quote)
45k a year for uni/college for you i guess! That is outrageous. How can the american society deal with figures being that high? And the obvious affront it creates to equality in possibilities? I’m in the UK and there was a shit storm when the fees raised to 9k a year but everyone is still entitled to a government loan which is obviously paid back when you have a decent salaried job. But I’m not sure whether the US government gives out similar types of loans, if not then that is outrageous.
On the whole CEO massive paycheck thing you should watch, if you havent already, Inside Job with the voice of Matt Damon. Great doc about the financial crisis.
Smoise(Quote)
You know you make many good points. This comment is on both of your posts on this, and figured I’d just give a response on one of them. First off, I’m from a small town called Windom in the state of Minnesota. At the age of 18 I’m getting ready to graduate from highschool, and that has been my biggest concern. Where am I going to live and what am I gonna do for money. Well I’m starting college next year in Mankato and plan to study as a computer technician. MSU, the college I plan to attend, doesn’t offer a field of Computer Science, so for the moment I’m majoring as a CIT and I plan on getting a field in Software Design. That career manages six figures, and as it stands there are more jobs opening in this field, then there are students entering in it in study. This would be substantial, seeing as I was the son of a recently decseased Pastor(God Bless him, as he died of cancer this summer.) and now my family struggles for money, barely living off the Social Security they keep trying to strip us of, and my mom’s small time job at a local Department store called ShopKo. My father took the pastoring career knowing he wouldn’t make much(in fact, the only reason we aren’t paying his college loan anymore is because that became void when he died). Minnesota is a nice state, lots of hills, hunting, fishing, and many other activities that can be done throughout the year. I however keep myself busy on my laptop that I got as a pre-graduation present, working towards my goal of making youtube videos, while working a part-time job making just over minimum wage at the same facility my mom works at. I understand its hard to get by, but as to answer your question on how those families get by, it’s mostly with the aid of EBT and Social Security. You know to be honest I did get a chance to see all of Oklahoma, because recently I spent everything I had in money to visit my girlfriend in Texas, just south of Houston(all I thought on my trip down is, “Hey, I’m passing near where WaldoDude and Xcal live. Cool.”) and got a chance to see the landscape. This was the farthest south I had been, but not my first visit to Oklahoma, for I had been in and near Tulsa visiting family, but it was my first time in Oklahoma city. The trip through that and Kansas was dull and the people were by far not the nicest, so I see what you mean. It’s a scary thought thinking, “Hey in 4 years time I’ll be on my own, dealing with all the money problems that everyone else has to deal with.” It frightens me with the fear of not knowing how I’ll handle the classes I’ll be in. And even after that, finding a good job in the field. In the school I currently work for the school’s Tech Specialist, and wonder if I’ll be like him, or be in a big city programming games for large companies, etc etc.
The trip opened my eyes up to the people around me, and all the paperwork and money problems we’ve run into since my dad’s death has really given me aspect and sight into the world’s troubles. You work hard, not sure I could pull 12 hours and then some, then coming and making videos and doing livestreams for us, your followers(makes you sound like a cult. ALL HAIL DRJ!)
Well I hope your success on Youtube goes better, and I hope mine hits off somewhat well. Your in my prayers, as is all the people struggling.
Oh, and if your interested, your always welcome in Minnesota if you can handle the winters.(We hit -9 degrees the other day. Go figure our heat goes out that night -_- ) And you may like the “Minnesota Nice” a little better then Oklahoma.
Oh and not that I’ve had a chance to post much, but Imurashi is my youtube name. I just recently got Fraps and Sony Vegas, and hoping to do a channel with lots of varied gameplay. Hit me up sometime if you ever wanna do anything, and I’d be glad to support you any way I can. Love what you and the VDFB do both together and seperately. Thanks and stay awesome.
Nolan Jones(Quote)
My single mother earns 12,000 or less a year and so far we are holding up pretty well and really money for me a is not huge priority in my life. The only thing I hope in the future for me, after I graduate is to a find a descent career that I will enjoy doing for the rest of my life. Being born in a low income family really teaches you to appreciate the small stuff in life. Thx for posting this Dino:)
Orlando Valdez(Quote)
Hey WaldoDude, great article. Just one quick question, where did you attend to college? My whole Dad’s side lives up in Oregon and my brother went to Lewis & Clark University in Portland. Also, do like the show Portlandia?
Russell(Quote)
It’s less the “we’re America and we do what we want” and more of, those that have the power to change the systems in place are those making 475x what the average person makes, and those people are happy just the way things are.
Amy(Quote)
I know your feels, Wally. 20 years old and taking a break from college so I can build up financials (trying to get through without taking a loan). I still have no idea what I want to major in too, but that’s a different topic for a different time.
Jacob(Quote)
45k/year for college is just insane considering how lacking education in the US is (or so I’ve heard). I started the first year of game development here in Belgium and it’s about 500 euro to enlist and an additional ~2600 euro for a laptop/software, so the second and third year I don’t have to pay that anymore. And if I pass the first year in one go, the company my mother works for will pay the 500 euro back (Biggest belgian company, InBev (they bought Budweiser), so not all multinationals are as bad as they’re being portrayed). The point is that education is really cheap, as it should be.
I don’t really understand the whole problem of finding a job as nurse, here there is a massive shortage of nurses as people don’t want to study it anymore so we have to hire spanish nurses to come work here. Hell, even a 16-year old can (or could rather) get a student job and make about 6,50-7 euro (8,50 – 9,50 dollar) an hour in summer time when school is over. And he/she doesn’t even need any experience, it’s usually boring/tedious work that requires no skill.
I just can’t imagine how somebody who graduated already has a six-figure debt.
As for the 475x thing, I don’t know why people get so upset about it…I mean it’s high and all but companies are meant to make money and create welfare. And succesful companies just make more profit than others, why should we penalize success? The only thing that bothers me is companies avoiding taxes with loopholes and such, that’s just complete bullshit but they can get as much as profit as they want as long as they pay the country for the services they provide via taxes.
Also, Waldo, you should know that Europe has a totally different approach to the economy than America. You might as well compare apples to bananas. Europe controls its economy way more which leads to lower maxima and higher minima, creating more stability(I would need a curve to show it). If the economy is doing great, they’ll try to slow it down and decrease it while boosting it when it’s doing bad. That’s what the ECB ( European Central Bank) is for. In America, they just let the economy do its thing without interfering so if the economy is doing bad, you’ll be more affected by it. I wouldn’t compare the two.
Jens(Quote)
Yea, the student loans in your country are incredible, Waldo.
For example I am studying Business Admin right now at the second best University in Berlin ( it is is a private one acknowledged by the government ). I pay around 700€ a month ( I also pay for the months where I don’t go to lectures which is great … not ), but the government basically comes up with half of the costs. I get 450€ from the government for studying and then I get 150€ extra for “children money” which you basically get until you are 26. Those 450€ that I get from the government can be considered a credit check, but you have to pay ONLY THE HALF of the loan in the end. Not only that, but you have 20-25 years time and if you pay them back all in one piece you only have to pay the government like 30-40% depending on the time when you paid them back.
Basically as soon as you have finished “high school” in Germany you should go mad and study as much as you can, because it is cheap as shit and only takes you 3 years to get a B.A. I already study for the second time and I don’t regret anything. When I heard that most of the students in the US graduate and go out with a 500k debt I wouldn’t believe it first.
Germany is no exception. Not much different in most other “1st speed” EU states.
g0ggy(Quote)
I went to a school that cost around $45k (not including living expenses), but after a year I realizing my parents were putting all the cost on me. My plan was to transfer to a state college which was about $10,000 and go back my senior year. It never happened, but I’m currently making great money and paid off my loans in about 3 years.
The strangest part of college is that I got my last 3 jobs based on the High School I went to and some connections. A prestigious High School and local jobs is surprisingly effective, because you either run into rich exstudents and/or rich people planning on sending their kids to your HS.
sploosh(Quote)
In my experience there are very few places in the US that have a substantially higher cost of living. Short of attempting to live in a million dollar neighborhood, neither Oklahoma or Oregon are either one of those places. I actually pay more for rent here than I would be paying back home because there are fewer options and it’s a military town (their stipends increase rent).
WaldoDude(Quote)
Money contributes to buying insurance which would/should keep you more healthy than someone who doesn’t have it. I used an insurance card at the doctor for the first time in nearly 10 years after not being able to afford it for so long. Didn’t even know what to do with it to be honest.
It also contributes to the types of neighborhoods you’re able to live in. I’m assuming you don’t eat meals on the floor or have cast iron bars over your doors and windows. I had a co-worker whose car broke down a block or two from their home and they still called for a ride just to make it back home safely.
Money isn’t everything, but as you said, it definitely helps.
WaldoDude(Quote)
I’ve never seen Portlandia >< and I did my first two years at PCC and my last two at Linfield.
WaldoDude(Quote)