The costs of getting a job versus using money making assets.

[C33]

This is what working at a job for money has costed me in 8 months( Nov 2007/ June 2008( last paycheck))

Business wardrobe that I would never wear anywhere else but in an office: $ 1000

Printing of c.vs, phone calls,transportation to work, lunches: $ 1680 for 7 months ( London transportation prices are high!)

Weight gain of 18 pounds ( after a weight loss of 26 pounds in 2007). Financially that means that the 3500 dollars that the weight loss costed ( food, supplements, exercise DVDs,time when I didn't work) have gone to the bin.

Emotional meltdown.( Inability to make money for 4 weeks)= $ 1500(Calculated lowest net salary of 1500 per month)

Unemployed for 7 weeks( 4 weeks depression as stated above plus 3 weeks job hunting in November) within 32 weeks (8 months)= $ 2625

Moving to a new city to work, no work in city where I have my asset (decrepit family house that I half owned through inheritance and which remainder I bought back with my savings ). Eurostar tickets, ferry tickets, buying new stuff for my apartment in London, going back and forth to keep an eye on my property in France, meet with contractors to make it "rentable": $1200.

Lack of a decent social life due to great insecurity and unhappiness around weight gain, bad choice to go out to cheap places with low quality clientele, 1 true friend with shared values who moved out of London in April= escapist entertainment, stupid gizmos purchased on a whim, alcoholic drinks to mask despair= $ 1000

Hours spent working on c.v( 24 h), printing and editing documents(1 h not counting time spent going to Kinko's),doing internet research for job search(30 h), presentation, calling people for leads, going to agencies(15 h): 24 +1+30+15= 70 hours at minimum wage of about $6= $ 420


Money that my empty, not in rentable state home costed me in taxes,repairs,gas and electricity :$350 per month x 8= $ 2800

Please bear in mind that I was paid in £s and most of the travel was paid in £s or Euros so it is a rough estimate.

GRAND TOTAL: 1000 + 1680+3500+1500+2625+1200+1000+420+2800=$14725


If I susbtract the estimated $3500 of weight loss benefits that have gone down the drain... and may sound a bit dramatic:$11225

Of course, I have made more than that in 8 months by working, so it doesn't look so bad, but if I add my survival costs such as food and shelter, the numbers don't look good at all.

Because I converted everything to dollars,it is a very rough estimate, and I am now to lazy to do this in a different conversion( my house being in France, all the costs are in Euros).

Now, was this a smart decision? Do I appear to be a smart woman or a fool?

Numbers don't lie.

I take full responsibility for the situation, and I'm grateful that I have experienced it:at least, I got my MIND back.

I let emotions and SheepThinking rule my pocket book.

I wanted to get a job to make money( that's the standard way of making money isn't it?) and be able to stay in London, following my bliss, developing my artistic skills and talent.
I thought the security of the low level job would allow me to look for a better job where I could make good money while improving my c.v and becoming more bankable on the job market.

I did this to have the 6 paychecks and the permanent job contract I needed to show my bank for a loan to fix my family house( my financial asset).

I believed my manager who promised me the job would become permanent. It meant a better salary and enough savings to pay for the expenses of keeping my house in France empty while waiting for the 6 magical paychecks to wave in front of my banker to get a small loan.

In the end I got a house that I cannot rent, a c.v that depreciated because of an inferior job at the top.

Now I am getting value out of life and my brain.


I am concentrating on my a**( getting it smaller) and assets ( my home, talent, brain).

Let's see what kind of numbers I'll get.

[Marty McFly]

What job are you looking for exactly? I did a job search in London on jobcentreplus and so many came up that I'm thinking of finding a way to move from WALES to London....or otherwise go self-employed here.

If you are looking for something specific that you have trained for or have experience in, perhaps you could see this as an opportunity to start your own business in that field? Perhaps take in a lodger or sell your house and live below your means for awhile and put the money into promoting the business.

[uberinquisitive]

I'm not sure if your home in France was a sound financial investment.

It is decrepit and needs a (big) loan to make it live-able. You currently spend $2,800/month on upkeep (that's $33,600/year!). Plus, you put in your savings to buy back the house.

So, to make a profit in rent - you will need to make over $3,000/month. But in an area where you can't find a job, it may be difficult to find reliable tenants, or charge enough to make a profit.

Plus, you need to make back the $2,800 you were paying all those months on your own - and your savings.

Plus, all the stress and time you need to spend trying to get this house to make a profit...

My head is spinning, just thinking about it!

I don't think it's the job that was costing you. After all, you made a profit from your job. Your job gave you the opportunity to at least keep your head above water.

You may want to consult a real estate expert and ask them for advice on how to proceed forward.

In the meantime, you may want to look immediately for a job. It takes an average of 3-5 years for a home business to make profit - I don't think you can afford to wait that long because of your house.

[C33]

Uber thank you for your reply.

Just want to clarify that my house costs me around $350 per month( including utilities.). My head would be spinning too if I had to come up with $3000 per month!

Right now I can see myself making at least 600 a month from selling stuff. I gave myself 6 weeks to get that amount of money coming in. It's realistic, any extra money will go into getting the house in shape.

Once the house is rented ( hopefull early 2009), it will generate enough money to pay off loans, pay for a real estate agency to supervise, maintenance and repairs, and hopefully a bit of money for myself.

Marty, thank you for your input.

London is a great city and I would totally recommend to check it out. I am now in France for a little while, but my heart is in London. My passion is theatre and I can't think of any other place to get my fix! I am going back for a few days in September to see Kenneth Branagh in Ivanov! I have goosebumps just thinking about it!

I had no idea the JobCentre was such a great tool!It looks like you have interesting leads.

I signed up with agencies in London that specialize in people with language skills( I speak 3 languages), I received no answer after they sent out my c.v for positions where I was sure ( and the recruiter agreed)to be a good fit.

They raved about my c.v and the variety of my work experiences but couldn't find anything for me. (Too Jack of All Trades?) Knowing that in a new country, you sometimes have to toughen it up and prove your worth by downgrading:I even applied for a part time admin position for the summer:no reply. Upon my arrival, I even applied to work in Starbucks: no reply either!

I know I am qualified and competent. I have a great, positive personality.
When I left my last job in London, people offered to be job references, bought me wine, treated me to lunch,put money on a bar tab so I could have a good-bye party in style. Still all this doesn't translate to money.

I have lived in 3 different countries in 5 years and my c.v reflects the fact that I do put my nomadic lifestyle ahead of my career. Admittedly, I get bored very easily and my interests and passions are far away from a cubicle; employers probably pick up on that. Yet, this is the case of so many people holding a job.

I would describe myself as being very dedicated and result-oriented. I work hard and always endeavor to do the best job possible, no matter how menial.

I have a parallel career in the entertainment business, working in costumes and make-up.I haven't paid my dues yet, so realistically, it would take me 4 or 5 years to make a decent living income with it.

Being in my 40s, I will have to compete with hungry newcomers working for peanuts, but I would rather get peanuts being my own monkey, if you see what I mean.However, I could make a bit money using some of the skills I grabbed from the experience.

At the moment, I think I can generate income for myself without having to "beg" for a job and spend a huge amount of money, time and energy in a job search.

I believe if I applied my job searching skills to make money for myself, I would feel empowered and get better results. We shall see...

[BenThere]

I really highly recommend Joe Dominguez and Vicky Rubin's book Your Money or Your Life. They go over this kind of trade-off analysis in detail. They also suggest some ways out!

my interests and passions are far away from a cubicle

So what are those interests and passions?

[Ponce]

As long as you are working for someone else they will be the one making the money....... start something as a side line and expand from there till you can have a money making business.

Old used books is a money maker and if I waesn't retired and happy I would go into this business.......... I find books worth fifty or more dollars all the time for which I only paid twenty five or fifty cents.........my last find was three original James Bond books, I paid only a dime each and they are worth between 45 and 65 bucks each.