From a nice salary to working a minimum wage job at a pizza place

[Bricona]

I just read this article where this guy named Jeremy Smith quit his job that included a large salary at a large multinational telecommunications company, so he could work for a pizza place.

Why?

His dream is owning a pizza place and he wanted to grab the knowledge.

That's the obvious reason, if you look at this guy's life it's literally based around this job that he doesn't even like doing. He commutes for 4 hours a day, stuck in traffic. 4 hours times 5 days a week, that's 20 hours. That's a part time job already in commuting hours. That's a life!

When I look at this, I obviously already think he's a successful person. The question that everyone should be asking is, "Why does he need that money?" His whole life is built around "this money" is it really that important that his job should rule his life?

What do you think:

Is he a failure?
Is he a failure waiting to happen?
Is he a success waiting to happen?
Is he a success already?

[SatvikBeri]

Not enough information

Is his dream really to own a pizza place? Or did he just hate his job enough that he had to quit? Many people who're in a crappy situation think that their dream is to do something else, when really their dream is just to exit the original situation.

[GhostGoat]

He couldn't find a pizza place closer than a 2 hour drive from his home? That does not compute.

[Mounds]

I read this earlier and concluded that his high paying job must have been a two hour commute.
I mean honestly... is there really such a hellish place on Earth where the closest pizza parlour is a two hour drive?

"Gee! I'd sure love to live there!" said no one in the world... am I right?

[GhostGoat]

Originally Posted by Mounds

I read this earlier and concluded that his high paying job must have been a two hour commute.
I mean honestly... is there really such a hellish place on Earth where the closest pizza parlour is a two hour drive?

"Gee! I'd sure love to live there!" said no one in the world... am I right?

Rereading the OP, I believe you are correct. Sooooooo......nevermind!

I'm going to have to drive a 30 mile commute each way to my new job in January...I am looking forward to the job, but not the drive. I've always avoided jobs with long drives in the past, but these days I'm just glad to be working.

[Bricona]

Originally Posted by SatvikBeri

Not enough information

Is his dream really to own a pizza place? Or did he just hate his job enough that he had to quit? Many people who're in a crappy situation think that their dream is to do something else, when really their dream is just to exit the original situation.

His dream was to own a pizza place, so because he didn't find any point to making money and spent so much time at his job he quit and decided to follow that dream. He starts by working at a random pizza place for minimum wage.

[Bricona]

Originally Posted by GhostGoat

He couldn't find a pizza place closer than a 2 hour drive from his home? That does not compute.

His job at a telecommunications company was 2 hours away. He now walks to work from his house.

[Bricona]

Originally Posted by Mounds

I read this earlier and concluded that his high paying job must have been a two hour commute.
I mean honestly... is there really such a hellish place on Earth where the closest pizza parlour is a two hour drive?

"Gee! I'd sure love to live there!" said no one in the world... am I right?

said no one in the world....

[Bricona]

This was the article: From a Nice Salary to a Minimum Wage Job | Life Style Ignition

[Andrew Brunelle]

I guess if this is what he wants, he should go for it. It helps to have experience in all the positions of a company to know what is expected of each person if you own a store. And at least he doesn't have to drive 15 to 20 hours a week anymore. That alone justifies getting another job. He probably has some savings I'm sure, and won't be starving, so it's not a bad move, although it is a risky one.

I'm not saying this guy will achieve the goal of getting his own pizza place, but he most likely will. I can kind of sense it. He is being bold by doing this, and it made some kind of news, which is encouraging, and he seems to be knowledgeable when it comes to money, so he'll probably be able to create something easily.

[livelove18]

I respect this guy for doing what he wants and not following the crowd. He is trying to do something that he has passion for, and that is something to clap for.

[Bricona]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

I guess if this is what he wants, he should go for it. It helps to have experience in all the positions of a company to know what is expected of each person if you own a store. And at least he doesn't have to drive 15 to 20 hours a week anymore. That alone justifies getting another job. He probably has some savings I'm sure, and won't be starving, so it's not a bad move, although it is a risky one.

I'm not saying this guy will achieve the goal of getting his own pizza place, but he most likely will. I can kind of sense it. He is being bold by doing this, and it made some kind of news, which is encouraging, and he seems to be knowledgeable when it comes to money, so he'll probably be able to create something easily.

True. And yeah, that commute must be life altering.

[missbhaven]

Look at the saving due to the fact he no longer needs to commute. Some people say time is money, and when looking for a job to calculate how much it costs you to travel there and back, becuase those are free unpaid working hours. They are costs you incur just to HAVE the job. So don't say you're getting $1000 for a 40 hour week job if you have 10 hours of travel time each week, it's $1000 for 50 hours of work .
Also if he needed the car primarily to get back and forth from work and all other uses can be facilitied by walking or biking, he may not have the expense of a car anymore.

At min wage (where I am) he's saving MINIMUM $300 dollars a month just for travel time, now should he choose he can work those extra hours a month.
Then add the cost gas and insurance (with the assumption he owns the vehicle), minimum for insurance I think is $150 (where I am), and average price for a tank of gas lately seems to be between $50-65 per week and more in the winter since the commute time jumps up ($200 per month min).
Soo if he's keeping his car he's saving about $500 month in time and gas by choosing a minimum wage job within walking distance from his house. That's a $3 per hour wage difference. Losing the vechile all together will work out to be $4 or more per hour.

Now, Seeing as I listed the minimum for both his time and gas and didn't think of other costs that may incur (paid parking??), at the end of the total year it could work out to being $5 to +10 per hour difference he's looking at.


Also the next point could be: How much was he paying in taxes before and now?
I have friends that I worked with that would NEVER take extra work hours or even bother with overtime becuase they lost money since it would push them (the household) up into the next tax bracket and even a 1% increase does count.


Soo I wonder how much he was making at his old job and what they consider well paying?

If he was making $25 an hour... he could still even out by the time you include the 1-2% savings on tax, the saving of no longer needing to commute, savings on parking, hey now he may not have to buy lunch (lunch at work or walk home). If he's a hard worker he may advance and get raises pushing him up 2-3 dollars by the end of the year, and if that's the case in the end he may actually end up having MORE MONEY TO SAVE!

[interchangeable]

If he was making $25 an hour...

That's what I average an hour, wage + tips, at the family pizza/pasta restaurant where I work as a server about 20 hours a week. I have another part-time job I love. I do pretty swell, about $3000/month total, and am very happy and nearly completely stress-free.

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by missbhaven

I have friends that I worked with that would NEVER take extra work hours or even bother with overtime becuase they lost money since it would push them (the household) up into the next tax bracket and even a 1% increase does count.

That's a misunderstanding of how tax brackets work.

You (even a household) gets taxed different amounts on the different portions of their income. As an example, you might be taxed at 20% for the first $20,000 you make in a year, and then 30% for the next $10,000. So if you earned $30,000 in a year, you would pay (20% X 20,000) + (30% X 10,000) = $7,000 in taxes. But you would NOT pay 30% on the first $20,000 you earned.

So it is true that the after tax difference between $70,000 and $60,000 is smaller than the difference between $30,000 and $20,000. But it is *not* true that earning an extra $1 can cause you to LOSE money after taxes.

Also, I don't really see why people are equating the guy in the article's commute with his old job. Couldn't he just move?

That said, if his dream had always been to own a pizza place, then of course he's more successful now than he was before!

[richardxthripp]

Sounds like a real step down. He will be contributing less value to the world even if he owns a pizzeria, because AT&T is a bigger company that affects more people than any pizza parlor.

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by richardxthripp

Sounds like a real step down. He will be contributing less value to the world even if he owns a pizzeria, because AT&T is a bigger company that affects more people than any pizza parlor.

So, should he sacrifice his own happiness, to provide nore value? If he was solving world hunger or if no one else could do his job, then maybe. But I'm sure there are many underlings who would gladly take on his responsibilties - and his former salary.

I admire people who can walk away from a big paycheck, benefits and decide what they really want out of life, and go for their dream, no matter how humble or outrageous it may seem to others. The only exception is when a person who needs to support a family decides they will only follow their heart desire, rent/mortgage, family needs be damned.

There was such a guy on the Dr. Phil show once. He did not believe in working for anyone else, yet all the cockamamie businesses he tried to start were failures. His wife and young children were living without heat and at risk of becoming homeless because he did not believe the Lord wanted him to do anything he wasn't "called" to do.

[missbhaven]

Originally Posted by SatvikBeri

That's a misunderstanding of how tax brackets work.

You (even a household) gets taxed different amounts on the different portions of their income. As an example, you might be taxed at 20% for the first $20,000 you make in a year, and then 30% for the next $10,000. So if you earned $30,000 in a year, you would pay (20% X 20,000) + (30% X 10,000) = $7,000 in taxes. But you would NOT pay 30% on the first $20,000 you earned.

So it is true that the after tax difference between $70,000 and $60,000 is smaller than the difference between $30,000 and $20,000. But it is *not* true that earning an extra $1 can cause you to LOSE money after taxes.

Also, I don't really see why people are equating the guy in the article's commute with his old job. Couldn't he just move?

That said, if his dream had always been to own a pizza place, then of course he's more successful now than he was before!

Actually I did take that into account, thank you. Even from $10 to $25 most I calculated would be a 1-3% increase in total amount of taxes (where I am at least), which was the within the range the numbers stated above.
But my some of my co-workers must of lived on a tight monthly budget that a couple of hours overtime makes then feel the pinch more presently than in the long run, where they could wait for their tax refund. Especially since I believe your Pension and Employment Insurance payments also go up with your hours (if your paid hourly). It never made sense to me until I had a hell week pulling 80+ hours a week and my check looked the same... but only in that extreme have I, personally, felt the need for complaint.


I'm equating his commute because many people don't realize how many hours commuting can really be worth in the grand scheme of things. I'm thinking of his potential savings he could have at the end as another way to show people sometimes taking a pay cut and working close to home is still a sound plan for success. And fact of the matter is for a lot of people they are seeing the bottom line being he was making THIS much to THAT little as a recipe for failure.
There are many variables but I tried to focus on only those presented to me.
As far as I am concerned he lives at his momma's home for free , only time I considered his non-work lifestyle is if he gave up the car altogether due to his approximity other lifestyle choices (gym, shops, ect). Yes he could move, but he got laid off and decided not to push in that way. His situation is one I see quite often around my parts. I know more than 5 people who drive +1.5 hours to work, and winter sets in, 1 accident and you're on the highway for 2-4X longer, yes 4X longer. And when you are looking at the figures as X amount per dollar, it may shock you. If your commute is costing you $6 per hour and you making $15, reality is you are making $1 less than min wage ($10 where I am). At that point is it really worth it?

[Bricona]

Originally Posted by missbhaven

Actually I did take that into account, thank you. Even from $10 to $25 most I calculated would be a 1-3% increase in total amount of taxes (where I am at least), which was the within the range the numbers stated above.
But my some of my co-workers must of lived on a tight monthly budget that a couple of hours overtime makes then feel the pinch more presently than in the long run, where they could wait for their tax refund. Especially since I believe your Pension and Employment Insurance payments also go up with your hours (if your paid hourly). It never made sense to me until I had a hell week pulling 80+ hours a week and my check looked the same... but only in that extreme have I, personally, felt the need for complaint.


I'm equating his commute because many people don't realize how many hours commuting can really be worth in the grand scheme of things. I'm thinking of his potential savings he could have at the end as another way to show people sometimes taking a pay cut and working close to home is still a sound plan for success. And fact of the matter is for a lot of people they are seeing the bottom line being he was making THIS much to THAT little as a recipe for failure.
There are many variables but I tried to focus on only those presented to me.
As far as I am concerned he lives at his momma's home for free , only time I considered his non-work lifestyle is if he gave up the car altogether due to his approximity other lifestyle choices (gym, shops, ect). Yes he could move, but he got laid off and decided not to push in that way. His situation is one I see quite often around my parts. I know more than 5 people who drive +1.5 hours to work, and winter sets in, 1 accident and you're on the highway for 2-4X longer, yes 4X longer. And when you are looking at the figures as X amount per dollar, it may shock you. If your commute is costing you $6 per hour and you making $15, reality is you are making $1 less than min wage ($10 where I am). At that point is it really worth it?

wow guys.... wow.

it is too late at night for me to be calculated tax brackets.