Being 20 years old and trying to live off 9 dollars an hour doesn't work too good. How are you supposed to pay rent, utilities, fuel, etc?
Then to top it off most lco s don't even pay year round.
What would you do in that situation?
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Well, first of all, I disagree with the sentiment that you cannot pay rent, utilities, fuel, etc. on low wages. You certainly can. It's what most young people do when they first get out of high school. I did it by having a REALLY small apartment, 2 roommates, shopping at the cheapest grocery stores in town, and working my ass off, often times with one full time job and another part time job.
But that doesn't last forever. Your goal should always be to be looking for ways to improve your situation. Look within the company you're working for and see if there's room for promotions / more money. I know guys at distributors (Ewing) who started out as just counter help and are now regional managers. One of them is even VP of sales for the entire company, nationwide! All that happened in just the last 7 years or so. They excelled at what they did and slowly moved up the ranks. Now, they're making really good money.
Even at my company, that's possible. It's a little harder for the Hispanics who don't speak much English, because they're only going to be able to go so high in the company before the next job requires perfect English. But still, I have Hispanic guys who started out at $9 an hour in maintenance and are now foreman for $16.50 an hour leading a whole crew - with benefits. Not the highest paying job in the world. But you can live off that. Especially with 10 hours of overtime at $24.75 an hour each week.
Another great example is we have a guy who was a real estate developer in the area back until about 2007. He was making really good money. But that industry went bust and he lost his job in 2008. Started just mowing lawns for a competitor of ours for $8 an hour, just to put food on the table. Worked up through the ranks in that business until he was manager 2 years later. Then we hired him as a maintenance manager and he made around $50k his first year. He's done really well with the company and is a really fast learner so we bumped him up to construction project manager and with wages and bonus he'll clear over $92,000 this year with our company - with benefits. So from $8 an hour to $92,000 in 5 years. It's called being smart, making yourself invaluable, constantly outperforming expectations, and putting in your time!
In this industry it is a little harder in some areas because of the seasonal nature of the business. So if you're going to stay in the business, you gotta not only find ways to work UP in the ranks in that company so you can earn more, but also find some sort of off-season work to be doing to earn money in those months as well. Or move to an area that does have year-round work.
I think if most American-born guys would just stick with landscaping and do a great job, like the guy I mentioned above at our company, they would have eventually been making pretty good money as a top manager. Give me a clean-cut, English speaking guy who is fairly smart, willing to work hard for a few years, willing to learn, etc. and that guy would move up the ranks like you wouldn't believe.
Sadly, today, there aren't many Americans who want to put in that time. They want instant gratification. It doesn't work that way. If you want a high paying job right off the bat, go to college and get a really good degree in something really useful or in high demand. Otherwise, be patient, be willing to put in your time, and find a company that rewards hard work and has upward mobility.