how do you do it

[longarm]

No matter how much money you make or what job you have it will never be enough
if you don't save some by putting it away and not touching it.

I've had a **** ton of jobs over the years, I can do most anything
and have the tools and knowledge.
I also have way too many hobbies and interests.
The one rule I've always lived by with hobbies is THEY ARE HOBBIES
and must be able to sustain themselves and not interfere with my
real life goals and needs.
They must help further my goals in some way, say like helping to
build or improve my garage or skill sets.
If they don't they are a drag and will eventually kill your desire
and pull you and your family under.

As for jobs, find something you like/love to do and you will shine
in that field and it will open doors to other opportunities because
you've proven you have what it takes to succeed.

Learn patience, all things take time to occur.
Make a decision, stick to it, let the world realign itself to help you
and it will.

And number 1: TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH
Your going to live a looong time and what you do now has
a major effect on the quality of your life in the future.
Ask any older guy if you don't believe me.

 

[Serj22]

I'm 25, and I've always been in the wooden boat restoration business. It's tough work, because the money you make initially is spent to restore the boat...

So for instance, someone drops of a boat, pays $25,000 up front. Now you go buy $7,000 worth of wood, about $3,000 in initial supplies, new saw blades, new planers, etc... and wind up with about $10k left over which has to last for the entire restoration. Usually these can take 6 months. There's a boat in the shop we've been working at for 4 years though. It's a complicated one of one Hacker.

Then, when you get done, usually it's another $25k or more depending on the work, and then we charge $80/hr for doing tedious stuff that we don't really do - like calling the upholsterer for the owner and installing the made upholstery, installing all the chrome fixtures, wiring the boat, installing engines, etc... we are a wood shop, and even though there's a charge on the extra work, we make out the best if we turn out a radically perfect boat, and the customer wants to varnish it themselves, or take it somewhere else and have all the fixtures and engines installed. It takes up a lot of time on our part that we can be starting another boat.

In this type of work, it seems like you'd make 100k a year, but after you pay for everything just to work, you're still broke. It's more like being an artist I guess.



It's a business my dad's been doing for 35 years, and we share the money right now, but once we can find some more clients and expand the shop again (we used to have a huge warehouse, now a 6 car garage basically) this may take off. If I ever take over in the distant future (my dad is in his late 60s and I still hope he lives forever. lol) I'd add more restoration articles than just boats, and possibly offer an original product. We have one in that's been mostly done, but my dad feels it's not cool enough to market. It's a 17ft wood speedboat, with a copper stepped bottom for maximum plane, and a Chevy LS6 with only two seats.

 

[moper]

Life's funny, and every one is different. It took me 7 years to get my Associates degree - and it's in General Studies. I'm in my 40s and hope someday to figure out what I want to do for a living. I'm good at a lot, but it's still to earn money - not because I love it. I've been an ASE Master tech, been a Mopar dealership parts asst manager, managed a jobber parts store, stocked shelves at a food store, done office furniture and corporate moves, and now my title is Project Manager but I also manage facilities for a large insurance co. nation wide in addition to running real estate projects.
My piece of advice - don't worry about the cars. In the great scheme of things they are old cars. I used to live for them - it led to a lot of problems to be honest and I had to find where they fit with me. Sometimes they fit under tarps for years while I go to my step kids' football (like today - in the rain and wind) or work to maintain or improve my horse farm. When I die I know my stuff will go to someone else but the peoiple I touch, some here involved with cars, some totally outside that arena, will remember me and hopefully be better off beauce of me. Get your priorities straight - family, people, relationships, then cars. When I was your age they were a means to an end. Now they're more like frosting on the cake. Life's about eating the frosting when you can 'cause if you eat it every day it gets bland .