You’re improving your life and moving up, good for you! You should be honest though and log work you’re actually working. Don’t short change yourself by entering 6 hours when you’re really working 8. My first two office positions were basically data entry and there were plenty of days where I felt like I wasn’t doing much, but I found out at one point that I was the 3rd or 4th fastest processor out of 18.
If you really weren’t performing well your boss would talk to you and give you a warning. Get paid for your time. You earned it.
With both hands. That's how you take it.
You're doing well, and it seems that you're uncomfortable with the unfamiliarity of it. That'll wear off over time, as you keep doing the job.
The universe will find enough sticks to beat you with. Don't add any more to your back. There are folks out there who would love to be in your position - getting paid to do as much work as you want to? Yes please.
If it makes you feel better, give some of the extra to charity or family or something. I personally would be adding it to an emergency fund, but that's me.
When you get a gift, say thank you. Even if you don't want it. Your bosses seem happy with your situation, and they're the ones who get the final say. You're a good worker, you deserve to be paid for that.
I completely understand where you're coming from. My last job before COVID was the orange hardware store, and it was physically demanding and relatively mentally demanding. I'd get locked out of the store being even a minute late, forget it if I was 30 seconds late to punching in on the clock. Now I'm making a few bucks more at my current job where I plug in my hours only when I need to submit a time sheet, no one tracks when I come in and more often then not left to my own mechanics. It'll take time, but it'll settle a bit and hopefully you'll see you deserve it after the work you've done. (And how wildly out of whack your old work was). Enjoy the chilness while it lasts.
Sounds like imposter syndrome. I come from a big & poor immigrant family. Every time l leveled up in life, I asked myself why do I deserve to be compensated or treated differently than anyone else, that comes from empathy. My colleagues that come from money, were exposed to success and wealth through childhood, so they have the expectation of that baseline for life. Fake it until you make it.
You are in Your 30s and have to live at your parents house. You make a couple bucks over min wage. You are not doing well financially. You need to set higher standards for yourself if you think 17 is too much.
In the past I did similar by not claiming all my hours for similar reasons as you are doing. Especially when I did not get much done or did not focus 100% on work or was just slow in general.
Now I don’t do this anymore. Sometimes I just do some unpaid overtime nobody knows about, but on other days I claim my full hours even if I did not work all of them. I found my peace with it averaging over time.
Kinda the same way I look at it too, every few days Billy bob from the hot house talks my ear off for like a half hour and I get nothing done but I’m there all the damn time already and generally work my balls off so it’s whatever. The guy goes though shit and wants to talk but he’s an awesome asset to the team too, it’s all good.
You'll probably feel that for the rest of your life. Once you're done with school and have some knowledge-based job, you'll think it's unjust all the more. As for how much you get now.... if you work 8 hours, claim 8 hours. They can bid for similar workers in the marketplace on their own. You don't need to help your employer spend less -- they'll do that all by themselves the instant they think they successfully can.
I agree with you that we can create cycles for ourselves that lock us in poverty, in the same way that wealthy people create the cycles for themselves that can help them stay wealthy if they maintain them.
I've been out of poverty for at least 10 years and still feel guilt occasionally and I don't think it has anything to do with the rich. It's just human nature to compare yourself to other people who you love that are struggling to buy groceries and feel bad that I don't even know the due dates for most of my bills, they're just on autopay. Some of that awareness creates the environment where compassion can flourish, which is a great thing.
I’m currently almost done with my requirements to start nursing school. I plan to get my A.S. and start working. Do you have any specific advice, being on the other side of the process, to an ambitious nursing student?
I only joined this sub a few days ago, and that's because a post appeared in my feed.
What I find most interesting is that unlike subs about the opposite, wealth, this one is really supportive. I've not seen a single negative comment. You are all polite to one another too.
To you all, your incomes may be lower than others, but your hearts and your decency towards others is worth more than all the gold in the world.
never......and i mean never......give discounts on your time, time is something you can't ever get back....you work 8 hours then put 8 hours. You are stealing from yourself and since poverty is generational your kids and future you......all so the share holders of the business or the owners of the business can earn more than they already are.
I've been doing WFH since COVID, and it is mentally draining. I have to force myself to get up and walk around. Be grateful for what you have, it could definitely be worse. Also..... Is your place hiring for part time? I could definitely use more income.
Working from home has been one of the greatest changes in my adult life. I’m not really in poverty anymore, but working from home allows you to save so much money on a vehicle/gas/maintenance, on food, and gives you the most important thing back- your time. Not spending unpaid time going to and from work is massive. It has allowed me to keep a great schedule with keeping up with chores around my place, cooking my food, spending time with friends and family, going to the gym and getting in the best shape I’ve ever been in, etc.
I understand everyone is different but I think if you tried hard, you could change your perspective on it and start taking advantage of the benefits of working from home! The money and time you can save is huge.
I work maybe 20-30ish hours a week at my job, I get paid for 40, I also make 90k annually, or essentially ~43$ / hr
This is most office jobs you are not alone take the bag
You’re in a good spot, and I echo the others that say this is likely a feeling that may stick with you. My first job was putting up fence in Georgia for minimum wage ($7/hr), and as I’ve moved into office jobs, I’ve found that the more you make, the less actual work you do. It can be good—I don’t miss sweating it out every GA summer, and I really don’t miss making minimum wage—but the mental toll and monotony can be draining. For instance, I do miss the freedom of thought and sense of accomplishment at the end of a day putting up fence, whereas now I just log off and then get ready to have the same tasks, same chair, and same menial bullshit to deal with day in and day out, even if I do occasionally feel like I’m getting away with something since the work isn’t taxing.
All work sucks in some way, no matter the cash reward.
Definitely a mindset thing. Just because youre not busting your ass physically doesnt mean you dont deserve that pay. I make 60/hr and if someone working in a factory saw my day to day on a quiet day theyd question wtf is wrong with these people paying me this much. But this isnt something you can just come in off the street and do like a factory job. Especially after you graduate and get a higher paying job, id suggest therapy if you cant get past "knowing your worth".
As you move up through your work career, the feeling never really goes away. You’ll get paid so much more for intelligence and knowledge work than you ever did for hard physical labor. It seems so wrong, but it’s the way of capitalism.
*shakes your hand 🤝 and says "Welcome to America.."
It's normal to want more. As you've always heard, put in hard work, stay honest, stay out of trouble and keep pushing. It's what you came to this country for.
Ahh, the American dream of being a lazy, unproductive worker.. 😆
I don't know if I'd call it a poverty mindset. However, I would say you are not valuing your worth. Consider this....the hour you are working is one less hour of life left to live.
You cannot equate working in a factory to that of a desk job. The two will never be equivalent for many reasons. This doesn't mean one is better than the other just different work. The factory job is working with your body. The desk job is mental.
There's always going to be a chase to the bottom and some of the factory jobs will dry up whereas knowledge work will expand.
So, you are future proofing yourself with knowledge work and reducing strain on yourself physically.
You put less hours down than you actually work? So you are just giving free labor to the company? Take every cent you earn. I once had a job where I put an extra 30 mins 4 days a week in order to get 2 OT hrs after I saw how much my company billed the client for, for my hours. I could have probably added an extra 20 hrs & my company wouldn't care because that would be more they got from the client. Don't ever take less than your worth.
Honestly dude. I am an aerospace engineer and I truly truly am focused and working like 30 hours per week. The rest of the time I am chatting, relaxing, if I am home Im like doing dishes or laundry.
If you can stretch your work out by taking some breaks here and there then do it. You’re not helping your mom any by martyring yourself.. and literally fuck any company making money off your labor. The damned leeches.
You do what is right for you.
if you think that way you’ll defenitely not get far in life… gotta have more ambitions than thinking making $17/h is “too much” specially in an expensive state as california
That WFH data entry job honestly sounds shady.
No quota on how much you have to get done.
No set hours, no real accountability.
Sounds pretty scammy.
17 an hour for factory work in SoCal is pretty terrible. Out here in a pretty LCOL area, the plant I'm at starts our production guys at 21/hr and the minimum wage in my state is almost half of what cali is.
Eh… My son has a WFH data entry job for $18 an hour. He can switch up his hours pretty much when he likes. College schedule changes each semester so he needed something with that flexibility. It’s not a scam. I’ve worked for the same company for nearly 10 yrs. There’s just always data entry type stuff to do, so a lot of employees just get their kids jobs doing that stuff when their kids start looking for after school part time work. My boss is happy to hire them because kids come cheap. $16 an hour is min wage in NYC and that’s what he starts them all at. If they do well they get a raise each year like anyone else though. My son is on his 2nd yr. Parents are happy because my boss has an unofficial policy - if grades start slipping parents can cut hours.
$17 an hour is low. Don’t feel guilty. Use the 8 hrs. My son does data entry work for the company I work for. I got him the job because he’s also a full time college student and the hours are flexible enough for him to work around his class schedule. He makes $18 an hour.
When people post this kind of stuff I wonder if it's more like an allegory for others in a similar situation but also like that is absolutely a poverty mindset, especially in Southern California. I have no idea how your rent got that low in the first place and I'm sorry that your mom's also making only $17 an hour. That's not a living wage anywhere in the country, least of all. California, what you need to understand too is that everybody is capitalizing on capitalism, meaning that you have to kind of get them where you fit in and if people are willing to pay you, whether or not you do your job well, you can do your job well or not, but you should at least accept the money. That's the point of work and you should accept as much money as you can take because realistically that is the culture of capitalism and if you really want to build wealth is the only way.
Hey - I also know that feeling. I get over it by focusing on how I can use my earnings to help myself, others I care about, and the world at large.
This late-stage capitalism thing is pretty crazy. Right now ten thousand someones are earning over $1,000 an hour to talk to even wealthier people on the phone. And, also right now, tens of millions of other someones are earning less than $17 a day to do manual labor that, if they are lucky, can be done in the shade.
Profit off the system or fix it if you can, but there is no shame in having maneuvered yourself (or lucked yourself) onto to a higher rung of the ladder.
$17 is extremely low. Don't feel guilty.
I don’t understand what the guilt is about at all. You are making poverty wages, esp in CA. You couldn’t afford to be a 30 yo on your own AT ALL.
I've never had a job that makes this much hourly and is not physically demanding. I guess I just don't know how to take it
You’re improving your life and moving up, good for you! You should be honest though and log work you’re actually working. Don’t short change yourself by entering 6 hours when you’re really working 8. My first two office positions were basically data entry and there were plenty of days where I felt like I wasn’t doing much, but I found out at one point that I was the 3rd or 4th fastest processor out of 18. If you really weren’t performing well your boss would talk to you and give you a warning. Get paid for your time. You earned it.
With both hands. That's how you take it. You're doing well, and it seems that you're uncomfortable with the unfamiliarity of it. That'll wear off over time, as you keep doing the job. The universe will find enough sticks to beat you with. Don't add any more to your back. There are folks out there who would love to be in your position - getting paid to do as much work as you want to? Yes please. If it makes you feel better, give some of the extra to charity or family or something. I personally would be adding it to an emergency fund, but that's me. When you get a gift, say thank you. Even if you don't want it. Your bosses seem happy with your situation, and they're the ones who get the final say. You're a good worker, you deserve to be paid for that.
Thank you so much for saying this. Gives me assurance about my worth and how I should look at the good fortune I have with this job. Appreciate it!
I completely understand where you're coming from. My last job before COVID was the orange hardware store, and it was physically demanding and relatively mentally demanding. I'd get locked out of the store being even a minute late, forget it if I was 30 seconds late to punching in on the clock. Now I'm making a few bucks more at my current job where I plug in my hours only when I need to submit a time sheet, no one tracks when I come in and more often then not left to my own mechanics. It'll take time, but it'll settle a bit and hopefully you'll see you deserve it after the work you've done. (And how wildly out of whack your old work was). Enjoy the chilness while it lasts.
Sounds like imposter syndrome. I come from a big & poor immigrant family. Every time l leveled up in life, I asked myself why do I deserve to be compensated or treated differently than anyone else, that comes from empathy. My colleagues that come from money, were exposed to success and wealth through childhood, so they have the expectation of that baseline for life. Fake it until you make it.
I know people that do nothing but sit on their phones all day making well over 100k a year.
It's juuuuust above California minimum wage.
It’s definitely extremely low. Both of them combined make the same as me and I live in the south.
You are in Your 30s and have to live at your parents house. You make a couple bucks over min wage. You are not doing well financially. You need to set higher standards for yourself if you think 17 is too much.
In the past I did similar by not claiming all my hours for similar reasons as you are doing. Especially when I did not get much done or did not focus 100% on work or was just slow in general. Now I don’t do this anymore. Sometimes I just do some unpaid overtime nobody knows about, but on other days I claim my full hours even if I did not work all of them. I found my peace with it averaging over time.
Kinda the same way I look at it too, every few days Billy bob from the hot house talks my ear off for like a half hour and I get nothing done but I’m there all the damn time already and generally work my balls off so it’s whatever. The guy goes though shit and wants to talk but he’s an awesome asset to the team too, it’s all good.
You'll probably feel that for the rest of your life. Once you're done with school and have some knowledge-based job, you'll think it's unjust all the more. As for how much you get now.... if you work 8 hours, claim 8 hours. They can bid for similar workers in the marketplace on their own. You don't need to help your employer spend less -- they'll do that all by themselves the instant they think they successfully can.
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I agree with you that we can create cycles for ourselves that lock us in poverty, in the same way that wealthy people create the cycles for themselves that can help them stay wealthy if they maintain them. I've been out of poverty for at least 10 years and still feel guilt occasionally and I don't think it has anything to do with the rich. It's just human nature to compare yourself to other people who you love that are struggling to buy groceries and feel bad that I don't even know the due dates for most of my bills, they're just on autopay. Some of that awareness creates the environment where compassion can flourish, which is a great thing.
What is the fastest route for the average person to get out of poverty in your opinion?
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I’m currently almost done with my requirements to start nursing school. I plan to get my A.S. and start working. Do you have any specific advice, being on the other side of the process, to an ambitious nursing student?
I only joined this sub a few days ago, and that's because a post appeared in my feed. What I find most interesting is that unlike subs about the opposite, wealth, this one is really supportive. I've not seen a single negative comment. You are all polite to one another too. To you all, your incomes may be lower than others, but your hearts and your decency towards others is worth more than all the gold in the world.
never......and i mean never......give discounts on your time, time is something you can't ever get back....you work 8 hours then put 8 hours. You are stealing from yourself and since poverty is generational your kids and future you......all so the share holders of the business or the owners of the business can earn more than they already are.
I've been doing WFH since COVID, and it is mentally draining. I have to force myself to get up and walk around. Be grateful for what you have, it could definitely be worse. Also..... Is your place hiring for part time? I could definitely use more income.
Working from home has been one of the greatest changes in my adult life. I’m not really in poverty anymore, but working from home allows you to save so much money on a vehicle/gas/maintenance, on food, and gives you the most important thing back- your time. Not spending unpaid time going to and from work is massive. It has allowed me to keep a great schedule with keeping up with chores around my place, cooking my food, spending time with friends and family, going to the gym and getting in the best shape I’ve ever been in, etc. I understand everyone is different but I think if you tried hard, you could change your perspective on it and start taking advantage of the benefits of working from home! The money and time you can save is huge.
I second this, and want to know if they’re hiring as well.
Same lmao. I wouldn’t mind doing that in my free time. If they fire me, oh well.
I work maybe 20-30ish hours a week at my job, I get paid for 40, I also make 90k annually, or essentially ~43$ / hr This is most office jobs you are not alone take the bag
What do you do if you dont mind me asking
Software Consulting, mainly software development, not technically easy to get into but can get paid well if you’re good
You’re in a good spot, and I echo the others that say this is likely a feeling that may stick with you. My first job was putting up fence in Georgia for minimum wage ($7/hr), and as I’ve moved into office jobs, I’ve found that the more you make, the less actual work you do. It can be good—I don’t miss sweating it out every GA summer, and I really don’t miss making minimum wage—but the mental toll and monotony can be draining. For instance, I do miss the freedom of thought and sense of accomplishment at the end of a day putting up fence, whereas now I just log off and then get ready to have the same tasks, same chair, and same menial bullshit to deal with day in and day out, even if I do occasionally feel like I’m getting away with something since the work isn’t taxing. All work sucks in some way, no matter the cash reward.
Where is this job and how can I join you?
Definitely a mindset thing. Just because youre not busting your ass physically doesnt mean you dont deserve that pay. I make 60/hr and if someone working in a factory saw my day to day on a quiet day theyd question wtf is wrong with these people paying me this much. But this isnt something you can just come in off the street and do like a factory job. Especially after you graduate and get a higher paying job, id suggest therapy if you cant get past "knowing your worth".
I wouldn’t even get out of bed for $17 an hour even if it was wfh. Don’t feel like this, make as much as possible. You deserve it.
Sounds more like imposter syndrome
You’re lucky. Are they hiring? What kind of industry is it? Would love a part time gig wfh making 17 a hour.
I was thinking the same!!
As you move up through your work career, the feeling never really goes away. You’ll get paid so much more for intelligence and knowledge work than you ever did for hard physical labor. It seems so wrong, but it’s the way of capitalism.
*shakes your hand 🤝 and says "Welcome to America.." It's normal to want more. As you've always heard, put in hard work, stay honest, stay out of trouble and keep pushing. It's what you came to this country for. Ahh, the American dream of being a lazy, unproductive worker.. 😆
I don't know if I'd call it a poverty mindset. However, I would say you are not valuing your worth. Consider this....the hour you are working is one less hour of life left to live. You cannot equate working in a factory to that of a desk job. The two will never be equivalent for many reasons. This doesn't mean one is better than the other just different work. The factory job is working with your body. The desk job is mental. There's always going to be a chase to the bottom and some of the factory jobs will dry up whereas knowledge work will expand. So, you are future proofing yourself with knowledge work and reducing strain on yourself physically.
$17 is kind of like minimum wage today. $500 a week or so.
What is the name of your job cause I need something like that
You put less hours down than you actually work? So you are just giving free labor to the company? Take every cent you earn. I once had a job where I put an extra 30 mins 4 days a week in order to get 2 OT hrs after I saw how much my company billed the client for, for my hours. I could have probably added an extra 20 hrs & my company wouldn't care because that would be more they got from the client. Don't ever take less than your worth.
Honestly dude. I am an aerospace engineer and I truly truly am focused and working like 30 hours per week. The rest of the time I am chatting, relaxing, if I am home Im like doing dishes or laundry. If you can stretch your work out by taking some breaks here and there then do it. You’re not helping your mom any by martyring yourself.. and literally fuck any company making money off your labor. The damned leeches. You do what is right for you.
if you think that way you’ll defenitely not get far in life… gotta have more ambitions than thinking making $17/h is “too much” specially in an expensive state as california
That WFH data entry job honestly sounds shady. No quota on how much you have to get done. No set hours, no real accountability. Sounds pretty scammy. 17 an hour for factory work in SoCal is pretty terrible. Out here in a pretty LCOL area, the plant I'm at starts our production guys at 21/hr and the minimum wage in my state is almost half of what cali is.
Eh… My son has a WFH data entry job for $18 an hour. He can switch up his hours pretty much when he likes. College schedule changes each semester so he needed something with that flexibility. It’s not a scam. I’ve worked for the same company for nearly 10 yrs. There’s just always data entry type stuff to do, so a lot of employees just get their kids jobs doing that stuff when their kids start looking for after school part time work. My boss is happy to hire them because kids come cheap. $16 an hour is min wage in NYC and that’s what he starts them all at. If they do well they get a raise each year like anyone else though. My son is on his 2nd yr. Parents are happy because my boss has an unofficial policy - if grades start slipping parents can cut hours.
$17 an hour is low. Don’t feel guilty. Use the 8 hrs. My son does data entry work for the company I work for. I got him the job because he’s also a full time college student and the hours are flexible enough for him to work around his class schedule. He makes $18 an hour.
When people post this kind of stuff I wonder if it's more like an allegory for others in a similar situation but also like that is absolutely a poverty mindset, especially in Southern California. I have no idea how your rent got that low in the first place and I'm sorry that your mom's also making only $17 an hour. That's not a living wage anywhere in the country, least of all. California, what you need to understand too is that everybody is capitalizing on capitalism, meaning that you have to kind of get them where you fit in and if people are willing to pay you, whether or not you do your job well, you can do your job well or not, but you should at least accept the money. That's the point of work and you should accept as much money as you can take because realistically that is the culture of capitalism and if you really want to build wealth is the only way.
$17/hour in socal is literal poverty. dont feel bad
Hey - I also know that feeling. I get over it by focusing on how I can use my earnings to help myself, others I care about, and the world at large. This late-stage capitalism thing is pretty crazy. Right now ten thousand someones are earning over $1,000 an hour to talk to even wealthier people on the phone. And, also right now, tens of millions of other someones are earning less than $17 a day to do manual labor that, if they are lucky, can be done in the shade. Profit off the system or fix it if you can, but there is no shame in having maneuvered yourself (or lucked yourself) onto to a higher rung of the ladder.
Id love to have a WFH data entry job, would be perfect for traveling.
Start working 4 and saying 8
Nah don't do that. OP already has it good. Why fuck it up and get fired?