You Don't Actually Make __ Per Hour! Here's Why!
I'm not writing these posts to make you hate your employer.
I'm doing it to raise awareness...
The first post I talked about the FINANCIAL losses that you will have by having a job.
Everyone assumes that having a job, Is a cure-all.
Once they have this "high paying job" they'll be set. And that's all they need, Right?
This covers more of the TIME LOSS that you lose because of your job.
Taxes
Duh, Of course, they drop your wage.
As a "new hire" at my old job, They are giving us bonuses.
Generous right?
Well, they are also taxed at a higher rate.
After doing the math, I realized I make about 18.00 an hour with the bonus. Not bad for an entry-level job in Utah.
But then I calculated the wages I made after taxes And realized I am making 13.00 per hour with the bonus.
Well, that kinda sucks...
Although I'm going off on a tangent here, The government's theft is not what this post is about. So let's continue.
Time Wasted!
So not only do you spend a lot of money to KEEP YOUR JOB. (see my last post).
For example, I buy boots, gloves, Gas for my car, Hair dye, Extra laundry stuff, Wear and tear on my clothes, x3 as much food.
etc
This added up, came to quite a big chunk of my earnings. For everyone's job, These numbers will be different.
You also waste a lot of time BECAUSE OF YOUR job.
So you are losing time and money.
Does your hourly wage seem very high now? .. Probably not.
Driving
Similar to gas, But this time you are spending your time driving.
For me, that's like 10 minutes to and from work
So 20 minutes total of my day goes to driving.
That's 100 minutes a week. Or about 1.60 hours.
I'm lucky Because I go into work at 9:00 p.m. and get off around 3:00 A.m. If you are someone who works the typical 9-5 You are probably in the peak of traffic, Which wastes even more time.
Showing Up Early
I waste probably close to an hour a day, Showing up an hour and a half early to work each day, My employer doesn't have enough parking for all of us. So it's really difficult to get a spot.
( I work at a huge shipping warehouse).
I end up working on blog posts from the passenger seat of my car. But knowing that I have to get out and walk into the building stresses me out, And makes it hard for me to focus.
About 1 hour a week, x5 = 5 Hours a week.
Getting Ready
People underestimate this so much! If you are a woman Or have a fancy uniform, It may take you longer to get ready.
In my case, My steel-toed boots, badge, gloves, makeup on, Shorts and A T-Shirt is all I need.
But back when I worked at a hotel and had a special shirt I had to wear, I had to constantly make sure it was laundered and ready to go.
For me, it takes about 30 minutes. x5 = 150 minutes or 2.5 hours a week.
Stressful Days
Sometimes work can be stressful. To the point, you go home thinking about it. Or if you work a physical job, You may be too exhausted when you come home to do anything productive and may just want to watch TV. That's also time wasted, Because, without your job, you may have had a little bit more control over your mood and energy. (Although that's still mostly YOUR responsibility, Not your employers. ) I work a very physical job. Usually, I'm too exhausted to do much for at least an hour or two after work.
Time wasted: 5 hours a week.
There are many more variables that I could add. Such as any childcare for parents, Or any "homework" your boss may give you, That is unpaid.
With these variables, I estimate I waste an additional 14.1 hours a week not paid for.
I only work part-time, Usually like 20-25 hours a week.
For someone with a full-time job, they may get a better deal out of this, But overall this demonstrates the amount of time you are using and not getting paid for. Plus all that extra money that you are spending. (see another post).
So I make 13.00 a week after taxes, But I also "work" an extra 14.10 hours per week unpaid. We'll say I get an average of 22 hours a week.
22+14.10 = 36.10
My paycheck for 22 hours last week was 295 after taxes...
295/36.10 = 8.17
My employer makes it seem that I make 18 an hour, But I only make 8.17 an hour, And that's not counting the money I spend
Let's take the "estimated" amount for some of the financial variables I counted in my last post...
Gloves 16 a month X 12 Months = $ 192.00 A Year on gloves
Boots 50.00 For every six months = $ 100.00 A Year On Boots
Gas 10.60 - 15.80 a month x 12 = $ 127.00 - 189.00 Per Year
Hair Dye: 16.99 X 2 = 33.98 A Month!
For the variables above, I am paying 74.06 a month for these things.
The Gloves, Boots, And gas are necessary.
Also, things I am not counting such as Extra food, Extra dishes and water I'm using, Extra detergent, Wear and tear on all of my clothes, Waterbottles, and other gear.
So as of right now (With the temporary bonus)
it's safe to say I make about 290 after tax, But before my time is factored in.
I make only 179 per week After I include the time I spend preparing, Driving and getting to my job.
179 x 4 = 716.00 per month.
Then I subtract the cost of items -74.06
Total per month: $641.94 / 144 hours a month= 4.45 AN HOUR!
WHAT THE HELL!
That's without the extra costs of food and such.
This Is Why People Are Struggling!
While I'm not sure if a higher minimum wage would fix things or not, There is something seriously wrong with this picture. Of course, if you work more hours and have full-time hours, You are getting more "bang for your buck."
People need to realize that having a job isn't the ONLY way of surviving. You can easily make 4.45 an hour metal detecting at parks. Or other ways easily. Or just writing on Steemit!
Everyone's amount is different, And I encourage you to do some of the math to determine how much your job is costing you in time and money.
You live one life, And if your hourly wage of 4.45 an hour isn't worth it for the job you are doing, You should evaluate what choices you are making.
There are so many beautiful opportunities out there, And like Gary Vee says "You can find another Bullshit job."
Is that wage, Worth the precious hour of your time, That you can never get back? Think about it!
Don't live to work unless it's something you LOVE doing. For me, I went back to my job for more than just the money. So I'm still in a good spot. And once I get sick of that 4 an hour wage, I can leave again.
This is why I urge you do to the math for your job and decide if it's worth it to you.
I wouldn't be surprised if more people consult themselves out to businesses to do the same job. They should have more education on how you can become an LLC and take tax write offs and allow employers to pay you higher hourly wages but not have to pay the benefits.
ahhh I love how you took a deeper dive and calculated time wasted. I feel like that's the biggest restraint for me when I work for someone else. I am always in need of more time, and we can never get it back. Great post! :)
Right? I swear jobs just eat your time away! Hehe. I'm glad a lot of us on here think similar. Everyone at work thinks I'm crazy! LOL
Nobody goes so detail about analyzing the effort put on for these hourly wages, that wasted time definitely kills our hourly wage. Amazing statistics!
Thank you :) I love looking into that. I hope that at some point they develop the technology to give super accurate numbers about stuff like that. It would be way interesting to see.
I never actually realized how much extra time we waste every single day in order to get to our job. 70% of Americans are not engaged at their jobs or downright just hate them, and this is why. Although it may not seem like it, many people are being really underpaid to work a job they aren't even passionate about.
That is why I would love to be self-employed and to be able to work from the comfort of my own home. Therefore, I won't be forced to waste hours getting to work. Steemit.com is the first step I am taking in trying to achieve this goal of mine.
Really enjoyed reading this post :D.
Would be greatly appreciated if you could provide any kind of feedback on my blogs, whenever you get a chance. It will encourage me to keep doing better and help me on my journey. Thanks!
Regards,
@inspirationalrag
Right? I think if people hate their job, They need to save their employers and themselves time. By quitting.
I love being self employed too! I hear you on that.
I hope Steemit helps become a huge part of your income sources hehe.
I also work at my own pace here on steemit too! Hurrah! Anyhow, I have friends who are Filipinos who work in USA, but they are TNTs (or tago ng tago). They overstayed in USA having student visas that are expired. They left their families here and decided to stay in New York instead.
trump is out to deport them, u see them pinoy on youbute crying when they got deported.
I say we deport all illegals.
Yes. I heard that from my other friends too who are working in New York but have legal papers. You just sound so harsh. Might a bit cool down =)
Im paying for them to be here.
Very good point ☝️ in the end it's not such a good trade off. I think it's very important to build side incomes. Steemit definitely can be one of them.
Money is the best leverage so the earlier we can find ways to make time work for us the better.
Also I think it's not always about how much you make but instead about how much you spend. Atleast to a big degree.
I come from Sweden where most salaries are quite good. But some people that get really good salaries still don't have anything saved up in the end of the month because they are spoiled and not thinking long term.
I agree so much! And Yes Steemit is a really good one! And it doesn't even have to be a "by the post" basis. If you include affiliate links and what not in your posts people may see it years from now, And you'll earn a little extra from it :)
I agree with the spending completely! I may not have much money, But the way I spend it makes it easier for me to survive. And I've noticed that with so many frugal people hehe.
WOW! Sweden sounds like the U.S. Sometimes people just live too far beyond their means. It's sad really.
I think definitely Sweden and US are very similar in this aspect !
Smart advice about the affiliate links ! A testimony to the fact that the only obstacle to making money these days is our imagination
Right? it's incredible. I feel so lucky to be alive at this time.
I'll have to see Sweden sometime. Other than that, I've always heard good things about your country hehe.
Sweden is not bad and I reccomend going there in Summer - it's very green.
Since it's not so big you can visit neighboring countries such as Norway and Finland which are very beautiful as well :)
Green? eeek! I love green. hehe. Those sound way beautiful I'll definitely be putting it on my travel list.
It is important though. Throughout most of her adult life, my wife has stayed home raising the children, taking care of the house, and me (no easy task), helping with the grandkids...it exhausts me listing all of the hard and often unrecognized and underappreciated work she has done. But, to my point. When she did work and you added up clothing, gas, lunches out, and putting us into the next highest tax bracket with her earnings, I think we lost money. She made good friends and felt she was contributing to the household, so it was definitely worth it. I think this happens when people find they can make more on welfare than working as well.
Wow! It's really sad thats the situation with your wife, I'm glad she was able to stay home. But at the same time, Not having that option without losing money, Is pretty ridiculous. And hopefully at some point we can get it changed. Especially as the government just keeps getting bigger, It's going to take more and more of our money.
I would love to see some sort of flat, Or No tax at all type of thing happening.
And the welfare situation is not good either. It's crazy how hard it can be to get on your feet, When so many factors are involved in taking our money. I'm glad Crypto is around, to hopefully address some of the issues.
Hay is real issue that you had talking about all the points that you had written here is true and job is not just earn money it's we put our time and money both for doing job and and we mainly spend our time for job but not getting any extra money and all the calculation that you had done here is really amazing . And its all that extra spend that is needed to do the job and it's really drain a lot of money fron our pocket. Hay it's good to see your post and really make sense to my life. I am going to do calculation for me...
Many people have jobs because of fear, not having that paycheck. It is all about security, which is fine, but need for security comes from insecurity. Society and specially school systems prepare students to have a JOB, but nobody teach us you when you are young, about financial education, how to leave healthy, how to deal whit loss, how to control your emotions...
I agree completely.
It's terrible that our educational systems are doing such a crappy job, And people have the false perception that jobs are "stable". Most employers can fire you any day. And it's important to have multiple sources of income.
I wish they taught us more of those subjects.
In the Philippines,we are paid in daily rate and it sucks even when you work in the govt. I worked in the government for quite some time but I stopped last June this year because it was so toxic. There is a law that states that you received a Christmas Bonus on December regardless if you left the office on the same year, but with a corresponding proportion. I asked our office about this and it says there is no bonus. SUCH A BUMMER. There is even a law for this.
What the heck, That is bizarre! I'm glad you left that toxic environment, It's never worth it if you don't like it.
True. Aside from the fact that people get underpaid, as someone who works as front liner, I usually get harassed by male clients regardless of the fact that I am a professional. Nurses here even receive small salary. In private hospital, they often get less than 200USD.
Aww no! Thats not good.
Especially in hospitals. You guys deserve better pay :( And no harassment!
Indeed. That is why a lot of nursed are underemployed. They opt to work as Call Center Agents in BPOs. Sad story. This what happens when the economy is bad and a lot of officials are very corrupt. It seems plunder is their favorite sport.
@kaylinart, have you read the 4 hour work week? It delves in to similar material, though it focuses more on optimizing your per hour output as much as possible.
He also stresses remote work as much as possible, delegating and automating when possible.