Dumpster Diving (Tips and such)

[hey]

If your medical problems are that serious, and if you haven't already, you should look into disability and medicaid. I can't say I've heard of any regular joe blue collar retail job that pays for relocation either.

I've got excellent health insurance through my dad's job, and I'll never get disability.

[Kalmado]

I was referring to receiving income through disability. Meaning, if your physical condition is so severe you cannot work, you will receive disability through your state. Your insurance should have nothing to do with that, unless I am mistaken.

[hey]

I was referring to receiving income through disability.

Yeah, which i will never get. And it's not that i can't work, i just can't work most jobs that i currently have the skills to perform.

My insurance makes medicaid useless. I pay $5 for doctor visits, and $2 for prescriptions, most everything else is free.

[Meresgi]

Get into trucking, all you do is sit and make bank.

Every trucker I used to talk to hated the job, well not all of them but a good 90%. I used to eat at a local trucker diner whenever it was 2-3am and I was hungry and would always chat with all the drivers sitting around drinking coffee and eating.

Have you done it before? From what I have been told if you don't own your own rig you dont make as much.

[Kalmado]

I worked shipping/receiving for about five years and developed good relationships with some of the drivers. The general opinion was the same. They drive truck because they make a steady income with decent benefits to support their families. They don't think about liking the job but just push to make it through every day.

[AidenCarby]

Nah I don't truck personally, I have an uncle that makes a little over 125k a year trucking. Has his own truck though, I can ask him for details.

[AidenCarby]

I worked shipping/receiving for about five years and developed good relationships with some of the drivers. The general opinion was the same. They drive truck because they make a steady income with decent benefits to support their families. They don't think about liking the job but just push to make it through every day.

90% of the workforce though to be honest. 9/10 people don't like their jobs they just work because they have to.

[Kalmado]

After reading and posting in this thread today, I remembered I had wanted to get into being a paralegal about 7 years ago and never really followed up on it. Googling national average salary seems to indicate around $29k-$42k depending on location. A seasoned paralegal can make upwards of $80k and/or more if they are in a managerial position. I may look into this again.

[dejet]

Did someone post 500+ a month as being a lot for an apartment? Holy Crap its 1200 for anything at all on the island lol

[Aksannyi]

It's all perspective though. I pay twice as much here for an apartment as I did when I lived up in Pennsylvania fifteen years ago. What I pay now seems astronomical to me. I couldn't imagine paying $1200 for an apartment.

[Kalmado]

Did someone post 500+ a month as being a lot for an apartment? Holy Crap its 1200 for anything at all on the island lol

Overall, no I don't think it's a lot. It depends on your income and also all other aspects of life. For instance, while I lived in Sarasota it took me awhile to get a job and I finally landed one at the hospital for $10/hr. I do not have a college degree, certs, etc. The cheapest apartment not in the ghetto I could find was $525/m for a 550 sq. ft. studio in what I later found out was considered the "mexican ghetto" lol. After rent, utilities, and other bills I had next to nothing. I ended up going to 3rd shift for the shift differential to make more and then moved back to Michigan for cheaper cost of living.

My wife and I currently rent a 3 bedroom house for $575/m in a lower middle class neighborhood. Utilities are more expensive, but the cost of living is cheaper. We've been eyeballing a very nice house in a great part of town for $74k, but we cannot get a mortgage right now, which sucks.

[Kalmado]

It's all perspective though. I pay twice as much here for an apartment as I did when I lived up in Pennsylvania fifteen years ago. What I pay now seems astronomical to me. I couldn't imagine paying $1200 for an apartment.

Yeah my mother and stepfather live in a very nice apartment on Venice Island that they pay $675/m for I think. They've just grown tired I think of FL and my mother misses the hell out of myself and my sister here in Michigan. Also, with neither her or my stepfather having degrees or being skilled in anything, they don't know what to do regarding employment to get ahead. It's a hard conversation for me, as I can't tell my mother, "gee should've planned better!", but that's the truth really. I just try to make suggestions and do my best to make her feel good about where she lives, what they do, etc.

[AidenCarby]

Lol, back in Frisco they wanted 2200 for anything that wasn't a studio, studios were 1500ish.

[Kalmado]

Lol, back in Frisco they wanted 2200 for anything that wasn't a studio, studios were 1500ish.

Holy shit that's crazy! Besides Sarasota, FL the most expensive place I've lived is Farmington Hills, Mi which really isn't that expensive still. I know jobs do pay more in places like San Fran to make up for cost of living, but is it really enough to offset the costs?!

[AidenCarby]

Lol no, jobs really don't pay as much as people think. Most start at 9 an hour or something, thank god for education/parents leaving shit for me. I couldn't imagine having to deal with that stuff.

[Shadowhusky]

There's an interesting movie (on netflix) called 'Dive'. It's about living off dumpster diving and how much shit America throws away that's perfectly good.

[TheDangerousDave]

Come to think about it I've done something like this before actually, there's a huge chocolate factory in my town and they throw stuff out the back if they're slightly dented or over stock, also over stock Easter eggs in like December (no shit, 4 months before Easter even is) and I went there a couple of times when I was younger, good times!

[Demosthenes11]

it's telling that the only people in this thread defending dumpster diving as being cool and normal and nothing to do with income are the people that have no income

[Deader2818]

Cold zone being what? As in thawing out or just not in a fridge? Because you don't take meat and shit that has thawed out obviously, but during the winter time that shit stays very cold and you can snag a shit ton. Had it been winter a week ago I would have come home with around 35 pounds of burger/steak/fish, sadly it was too thawed out due to the heat.

Bacteria starts to grow and mulitpile between 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degees Celsius) and 141 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) Unless its freaking cold as hell out, you never want to take meat out of a dumpster. And this is for cold food and hot food.

[Roranora]

(truck driving is a bad example btw, not everyone can do that shit, hats-off)

The CDL comment isn't for trucking only, and it's just an example. Again, energy services / Bakken formation is HUGE (driving is minimal compared to trucking but yes, you need to know how to not leave your trailer in a ditch)

I know the job market can't hold everyone right now (did I imply that?), but I know damn well the job market has a lot of vacancies. And a lot of people talk like there are zero vacancies. Not true at all

A former co-worker with no degree (military then blue collar job) makes $36,000 per month, working 28 days on then 28 days off. He can live wherever he wants; just be up in the middle of nowhere North Dakota for your day 1. then go home and chill a month; repeat. 200k for 6months of hard work is not too shabby