Yes…and no.
I am definitely making more money. Not a LOT, but I have good insurance a 401K and a little bit of cash left over at the end of paying bills to support my hobbies. Four years ago, no insurance, no 401K, no disposable cash.
But… the incredible stress of this job sucks any joy for life out of me. I am mentally miserable. In many ways, I would make the trade back in a heartbeat.
By most measures, I’m much better off. Four years ago, I’d just finished my first year of law school. I was living off student loans and sharing a badly run-down house with other students. I’d never had a girlfriend, and was genuinely contemplating the possibility that no woman would ever want me.
Today, I’ve got much more debt (thanks to finishing law school), but I’m earning a comfortably middle-class income in a stable and low-stress government job. I had a relatively short-lived but interesting relationship that, if nothing else, convinced me that I’m not incurably unattractive to the fairer sex. And I live in a frankly fantastic apartment, a stone’s throw from the Metro station and one floor above some of my oldest friends. More than a few of my law school friend envy me right now.
But - as comfortable as my life is now, in some ways I was happier four years ago. I loved law school, and I thought I was on the road to a very different (and more exciting) job than what I have now. Being a sharp, active law student was a lot more fun than being a government drone.
I’m certainly more adult now than I was then - I no longer place regular calls to my parents to mooch money. That’s better. But I’m not always sure I’m actually better off now .
nm
As compared to four years ago, I: make substabtially more money, live in a better house in a better city and work at a better firm, have a family (v. just being married), and weigh about 50 pounds less.
Yes. Better lifestyle, better income, better everything.
OTOH, I’m 4 years older which is going the wrong direction. I’m not feeling older, but I can sorta hear that waterfall ahead in the distance.
That has nothing to do with the current administration or the government… it means that your withholding amounts are too high.
Oh, yeah, i forgot to mention that I’ve lost over 50 pounds in the last 2 years and I am really enjoying my fencing class.
I am better off, but I can’t attribute any of the improvements to the current administration.
Sorry, the post got messed up.
I was teaching in Cameroon. Since then I have taught in China and finished one year od a grad program with good professional prospects… Now I am doing research in South Africa. My last job payed good money for almost no work. I’m hoping to get a real job next year, which is doable. And I have enought teahcing experience that it is a back-uo for me (if worse comes to worse, I could teach abroad and save enough to get on my feet.)
So financially, it is hard to teel. I’m in debt from school, but that will hopefully have a positive career effect. I feel like I am in a better place career-wise, but I haven’t put that to the test. I have gained a lot of experience, learned some languages, made good connections and had a lot of fun. I gues time will tell if my masterful avoidance of the mainstream economy leaves me ahead or behind.
Money: 4 years ago I was making 33% less. However, I had sick/vac/holiday pay and a pretty cool job. Now I make more money, but am currently on a short-term assignment and may soon be making much less. I’ve got more debt, but am finally starting a very small nest egg.
Things: 4 years ago I had moved back in with my mom and was trying to pay off my debts as fast as I could so I could afford my own place again. Now I rent a nice condo and my mom lives 2 1/2 hours away. I drive a car that makes me happy, but gets worse gas mileage. I own a few more techie tools that make me squee.
Personal: 4 years ago I had just ended a very stupid “second chance” LDR where I gave someone a chance to disappoint me all over again. Now I’m very happily involved with someone who lives 1.1 miles from me. We celebrated 3 years in March. I was able to make some great new friends when I relocated here, and along with 2 other couples we call our best friends, I have a large circle of fellow Geeks who I can hang with for any social occasion.
Political: As a result of Obama running for president, I got to be part of a discussion group one night as part of an NPR news story. And soon after that aired, I went from 2 part-time jobs to one full time one (even if it wasn’t the one I’m working now).
I make more money than the average person who’s excited about Michelle Bachman, so I think we can all agree that all is right with the world. Of course, I’ve pretty much always made more money than that, but I don’t think that detracts from the theory.
4 years ago I was employed in a job that I hated with a misogynistic asshole of a boss but my commute was 5 mins and I was perfectly willing to leave work when the day was done so it wasn’t that bad. I was still having health issues however.
3 years ago I was laid off as a part of an outsourcing deal with a fairly generous package. This was however a clear signal that we couldn’t continue our spend as much as we make and a little more lifestyle.
2 years ago we figured out what was causing my health issues and I had the necessary surgery. I completed my PMP certification and continued my job hunting.
1 year ago I signed a 6 month contract (which was recently extended for the second time) at a company which I am happy with the majority of the time. During my 2 years of unemployment we managed to not increase our debt. In one year of contracting we have paid off almost all of our consumer debt. August is our last car payment, September we make the last payment on all non mortgage debt. The only downside to my job is the 90 min each way commute. Monday they announced a 200 person trial work from home project which would have me working from my basement office 4 days a week if I’m accepted. I responded to the request for interest in about 35 seconds and had in fact discussed my interest with my boss as soon as the rumours of the program started.
In summary we’re in a much better place than we were 4 years ago but it took a pretty big wakeup call to make that happen. I am hoping that things continue to improve and am doing all I can to make that happen.
Very slightly worse off. Investments are doing slightly better, but we had pay cuts at work and I no longer can get extra hours. Mr. Umlaut’s wages are frozen.
Our village has essentially quit maintaining the streets, and it was a hard winter. Fortunately, there had been stimulus $ and the main drags were in good shape.
Plus, I’m 4 years older, which is a real pain.
I’m currently making about 15k more than I was ten years ago, and my wife is making about 10k more. We’re down to two debts now- my truck (which gets paid off in three months), and her student loans (which will probably never get paid off, sigh).
We’re renting, but that turns out to have been a good thing- we had bought a house four years ago at the top of the market, so if we still had it we’d be seriously underwater.
The only thing I’m not happy about is that I really miss living where we were four years ago- we’re now all the way across the country.
Hasn’t changed all that much. I am in the same job. I making about 8% more now than I was then. I’ve been able to save about $10,000 since then.
A lot has changed both financially and in our lives, but I would guess we’re doing about the same as four years ago.
Thing is, I don’t make political decisions based upon how I, personally, have done. So how I’m doing is irrelevant to my decision on who I will be supporting.
Not sure what this has to do with anything. But FWIW I make over ten times the amount made by the average person who’s excited about Obama.
Four years ago I was making good money doing boring work for a company that makes an exciting product.
Now, I make a little more money doing exciting work for a company that makes a pretty mundane product.
In the time between, I had two years of unemployment that I used to stay home with my kids - both of which were born in the last 4 years.
My wife is now working part time from home making really good money and she is able to spend time with the kids.
The only downside is that we are renting a small place while we wait for our house to sell. So, I’d say I’m better off. Once our other house sells and we can get into something bigger, I’d say we are much better off.
In the last 4 years I have:
Driven up tons of unsecured debt in college, dropped out of college, been unemployed on my mom’s couch, stopped paying bills, found a job, filed bankruptcy, cut up my credit cards, got a raise, bought a car, moved out of my mom’s, took a pay cut, consolidated and started paying back my student loans, and am finally “caught up” with everything (financially) in my life. I’ve also learned **a lot **from a few failed relationships, had a little really good sex and a lot of really mediocre sex that was still better than nothing, and managed all of these life lessons without getting pregnant. Last week I applied for a capital one credit card, just to have on-hand for emergencies, and got approved for a $300 credit limit. yay!
I’d say I’m definitely better off than I was 4 years ago. I’m in a pretty good place now, but it would be better if I could find a cheaper place to live (because of the pay cut). That’s next on my cosmic to-do list.
His case for disability finally came to the end - despite spina bifida and loss of most of the use of his left hand the judges said he wasn’t disabled. One of them said that he could get a job as a cashier as, if he had difficulty sitting in place for more than an hour or two (as documented in the medical records) he could simply stand up for 8 hours while he worked. And that’s all I will say because anything more and I will blow my stack.
So, he’s unemployable, but will never get disability. We are trying to start a small business using his brains and my hands, but really, more than an hour or two and he’s exhausted. It’s crazy.
Meanwhile, I’m also doing construction work, and lawn care, and applying for part time work, and dealing with social services paperwork, and trying to keep up with all the damn rules for our state-sponsored medical insurance so we don’t get cut off (which, with his diabetes on top of everything else, would be an unmitigated disaster) and tying to keep my spirits up.
On the bright side - the garden is working out really nice this year, so I can spend my food stamp money on things like brown rice instead of the cheaper white, and some quality protein sources, and the sort of fresh fruit I can’t grow in the backyard.
Really, if I could just get enough money coming in to actually pay the bills I’d be happy, but I’m essentially working three jobs and still don’t have enough to live on.