Fellow Snowesters, I need life advice from you guys AGAIN PLEASE....

[J-Roc]

Mmmkkkaaaay, so here's my deal. I am currently a contract plant operator. Money is GREAT, but it's just not doing it for me in the job satisfaction department.

Before I went to college for Power Engineering, I was a bike/ sled/ quad tech, among other things. I did some automotive machining, and a bit of auto dealership work. Always LOVED it, but, got caught up in the typical Alberta oilfield lifestyle excitement and glamour.

The schedule I work now is 7 on, 7 off. SO, I found myself bored as heck on days off, and got a job as an Arctic Cat Tech at a local dealer on days off. I absolutely LOVE it there. As a matter of fact, i'm there waiting for them to open up, and the shop foreman has to shut off all the lights and lock doors for me to get the hint to leave. They seem happy with me, and the people there are absolutely TOP NOTCH. In short, there is almost nothing about this place I don't ENJOY.

On the other hand, i've become almost dependant on the money I make from my other job as an operator, as I now have bills that I likely would not have if I had stayed pulling wrenches. Among those is a mortgage (which I guess i'd have anyways), business loan (very small now, so likely not a major issue), and the truck loan, among others.

I know I can do without my truck if I get out of this, but with the way I bought it, I now owe quite a bit more than it's worth. Therein lies my issue.

Sorry about this looong boring novel, but you guys have saved my bacon before, so I guess i'm hoping you can do it again. I'm obviously pretty convinced as to which direction I want to go, so I think i'm just looking for pointers as to how to get there.

I have zero issue with starting from scratch again, if it means happiness in the end. Oh, and I need to keep my house.

Thanks guys! Do I get the award for the longest, most boring post on Snowest yet?

 

[Supplicate]

I was looking at taking an operator position myself, but the 7/7 schedule seemed like I would get bored as all hell as well.

My only real suggestion is too look at what the minimum money you need to make to get by per month is. If you can't reach that working at the dealership look at what you can cut out to get there.

 

[J-Roc]

Well, it's a given that my truck has to go, i'm just having an issue with HOW to do that. Prices on used diesels are LOOOOWWWWWWWWWW right now, with the dollars being on par, and fuel being so expensive, plus, all the new ones have massive rebates....


So, it seems i'm screwed...

 

[Gone Sleddin]

working at a Cat dealership would ensure job security

pretty hard to put a price on happiness.

 

[cmantle1]

JROC....

If you can make they payments on ur house/truck by working your operator job, then id keep doing it...do it until your got all things u need payed off, and if used diesel prices suck, then keep it if possible....

once ur all payed off, you can work a slower job (cat tech) and love what u do....


just my pennys!
good luck

 

[MARV1]

I know I wouldn't work at a job I didn't like even if it paid the bills. Your income will double at the dealership once you take it full-time.

 

[xrated]

tough call, I think if it was me I would keep doing both. View the plant gig as a job and way to pay the bills. Work at the shop more for fun, and use that money to pay bills quicker or to set aside for a nice little safety/fun account and be set in the future.

 

[rocketron]

Nothing to do with you problem, but, what's the market like up there for a 3rd class engineer (writing my second now)? (sorry for the hi-jack).

 

[J-Roc]

Hey, NO PROBLEM! You want a job? Come find one, man! If you're interested, I could get you a few contacts. I know it's CRAAAZY what they'll offer us in Ft. MacMoney, but, i'm not about that working away from home stuff.

Send me a PM if you'd like to.

 

[Dogmeat]

I'm in the same boat, albeit not as deep .... I owe more than my 4-wheeler is worth, I really don't like my 4-wheeler, and wouldn't mind having that money to put into something else.

Only thing I can think of to do is to talk to the bank and tell them you want to pay extra on the principle balance of the loan in order to have to pay less interest, because as soon as you can "break even" on it you're going to sell it.

I figure I gotta pay off an extra $1000 before I can sell this stupid quad and not still owe the bank that much ....

Usually if you owe more on something than it's worth, unless you can find a total sucker to buy it from you for that much, you're stuck eating the difference one way or another

 

[jimmy buffet]

J-roc

what i would do is both like some have stated. when bill get down to a reasonable amount, then decide what you want to do. work one or the other. also, always keep a savings of atleast six months of money for bills when you leave as $hit happens. and try to leave your other job as easy as possible, you may have to crawl back after a year or two when you need money. see if your current job will let you work less, maybe seasonal. not everyone loves thier job, infact 80% atleast dont. make sure you are sure its what you want to do. dont know if you have a family or if your single, or even have kids. single, i would do it. you only live once, married or have kids, i would stay to give them a better life. and always LEAVE WORK AT WORK. NEVER BRING IT HOME!!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

 

[Fosgate]

Why not pay off your bills. Save like a mofo while your working the dealership. Learn the ropes of the sales and wrenching etc. Maybe take a couple years to latch onto it. And then with the cash saved up either approach the owner for a partnership or open your own. Remember the grass is always greener.

 

[Sidehiller]

You may not be old enough to remember what it is like when there are no jobs available. I work some crappy, low paying jobs, sometimes 3 at once just to scrape by. I loved every one of those jobs because we could buy food. What I'm getting at is you should keep the high paying job while it's there and save every penny you can. Keep working at the cat house too, but I promise if you start working for less money the fun will soon go away.

 

[unionbaystroker]

id work both jobs if possible, make good money in oil industry, and get paid to work at sled shop which in your case almost seems like a hobby more than work!!!!!!best of both worlds.

 

[Ollie]

I wouldn't just jump.
That could and would prob. be a disaster.
One of the things that make the dealership so much fun is the fact you arn't going crazy trying to pay your bills. It would be a LOT less fun if you are trying to figure out how to keep the lights on.

I would keep working both jobs till you get your finances in order.
Throw everything you can at the truck till you get it paid off.
Find out how much you will make at the dealership and then figure out how much you have to spend on bills (be realistic).
You may need to sell your house and buy something smaller with a lower payment.

Bottom line, get your finances in order or you will find that you may like the job but can't live on the money.

 

[decarls]

grass is always greener on the other side. for most of us work sucks, period. however to pay the bills and have some hobbies and fun while we're not here it's necessary. as someone else said, if you single it's a different story cause it doesn't take a lot to make yourself happy but if there's others involved it seems like a no brainer. had a friend go through this about 2 years ago, thought he'd just go on his own with a coulpe kids and a wife. just went back to work for someone else cause he got sick of the collection agencies calling.

 

[EricW]

Dont just focus on the short term stuff like payments. Better think long and hard about the long term benefits with job #1 (Medical/dental, retirement, profit sharing, stock options, etc.) Not sure what all your employer at job #1 offers, but I bet its safe to say that it is way more in your retirements best interest than the Cat dealer.

Take it from a guy who is there, you will get old and require more maintenance. I am like a 94 Thundercat by todays standards, but hey, at least I have warranty. In the field your in, there's no where to go but up for your matching funds, and other company based investments. If you keep working where your at I think you have a lot of potential growth possibilities for your retirement funds. If you looked backwards 30 years from now you might crap your Depends just thinking about the fact that you jumped out a year or two before things really got good market wise.

Its really easy to get caught up in the "what am I making today, and how happy am I". There's a lot of POOR old folks out there eating cat food right now that probably wish they could get a do over into your current position.

Think carefully about the long haul. I would also be concerned about the future or motorized recreation when there are so many that hate us who are do a better job in general of winning the land fights/rights for the places we love to go. The current trend of more and more toy sales and popularity has to cross paths with the less and less places to ride some day and that intersection could really pull the rug out from under the toy business.

I hate to sound all doom & gloom, but if you base your plans on a worst case scenario, anything better than that will seem like a good day.

Good luck with your decisions. I think the fact that you are concerned with the issues and seeking advice from others is a strong indicator that you will find the direction that is best for you.

Stumbling through life as a 94 Thundercat in a world of M 1000's, Dragons, XP's, and Nytro's works too, just not as well. LOL. EW

 

[SnoKing]

I see by your profile you are 23.

I'm 67 so there is a big difference in the philosphies that I grewup with vs today.
#1 with the way the U.S. economy is going I would say being imployed in the oil industry offers better security than the recreation industry.
I never set my retirement goals until I was in my 40's and was actually making more money than I was spending. I decided I wanted 2 homes paid for by the time I was 65 and accomplished that at 55.
I always wanted to be in business for myself but I never found a business that afforded me more money and more free time than the jobs I had.
I thought that I would like to own a snomo dealership but I like to ride and found that I couldn't do both.
I'm currently retired and living comfortably doing what I please. No debts only expenses.
People that know me started pursuing me to do snomo and ATV wrenching. I did this till it started taking up to much of my recreational time. Seems like the majority of the time they need work is when I want to ride.
I provided an environment for my son to start his own business. He never really had to pay much for his facility or borrow much money. I taught him early (5 years old) to be a cash person (your money goes alot further that way) Now his business runs him and he has very little free time. But he is debt free and has enough money to do what he wants. He's 43
So much for my history.

My advise.
Hold on to the 7 on 7 off job.
Save as much as you can. (always pay yourself first)
Pay off your loans as fast as you can (especially before you spend)
Enjoy your wrenching job/hobby

Do the above in the order listed. As you grow older you can change the order but keep doing them all.
I guess the above is more than 2 cents worth.

 

[racingpit]

Jroc-

I love it when people come here for advice.....Snowest has very smart and caring people.

Please let me know this....Do you make good money at your plant operator job? Do you get benefits like 401k (almost said health insurance....but you live in Canada.. ...). The plant operator job will get you farther I would think. I assume your degree is a bachelors degree (4 years?). That piece of paper will also get your farther.

Keep in mind that you do get 7 days off! So you can still do both, and enjoy working at the dealership, while making good money at your other job (assuming you make good money at it).

SnoKing has great advice:
"Hold on to the 7 on 7 off job.
Save as much as you can. (always pay yourself first)
Pay off your loans as fast as you can (especially before you spend)
Enjoy your wrenching job/hobby"

I found that when I put money into my savings account of an investment account, I don't even really notice it is there. It is human nature to learn to work with what you have, so when you put money away into savings, you work with the other money you have in your account (for most people lol).

 

[AZ800]

You may not be old enough to remember what it is like when there are no jobs available. I work some crappy, low paying jobs, sometimes 3 at once just to scrape by. I loved every one of those jobs because we could buy food. What I'm getting at is you should keep the high paying job while it's there and save every penny you can. Keep working at the cat house too, but I promise if you start working for less money the fun will soon go away.

I'm not old enough to remember when there was no work for me, it's always been good since I started working in hi-school. I do remember my dad being laid off when I was a little kid. No fun, even when you're 6 or 7 yrs old and can't go to the movies, or out to eat, or get new clothes etc.

My ideal jobs, although I do not hate my current career, actually like it, would be to run a guide service, sled dealer, self empolyed residential contractor........
However, I have found that in my position, there is no way I could make more money in any of these other careers unless I happened to find $10million in the woods while being a guide. I have the money to comfortably support my family, nice house, all the toys, and still save for retirement (I'm 35).
Keep your operator job, as it is upwardly mobile, and it's not a dog ball job at all. Use your 7 days off to enjoy your hobbies or wrenching at the Cat shop, and save as much $$ as you can in the process. Always makes your job seem better when you can say "I'm making a living, paying for everything and saving money ontop of that."
And you're only 23, so you may find another vocation that pays well and you enjoy more. So don't just jump ship now with your finances the way they are.