@Smokin Joe
Yeah, but where can I get a job? Lacking that, a Welfare check? Do they do direct deposit?
When I cut back to doing exploration wells, (I got burned out on the Bakken after 150 wells), the jobs were thinned out considerably, but the work is far more interesting. Scientifically, it is more meaningful, simply because what we are doing includes some pretty trick geochemistry, too.
Anyhow, the effect was to cut back to three or four wells a year, which meant the pay was less, overall.
I checked with other companies, but the day rates they were offering (for a 12 hour day away from home, often for the duration) were way too low.
So, in protest to the day rates offered by some companies, I got a job delivering pizzas. It actually pays the bills.
A kid with a car could consider such, and the turnover rate is fairly high. Still, part time jobs are out there, from retail to others, but jobs where people tip are the best because a bright outlook and competence tend to be rewarded directly. Hourly rates are not great, but the gratuities generally make those rates, calculated on an hourly basis, double.
Additionally, it has been an eye-opener to what millennials are going through, economically.
Some are dealing with the 'gee whiz' problem of having the latest gadgets, and that is expensive and a budget wrecker. Some have diverted their resources to alcohol or weed or both, and that unnecessary expense is hurting them. But one guy who came here from Serbia to work for 6 months worked two jobs at relatively low wages, spent little on tech or other luxuries, lived lean, and managed to put away over 30K in 6 months. He will go home to his wife and child, and use the money to buy land and start building a house.
For those willing to endure some "hardship" (older phone, less data plan, older computer, smaller apartment, used furniture, sobriety), it can be done. But if people are caught up in the use of credit to make it appear they are living large when they aren't making large, they are on the path to financial ruin.
It's a question of priorities, budgeting, and how lean someone is willing to live now so they can live better later.
