What do you do for a living?

I'm an environmental regulation compliance consultant for small to mid-size industry. I waited too long to learn because I did not understand that you were actually flying in real live airplanes while you learned.

I'm not poor by any definition (and not rich by most) but a family, elderly parents, a mortgage and other hobbies/passions take a deep toll. What this means is flying is a part, but not the whole of my life.
It IS expensive but, there is never enough money or time for any passionate pursuit. So, if you can take one lesson a year DO IT. I wish I had. You don't know what tomorrow may bring so fly today if you can.
 
Dart said:
It IS expensive but, there is never enough money or time for any passionate pursuit. So, if you can take one lesson a year DO IT. I wish I had. You don't know what tomorrow may bring so fly today if you can.
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Absolutely! Live every day as if it were your last, but plan as though you will live forever. :)

Scott is right, too. Jobs pay bills. Enjoying your job sure helps, though...
 
Dart said:
AuntPeggy said:
We keep current with weekend flights with friends for lunch or dinner or sightseeing. Recently, we volunteered to fly animal rescue flights, but so far we haven't picked up any animals.
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WOOF! whimper, whimper, Woof! ;) :D
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:frog: I understand the animal:
  • Must receive a small amount of food and water at least one hour before flight
  • Must have been walked and allowed to relieve itself during the hour before flight and before boarding the plane
  • Must have a harness and leash on (for flight safety)
  • Must travel in a kennel during the flight
  • Can have a toy, food or something which the animal is familiar provided that there is room in the plane or kennel
 
smigaldi said:
What do I do for a living?

Well I fly, I play music, I scuba dive, I ride bikes, I travel.

But for money I have to do other stuff.

My job is NOT my life, it is not my 'living' and it is not how I define myself. My job is a means to provide the living that I want.

Don't fall into the trap that we are our jobs. Those jobs are only temporary anyways. Someday you will retire, if you were your job, your life after your job can be a sad lonely one.

My $.02
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This is wonderful advice. I'm a young pup, and I have a lot to learn, but I keep my ears (or in this case eyes) open, and I get great advice like this. I'm a very passive person, and this works against me a lot, too. But the other day, someone told me if you want something you have to REALLY want it. In other words, if I wanted to fly badly enough, I'd already be in the air. That's not to say I don't really wanna fly, but the point was it won't happen unless I get out and MAKE it happen.

My goal is to fly a Piper Cub (yellow) or an old-school Champ. I love the two-seaters that go low and slow, so LSA is really what I want. Flying will really be more of a therapy for me than a means of travel. A way to chill out and meet interesting people (like all y'all at the Gaston's Fly-In).

The bucket list idea is great too. I've come up with flying, learning how to take great photos, and traveling to or moving to Europe for a while. Its good to set your priorities cause we get so bogged down with everyday life that it goes out of focus if you don't keep reminding yourself occasionally. BTW, I have no kids and no other real engagements in life. I can pretty much be as selfish as I wanna be! :)
 
I'm a full time high school student (entering my senior year), flight operations intern at a scheduled and on-demand Part 135 (aircraft charter) operator about 45 minutes away from my house, and soon-to-be ground school instructor at the flight school I fly at. I've been flying all of my life with my dad and grandfather, but didn't get real serious about studying for my private until I was about 12. Flying has really driven me to become a much more focused, mature individual. My ultimate goal is to use flying professionally as an avenue to reach an executive management position. Even if I'm flying for 10 or 12 years before such a position, I'm going to have lots of fun flying and working towards it.

Basically all of my life savings from the age of six to present has gone towards my private certificate, so right now I'm working on saving money to get my high performance and complex endorsements, and training towards my commercial and instrument.
 
I retired from a municipal police department as a lieutenant two years ago and receive a pretty good pension. I am now a part time A&P, a rating I got when I was just out of high school. I got my private license about the same time. Early in my career, there were some lean times, and I quit flying for twenty-six years, while I raised a family and worked my way up the career ladder. When I retired, I picked it all up again, where I left off. Right now, I get an employee discount for working at the FBO, and figure that most of the money that I make there is expendable, if I decide to fly that much, which I don't right now. When I learned to fly, I was spending almost all the money that I could make on flying. Of course, I had no family responsibilities, or no responsibilities of any kind for that matter. My kids are all grown now, and my wife is the VP of an e-learning company, so that kind of frees up my income for other things. I'm kind of back to that no responsibilities thing again. One last thing, there are people who work at the FBO part time to take advantage of the discount, and to make extra money to fly. You might look into that if you have the time to spare.
 
Product manager for a laboratory equipment company.

Wife & I saved our pennies so we can enjoy the occasional nice thing (flying, nice vacations). We make our own lunches- that saves a ton of money. We also buy less house/car/etc than our credit rating allows. Each month we put something in savings, then in something with a better return.
 
I'm a pilot for a charter/management company so I guess I'm bucking the obvious trend here.

I'm glad I took flying lessons when I was young. It gave me a little bit of focus which I was greatly lacking at that age (19-20). I think most people thought it was a waste of money or just a phase, which it might have been, if I hadn't gradually decided somewhere along the way to make my living doing it. I think I have set the record for the slowest career progression for someone who has worked their whole adult life in airplanes but I have been lucky in that aviation has been generally good to me.
 
I work in Information Technology as a Linux (and whatever else) administrator / make it happen guy. I like what I do and it pays enough to live a comfortable lifestyle.

The world and economy are constantly changing and it is important to change with it. I doubt I'll be doing the same stuff 10 years from now and I'm perfectly happy with that. Learn where you are strong and take advantage of it. Always remember that you are capable of anything. If you go into something knowing you can do it--you'll end up with it done.

One must decide what life they want to live and choose a career that can provide it.. Do not accept a life that you don't enjoy. Don't be surprised if you fall on your ass from time to time--the important thing is to know how to get back up again.
 
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I married well too. I'm a stay-at-home-dad. Wifey is a very high-powered executive who doesn't look at the credit card statements. :D

Frankly, I wish I were one of Jason's brothers! Then I wouldn't have had to wait until I was 39 to get my license.
 
I'm a system admin for a regional insurance company. The pay's ok but the hours can be downright insane.

I didn't go very far toward my PPL when I first got interested (too) many years ago. When I decided to go for it again, I made sure I had funds available (but it will always take more than planned) and vacation time built up so that I could take at least two lessons per week as well as taking two
weeks off, three weeks apart, for lessons.

I also bought the Jeppeson books and studied for the written on my own. My instructor understood that. At the end of each lessons he would tell me what the next one would cover. At the start of the lesson, he would ask a few questions to make sure I had actually learned the material.

Not needing to pay for ground instruction leaves more for flight instruction.
 
I used to work as an engineer, then as a VB programmer, now as an FBO administrative person. I've discovered where my happy place is! I love working at the airport. If you're looking for any discounts, ask your local FBO what you can do for them...
 
I work in aircraft maintenance. I got my A&P 10 years ago and I enjoy what I do, it just dosnt pay much. I enjoy being around the planes everyday and working on them. With the current fuel prices I just barely afford to fly once in a while.
 
Frank Browne said:
I'm a Photoshop guy. No glamor, no groupies, and barely a paycheck.
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Hey Frank... have you ever considered doing some side work? I have a massive pile of scans that need sharpening and I really, really suck at it.

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
astanley said:
Hey Frank... have you ever considered doing some side work? I have a massive pile of scans that need sharpening and I really, really suck at it.

Cheers,

-Andrew
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As a matter of fact, I'm in the planning stage of starting a little side business doing pre-press work for some designers that want me to handle their corrections for them, and also doing some photo restoration work.
 
I've found that what allows me to afford to fly is not so much how much I earn, but how much I economize.

When I was earning my PP, I was a sporadically-employed carpenter. I'm still not sure how I ever finished, but renting a tiny room and eating a lot of rice and beans helped, along with never going out. :D

After getting my ticket, I eventually wised up and joined a flying club- a very sound investment in most cases. I was paying 1/2 of the normal rate for a 172 with that club, with very tolerable dues.
But I fell on harder financial times, and the club moved farther away.

I eventually had to lay off flying for almost 4 years, because I'd foolishly upgraded my lifestyle slightly in the hopes of earning more money. BIG mistake.

But after saving up for a while, I got back into it, and although my monthly income varies these days, as a lead field tech/site super for a high-end A.V. installer, I take home $45K-$55K a year. I'm not getting rich, but I can afford to fly a few times a month (when time and weather allow, which is rare lately).


BUT.

But:
-I have no wife or kids
-I have no mortgage
-I drive a 12-yr-old economy vehicle with almost 200K miles on it (go ahead and laugh-- it's paid for)
-I share a funky bohemian factory loft in not-so-lovely Newark, NJ with six other people (rent and utils is less than $750/month; about half what I'd pay for a decent one-bdrm flat anywhere in this area).
-I don't go out every weekend, and rarely eat out
-I own one suit and one pair of dress shoes
-I get my hair cut at a place where it's still less than $20 with tip
-Etc.

So now, I can afford to splurge a little on flying, and still set money aside for retirement... but not much else.

But I did do a few things wrong in the past, which is hobbling me now in terms of doing what I'd like to do next (buy a plane, upgrade my ratings, own a house with space for me to build a plane eventually).

Based on my errors, I'd advise you to:-Economize. Pare down. Tighten the belt. Budget luxuries first- but remember, if you love flying, that is not a luxury. ;)

-Establish good credit NOW. Be careful with it. Never owe more than, say, 20% of your limit, and pay it on time every month.

-Buy property instead of renting. Again, be sensible. If you're handy or know handy people who will work for beer and pizza, buy a fixer-upper. The idea here is to put housing money in your pocket (after loan interest), not the landlord's. All that money I've thrown away... aaieee!

If you must rent housing, don't rent a place where the rent is more than your weekly paycheck. That is the magic formula. Does this mean you will live in a sh*tbox? Probably. But if you can't cover your rent nut with one week's pay, you will never get anywhere, especially if you spend money on flying. That's been my experience, anyway.

-Buy a plane. If you dig Champs, etc. you are at an advantage... they're still low-priced on the average, and very cheap to operate and maintain. They're hard to find for solo rental nowadays, but they're out there... still, owning one makes the most sense. Stay away from museum-quality light taildraggers- for half the price you can get a good plane with sound fabric and a still-viable engine. Hangaring can be a money issue with old taildraggers, but I've seen and flown a few that live outdoors and they're doing fine. That decision is a matter of juggling fixed cost (hangar or tiedown) vs potential maintenance issues (having to recover the wings a year or so sooner due to UV damage) or depreciation (paint fades, etc, making it harder to sell without losing money)... it's a tough call, depending on the weather where you live and what you want out of ownership. But if you button your plane up well when parked and fly it regularly, it can fare reasonably well outside.There are good wing covers out there for ragwings, despite what the naysayers will tell you about chafing, etc.

-If you can't buy a plane, join a club. Some clubs are less affordable than FBOs/schools that rent, but the opposite is usually the case.
A club can also be a great place to do your training (and cheaper). I still haven't decided what I'm going to do next, but if I can't acquire a plane by the end of this year I will probably join a club. Renting has cost me a lot of money I didn't have to spend to stay current, have fun and go places.
 
I'm a private investigator, doing mostly criminal defense work, usually capital or non-capital murder defense. :)

I'll not laugh at anyone's car! I'm driving a '98 neon expresso with 180,000 miles on it! That car just earns me money, day after day after day... :) And I've been cutting my own hair for 14 years (didn't get a haircut for the 5 years before that, pretty much :D) - I figure that $30 electric clipper set has saved me $1250.00 over the years! :)
 
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etsisk said:
And I've been cutting my own hair for 14 years (didn't get a haircut for the 5 years before that, pretty much :D) - I figure that $30 electric clipper set has saved me $1250.00 over the years! :)
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Almost 10 years for me. $15-30 per cut x ?? cuts/year x 10 years adds up to a lot of AvGas! :yes:
 
I like Spike am an attorney with my own small firm. Finally decided I didn't want to be on my death bed saying I wish........ so I got my ppl, IR, HP and complex endorsments. If its been a good month and there is some left over from the mortgage, Expenses, Stuff for my first priority my daughter, yada yada then I fly. If not I talk about flying.
 
jesse said:
I work in Information Technology... SNIP... I doubt I'll be doing the same stuff 10 years from now ...SNIP....
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Said the same thing when I was your age Jesse. I'm still in IT and doing the same things as I was thirty years ago, only more so. Technology changes and it's still pretty good work. Until they can program and fix themselves, we'll always have a job. Then they'll still need someone to plug them in. I can do HARDWARE too!
You might have to start off at the bottom of the ladder a couple of times, but find something you like and something you can live with. Don't pay too close attention to the office politics unless it helps you move along. And watch your back. The person you stab is waiting for you.
 
AdamZ said:
Finally decided I didn't want to be on my death bed saying I wish........ so I got my ppl, IR, HP and complex endorsments.
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Shortly before he passed away my father told me that his biggest regret was not finishing up his training and getting his PPL.

That was one of the things that spurred me on.

After the funeral, Mom gave me his logbook. I was surprised to see how close he was to completing his training in the '50s.
 
etsisk said:
And I've been cutting my own hair for 14 years (didn't get a haircut for the 5 years before that, pretty much :D) - I figure that $30 electric clipper set has saved me $1250.00 over the years! :)
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I'm going on 2 years now that I've been cutting my own hair every 2-3 days (with Mr. Gillette :) ). One of the benefits of going bald is that it's easy to maintain! Not only have I saved a ton of money on haircuts, but I save on shampoo too!
 
I'm an IT guy for an energy company. I'm not as skilled as Jesse et al., but I'm one of the guys that deals with "I need XYZ installed.", "My Outlook isn't working!" or "This spyware & porn just popped up out of no where!" remotely for the company. The other half the time I'm hunting laptops and printers that no one's heard of for our annual inventory.

I've cut way back on my flying because of fiscal planning issues related to doubled gas cost from my initial life financial estimates. Never let your mom talk you out of buying a small car!!
 
I used my "Day Job" in the Human Resource field as a consultant to the computer industry to support all my flying, send son to college and get set to begin my current career in writing helping my wife with song writing/piblication and just having fun here on Tilghman Island. Who knows I might go to work as a Tonger on a Oyster Boat. I finally got out of my "Day Job" just 6 weeks ago and wow it is great and I might even get to fly more.

John J
 
Between my high-powered executive wife and my own high-powered avation magazine editorship (cough cough!), we fortunately don't have to worry about finding the money to pay for flying. However, with three kids finding the TIME is difficult and, furthermore, just because you have enough money to fly does not mean your spouse will want to spend it thusly. Therefore, the bulk of my flying seems to center on doing flight test reports on new airplanes, which ain't a whole lot of flying even if I take my airplane to/from the manufacturer.
 
Manager, Client Services which translates into sales... We're a managed hosting firm delivering software as a service.

I'm amongst the rest of the techies here, just not the one turning wrenches anymore.
 
I just retired from the Air Force (managed air traffic control and airfield operations) and am still trying to figure out what I want to do when I "grow up".

I'm currently living in the Portland, OR, area. On one hand, I'd like to put my experience to work; on the other hand, it would be interesting to do something totally new.
 
I'm just an A&P mechanic, since 1977. I grew up beside my father that was a corporate pilot, FBO, A&P mechanic. I have been self employed since 1998 when I started my shop in Kansas. There is no way I could go back to working for someone else. I can't stop now, this year I have 2 kids in boarding school and another at a seven sisters school. I think I need to keep working.

Kevin
 
older car, raggy clothes, long list of home improvements not getting done.
 
I am on the base leg of my career in the Fire Service. After 27 years and marrying a lady who loves to fly, we bought an old plane instead of a lake house. Just transfered from 24 hour shifts to 8 hour days/5 days a week. (Trying to figure out how people get things done at home on that schedule!) Pay is good enough now that we can afford it without cutting too much, but I do drive an old car.

Got the itch to fly 20+ years ago, but never did it until my wife "made" me go to Oshkosh, I got hooked came home and started training. (Three months into training my wife says "we need a four seat airplane", I am blessed!) Wish I would have done it years ago, maybe not spent so much on parties, Vegas etc. What I have found is you can afford what you really want, because you will do without that which is not needed. Go for it!
 
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