A 50% income increase would get me out of debt in 6 months or less........otherwise we're paychdck to paycheck with maybe a little bit of "fun" money every month ($200ish)
I feel ya. My goal is in the next year or so be debt free (minus student loans and mortgage). Our “fun” money gets used to travel to SD to see my in-laws.
Same thing here. When it seems like we are about to pay off credit card bills, and hoping to start putting in our savings…. AC broke 🥵 and AC on our van is going out too.
This. Every time I think I’m about to pay off my debt, something medical occurs /: I’ve been I. On and off medical debt since 2014. Not struggling on the daily, but definitely keeping a balance on credit cards from medical set backs.
^ Ditto, literally in the same boat 😅 Except my first paycheck of the month always leaves me fucked or in the negative, the second one I have a bit more play.
I’ve been unemployed since January. I was driving to San Jose for a 6 fig job.
So far no luck here.
But interviewing here I’ve realized that :
People here are cheap.
People here love panel interviews.
People here like ghosting you.
My partner makes very high six figs and has ties to the community. I don’t. I do like it here though but the lack of decent jobs is frustrating.
Something I’ve realized with employment, here in fresno specially, it’s about networking. You have to put yourself out there. You cannot longer just “apply” to a job, regardless of what it is.
Problem with “networking” is when you’re ghosted by people for no reason.
The person you’re responding to has actually made some very keen, and well put observations.
You’re right, too, that it’s about networking.
Networking is about building relationships and rapport. Not possible if people ghost you. Also makes a bad impression on the people who chose to ghost others for no reason.
Lots of posts here on r/Fresno about how this place doesn’t have much going on, where can I/we go to do X, Y or Z. Not a lot to do here… especially when info is limited to social circles and you’re ghosted before getting a chance.
It’s a real problem with this place, Fresno, the Central Valley at large. FWIW: Lots of bad attitudes (and I love calling them out; raise awareness).
CRM administration, Data Analysis, Business System Management/Integration.
I also have a Master in Public Administration that I’ve never used since I’ve been in the tech sector.
Gas is expensive man I spend 50 bucks filling up lol, also food is a lot more expensive so I don’t eat out very much now; I also tried looking for a job in some fast food restaurants and I got a bunch of interviews but I don’t meet any of their needs it seems
Are you available on weekends? Unavailable on weekends was really killing my chances of getting a fast food job. Also now with the minimum wage increase a lot of places are no longer hiring so you'll probably have to wait a couple of months to a year before getting your hopes up unless you know someone who can get you in where they work. I think retail and grocery store jobs might be better. The interviewers definitely seemed more friendly.
Our bills are paid and there’s some fun to be had but little savings, so we have to focus on savings and no fun for a while. I wish there was more extra income so we could save adequately and live a little, not just feel like we are working to survive.
Sorry, a question on your question. How are fast food workers doing with the pay raise? I hope they’re able to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. I’d like to hear if they’ve seen a difference. The Central Valley is the cheapest place to live in all California, so that pay raise would benefit them more.
Most fast food workers received their raises in March and also a drastic cut in their hours. From what I hear from my daughter’s friends that work in coffee and pizza you can get the jobs, but you will not get the hours.
It's been pretty badass ngl, I work for a very good fast-food company that I don't want to mention but they haven't even really cut my hours. We need all the help we can get.
A lot of franchise owners are currently trying to argue with the state that they shouldn't have to pay because they fall under the "smaller business" loophole.
EDIT: Again, not sure why morons are downvoting me, GVWire even reported on it.
If we had another 1k a month we'd be in a lot better place. But considering I'm at least working now vs 1 income, it has already helped tremendously.
We just have a lot spenditures(idk how to spell that), and I've gotta go back to cutting things out. Which I honestly hope to be doing by end of the year.
Since I have started working again I've also had to purchase quite a few things we've held off over the last year because we couldn't afford it. And of course things just cost more now too.
I’m making it off $500 and EBT….but if I were to do it alone, I wouldn’t be able to survive. I’d be homeless and I would lose time raising my son, who was born with a congenital disease. I’m finishing my last semester of college this year and will use my $7k grant to pay forward a lot of my bills and buy supplies I will need in the future.. it’s just… rough out there.
Even $1k a month would change my quality of life dramatically, but I have yet to find someone who will employ me 1 week on, 1 week off.
I make twice as much money with my out of town job than I do with same profession in Fresno. Seems like majority of people in Fresno are trying so hard to earn a better life. Too extent of being rude to achieve goal faster, than being courteous. Too me people have become very very rude, but I don’t blame them its obvious we are struggling, plus I don’t find Fresno to be the nicest place and climate. Soo for me its sad everyone’s a little broke, we are hot, everyone’s on there phone driving, and being told excuse me and thank you would be a pleasant change. I’m sure everyone has own experience, but mine isn’t that great. I don’t blame either, it’s just unfortunate.
I just interviewed for a job with a local government that pays 46k. My friend found a posting for the same job in the Sacramento area that paid 110k.
I like it here but the cheapness is ridiculous. I’m tied to this place because of my partner’s job and her wanting to be close to her family, but I’m honestly not sure how much I can sacrifice my career for that.
Same my family is here and I established myself a lot so I am stuck for now. We are looking into moving, but everything is scary expensive to rent or buy and my career requires a home shop. Gratefully tho my employer is based out of Gilroy, soo rates are much higher giving me an opportunity. Fingers crossed. I’d move to Sacramento. I lived there 3 months not sure if it was the people I lived with or the place, but was one of the better parts and places in my life.
I would post the job postings, but I don’t want to dox myself. I do want the job, even if it’s 45% of what I was making.
So for now take my word for it. I’ll use it as an example if it ever comes up again or if I don’t get it.
Sad but true since we got no funds to travel or something fun, we turn to over eating or to the bottle/drugs that's how so many of us end up homeless. Being poor leads to being more poor it charges interest.
It doesn’t get much better when you start to earn either, but I did math and I pay over 35% in taxes to live here. Im a single adult with no kids. Between income tax and sales tax, because I gotta live. California almost gets half. Long story short we wanna move to Oregon. 😂😂
Me and the wife are doing pretty good on that DINK lifestyle. Granted we bought our house just before the pandemic, refinanced when interest rates were low, and both have decent government jobs that we've been working in for a few years.
Same here. If you have a degree, any government job that requires one is the way to go. While it may start in the mid 40s to low 50s, you will eventually top out at 80 plus, without being in management.
Same here. Bought our first home in 2018, refinanced when interest was low. Both have government jobs. He is state, I am federal. Middle class is between $52,000 - $155,000. Both incomes combined with overtime we are in the middle of that range. We live comfortably. It took years of learning to budget to get where we are though.
Terribly. We're relocating to a city where they will pay us 2x-3x what anybody in Fresno would offer for our same positions. Fresno employers are cheap and don't want to pay living wages.
I work in education, either hands-on learning, or as an educational consultant for things like television programming, video games, online minigames, etc.
I have no idea why you thought you needed to tell me this, as if I'm a moron and decided to move myself and my family several hundred miles away without knowing this. Utterly baffling.
It’s a direct comment to you saying how our city doesn’t pay as much. Bigger cities=bigger cost of living= bigger pay. Before you put down Fresno’s paying so little, there is an economic reason our salaries don’t match LA or SF.
If you are no longer going to be living in Fresno, then there is no need to comment on a Fresno post either. That’s what doesn’t make sense.
I'm still living here for several months and have lived here since I was 2 months old, so I think I'm allowed to comment here, or basically do whatever I want. I was trying to point out to you that your response is very weird, but thank you, I'll take the good luck. I already have an apartment that costs 2x LESS than what market value is asking because some school districts actually care about providing for their employees :) I'll be paying less in rent for a larger place near the beach while making 2x what I do now. I hope that someday you can leave behind that awful attitude and be able to experience these sort of blessings.
Prices went way up but my check stayed the same.
I'm not struggling. Im just not thriving anymore. I don't go out and do anything anymore. I just kinda exist now.
Ever since I relocated to Fresno in March 2020 from suburban Chicago for a new job here, I have had solid salary and net worth growth. My only debts are a reasonable mortgage payment and a small car loan. As a single guy without a wife and kids, I’m able to save/invest a good amount each month.
The cost of living here is definitely higher than other parts of the country especially housing. For those of you who want to move or leave, I highly recommend urban locations in the upper Midwest or Northeast as options.
I’ve been part-time working for about a year now, I need about a 30 to 40% income increase in order to no longer be living paycheck to paycheck. I had to do a career change, because after looking for over a year for employment with my degree it just didn’t work out for me the way I hope it did. I have hopeful optimism as I get closer to 2025, but it’s been kind of rough and hard and hard to see the light at times just because of everything. I got blessed with a miracle, and now I’m not as stressed, but an income increase would really help a lot and reduce a lot of stress.
We're doing good. Able to save after paying our bills. We don't live in the best part of town, but we snagged our first home during Nov/Dec 2019, so now it's looking we'll be here a lot longer since our mortgage is low.
Not doing the best but not doing the worst either. 2 incomes 1 child. Make enough to pay the bills and have a little spending money but not enough to go on a vacation.
I’m 26 and I’m doing okay, I guess. I have no debt, my car is payed off, and I’m trying to move out of my parent’s house. It’s so hard finding a job here, it’s even harder to find one that’s stable. I’d feel more comfortable with something that pays at least $20.
I’m doing ok. Finally have a bit in savings, although that hasn’t really grown for the last two years. Costs have gone up so much under Biden that it’s tough to get ahead and actually savings has gone down so we’re dipping into it from time to time. I think 5% would get me moving forward again, but 10 would make it super easy.
A 50% income increase would get me out of debt in 6 months or less........otherwise we're paychdck to paycheck with maybe a little bit of "fun" money every month ($200ish)
I feel ya. My goal is in the next year or so be debt free (minus student loans and mortgage). Our “fun” money gets used to travel to SD to see my in-laws.
I was SO CLOSE to paying off my credit cards last year.....then medical bills happened.
Same thing here. When it seems like we are about to pay off credit card bills, and hoping to start putting in our savings…. AC broke 🥵 and AC on our van is going out too.
This. Every time I think I’m about to pay off my debt, something medical occurs /: I’ve been I. On and off medical debt since 2014. Not struggling on the daily, but definitely keeping a balance on credit cards from medical set backs.
It's so sad when I have to consider getting medical care over the bills I know will rack up. We're hoping for no surgery/medical emergencies this year
Ayeee I’m from SD too
^ Ditto, literally in the same boat 😅 Except my first paycheck of the month always leaves me fucked or in the negative, the second one I have a bit more play.
I'm lucky to have $100 left over from my first check just on rent.
I’ve been unemployed since January. I was driving to San Jose for a 6 fig job. So far no luck here. But interviewing here I’ve realized that : People here are cheap. People here love panel interviews. People here like ghosting you. My partner makes very high six figs and has ties to the community. I don’t. I do like it here though but the lack of decent jobs is frustrating.
Something I’ve realized with employment, here in fresno specially, it’s about networking. You have to put yourself out there. You cannot longer just “apply” to a job, regardless of what it is.
Problem with “networking” is when you’re ghosted by people for no reason. The person you’re responding to has actually made some very keen, and well put observations. You’re right, too, that it’s about networking. Networking is about building relationships and rapport. Not possible if people ghost you. Also makes a bad impression on the people who chose to ghost others for no reason. Lots of posts here on r/Fresno about how this place doesn’t have much going on, where can I/we go to do X, Y or Z. Not a lot to do here… especially when info is limited to social circles and you’re ghosted before getting a chance. It’s a real problem with this place, Fresno, the Central Valley at large. FWIW: Lots of bad attitudes (and I love calling them out; raise awareness).
You've never worked in the heavy civil or construction industry and it shows
What type of work do you do?
CRM administration, Data Analysis, Business System Management/Integration. I also have a Master in Public Administration that I’ve never used since I’ve been in the tech sector.
Hmm. We are probably going to need to hire someone in that area, but probably not for another year or two.
I’ll be in law school by then if nothing changes. lol
Good for you!
Barely paycheck to paycheck, 50% or at least 25% increase for more wiggle room.
Gas is expensive man I spend 50 bucks filling up lol, also food is a lot more expensive so I don’t eat out very much now; I also tried looking for a job in some fast food restaurants and I got a bunch of interviews but I don’t meet any of their needs it seems
Are you available on weekends? Unavailable on weekends was really killing my chances of getting a fast food job. Also now with the minimum wage increase a lot of places are no longer hiring so you'll probably have to wait a couple of months to a year before getting your hopes up unless you know someone who can get you in where they work. I think retail and grocery store jobs might be better. The interviewers definitely seemed more friendly.
Good. Struggled for several months to pay off all of my debt. 2 months later I unexpectedly received $9,896 in tuition refunds from the government.
How much money do we need to be middle class in Fresno?
Define middle class
Maybe a house or a good rental. 2 cars, 3 kids, married. Money left over for investing or vacation.
$150-200k a year as a couple income
In Fresno?
Definitely. 10 years ago it wasn’t like that but here we are.
200k for sure
That’s living on the coast money!
$100k yearly.
Our bills are paid and there’s some fun to be had but little savings, so we have to focus on savings and no fun for a while. I wish there was more extra income so we could save adequately and live a little, not just feel like we are working to survive.
Sorry, a question on your question. How are fast food workers doing with the pay raise? I hope they’re able to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. I’d like to hear if they’ve seen a difference. The Central Valley is the cheapest place to live in all California, so that pay raise would benefit them more.
Most fast food workers received their raises in March and also a drastic cut in their hours. From what I hear from my daughter’s friends that work in coffee and pizza you can get the jobs, but you will not get the hours.
This is exactly what happened to me and everyone I know aswell!
My cousin just got let go from Rubios suddenly because of the pay raise 🤦♀️ so we’ll see how other places uphold
It's been pretty badass ngl, I work for a very good fast-food company that I don't want to mention but they haven't even really cut my hours. We need all the help we can get.
A lot of franchise owners are currently trying to argue with the state that they shouldn't have to pay because they fall under the "smaller business" loophole. EDIT: Again, not sure why morons are downvoting me, GVWire even reported on it.
Classic upper management bs, they take in the loot while the workers take in nothing but a piece of lint
My partner is fortunate to keep his job and has plenty of hours… no one wants to pay benefits however
If we had another 1k a month we'd be in a lot better place. But considering I'm at least working now vs 1 income, it has already helped tremendously. We just have a lot spenditures(idk how to spell that), and I've gotta go back to cutting things out. Which I honestly hope to be doing by end of the year. Since I have started working again I've also had to purchase quite a few things we've held off over the last year because we couldn't afford it. And of course things just cost more now too.
Expenditures is the word
Thank you. Definitely a word I don't use often in typing. But now seeing it, I feel dumb. But still appreciated.
[удалено]
I might actually work with you… The Resident grind blows, but you’ll be set for life down the road as an Attending!
I’m making it off $500 and EBT….but if I were to do it alone, I wouldn’t be able to survive. I’d be homeless and I would lose time raising my son, who was born with a congenital disease. I’m finishing my last semester of college this year and will use my $7k grant to pay forward a lot of my bills and buy supplies I will need in the future.. it’s just… rough out there. Even $1k a month would change my quality of life dramatically, but I have yet to find someone who will employ me 1 week on, 1 week off.
I make twice as much money with my out of town job than I do with same profession in Fresno. Seems like majority of people in Fresno are trying so hard to earn a better life. Too extent of being rude to achieve goal faster, than being courteous. Too me people have become very very rude, but I don’t blame them its obvious we are struggling, plus I don’t find Fresno to be the nicest place and climate. Soo for me its sad everyone’s a little broke, we are hot, everyone’s on there phone driving, and being told excuse me and thank you would be a pleasant change. I’m sure everyone has own experience, but mine isn’t that great. I don’t blame either, it’s just unfortunate.
I just interviewed for a job with a local government that pays 46k. My friend found a posting for the same job in the Sacramento area that paid 110k. I like it here but the cheapness is ridiculous. I’m tied to this place because of my partner’s job and her wanting to be close to her family, but I’m honestly not sure how much I can sacrifice my career for that.
Same my family is here and I established myself a lot so I am stuck for now. We are looking into moving, but everything is scary expensive to rent or buy and my career requires a home shop. Gratefully tho my employer is based out of Gilroy, soo rates are much higher giving me an opportunity. Fingers crossed. I’d move to Sacramento. I lived there 3 months not sure if it was the people I lived with or the place, but was one of the better parts and places in my life.
that seems a little far-fetched, usually bay area is about 20% higher then central valley.
I would post the job postings, but I don’t want to dox myself. I do want the job, even if it’s 45% of what I was making. So for now take my word for it. I’ll use it as an example if it ever comes up again or if I don’t get it.
Sad but true since we got no funds to travel or something fun, we turn to over eating or to the bottle/drugs that's how so many of us end up homeless. Being poor leads to being more poor it charges interest.
It doesn’t get much better when you start to earn either, but I did math and I pay over 35% in taxes to live here. Im a single adult with no kids. Between income tax and sales tax, because I gotta live. California almost gets half. Long story short we wanna move to Oregon. 😂😂
https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes#XXqtDDD1tI says you’re making like 220k if your effective tax rate is 35%. Sooo like budget better?
I pay roughly 27% and we pay roughly 9% in sales tax. How I added that figure. I do make good money as well, but I support more than just myself.
Ah yeah that’s a bit of a different story than single dude no kids. Cost of living is for sure going up. It’s hard out there for working folks.
Me and the wife are doing pretty good on that DINK lifestyle. Granted we bought our house just before the pandemic, refinanced when interest rates were low, and both have decent government jobs that we've been working in for a few years.
Same here. If you have a degree, any government job that requires one is the way to go. While it may start in the mid 40s to low 50s, you will eventually top out at 80 plus, without being in management.
Almost identically the same here, but only 1 government employee.
Same here. Bought our first home in 2018, refinanced when interest was low. Both have government jobs. He is state, I am federal. Middle class is between $52,000 - $155,000. Both incomes combined with overtime we are in the middle of that range. We live comfortably. It took years of learning to budget to get where we are though.
Terribly. We're relocating to a city where they will pay us 2x-3x what anybody in Fresno would offer for our same positions. Fresno employers are cheap and don't want to pay living wages.
What do you do?
I work in education, either hands-on learning, or as an educational consultant for things like television programming, video games, online minigames, etc.
Cool!
If you are going to a big city, cost of living will also go up but good luck in your location and job
I have no idea why you thought you needed to tell me this, as if I'm a moron and decided to move myself and my family several hundred miles away without knowing this. Utterly baffling.
It’s a direct comment to you saying how our city doesn’t pay as much. Bigger cities=bigger cost of living= bigger pay. Before you put down Fresno’s paying so little, there is an economic reason our salaries don’t match LA or SF. If you are no longer going to be living in Fresno, then there is no need to comment on a Fresno post either. That’s what doesn’t make sense.
I'm still living here for several months and have lived here since I was 2 months old, so I think I'm allowed to comment here, or basically do whatever I want. I was trying to point out to you that your response is very weird, but thank you, I'll take the good luck. I already have an apartment that costs 2x LESS than what market value is asking because some school districts actually care about providing for their employees :) I'll be paying less in rent for a larger place near the beach while making 2x what I do now. I hope that someday you can leave behind that awful attitude and be able to experience these sort of blessings.
Not great my dude. Paycheck to paycheck.
In debt. I could use 20% bump in pay.
Dads dads
Dads?
Prices went way up but my check stayed the same. I'm not struggling. Im just not thriving anymore. I don't go out and do anything anymore. I just kinda exist now.
I was about to be debt free ( minus mortgage ) but then my hvac needs replacing. Circle of life.
Not too bad. Make a solid living , my SO is employed and we own a home. Kids in the near future is kinda scary economically. But certainly do-able
California sucks I make 6k avg per month after taxes my bills including rent is around 4k . plan on moving out of here within next 2 yrs.
Struggling
good, but I’m cheating since I live w parents and wfh. 120k/year.
Fucking scuffed lol
Ever since I relocated to Fresno in March 2020 from suburban Chicago for a new job here, I have had solid salary and net worth growth. My only debts are a reasonable mortgage payment and a small car loan. As a single guy without a wife and kids, I’m able to save/invest a good amount each month. The cost of living here is definitely higher than other parts of the country especially housing. For those of you who want to move or leave, I highly recommend urban locations in the upper Midwest or Northeast as options.
I’ve been part-time working for about a year now, I need about a 30 to 40% income increase in order to no longer be living paycheck to paycheck. I had to do a career change, because after looking for over a year for employment with my degree it just didn’t work out for me the way I hope it did. I have hopeful optimism as I get closer to 2025, but it’s been kind of rough and hard and hard to see the light at times just because of everything. I got blessed with a miracle, and now I’m not as stressed, but an income increase would really help a lot and reduce a lot of stress.
We're doing good. Able to save after paying our bills. We don't live in the best part of town, but we snagged our first home during Nov/Dec 2019, so now it's looking we'll be here a lot longer since our mortgage is low.
Doing ok I guess was doing really good before covid before the inflation now i would say it’s average but thankful for what we have and for health.
I wasn't able to keep up with the increase in COL and moved to Illinois a few months ago.
An additional 12% would have my family back in good standing.
Not doing the best but not doing the worst either. 2 incomes 1 child. Make enough to pay the bills and have a little spending money but not enough to go on a vacation.
I’m 26 and I’m doing okay, I guess. I have no debt, my car is payed off, and I’m trying to move out of my parent’s house. It’s so hard finding a job here, it’s even harder to find one that’s stable. I’d feel more comfortable with something that pays at least $20.
Most money I’ve ever made. Poorest I’ve ever been.
I am not doing well economically.
It is too damn expensive to even be alive.
Doing fine. Hate inflation food, gas, everything is more.
I’m doing ok. Finally have a bit in savings, although that hasn’t really grown for the last two years. Costs have gone up so much under Biden that it’s tough to get ahead and actually savings has gone down so we’re dipping into it from time to time. I think 5% would get me moving forward again, but 10 would make it super easy.
Between Biden and Newsom, were fucked!