Industry: Oil and gas drilling
Age: 32
Location: Rural Colorado (I’m back home this week, but I work all over the world, including Wyoming, the Balkans, Romania, and the Gulf of Mexico in the past year.)
Salary: $40,000 (plus a variable bonus for every day worked, which was an additional $130,000 this year)
Net Worth: $505,000 (HYSA: $91,000 [I’m doing something with this, I swear. I really want an Airstream but probably need a house]; checking: $2,000; 401(k): $210,000; Roth IRA: $56,000; brokerage account: $98,000 [boo, market fluctuations — this was a lot higher]; value of truck: $48,000 if Kelley Blue Book can be trusted)
Debt: $0
Paycheck Amount (1x/month): $~10,000 (This can vary from $800 to $18,000 depending on the number of days and types of jobs I work, but it’s usually around $10,000.)
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,050 (I pay about half of the going rate in my area. My retired landlord is very choosy about renters. I was chosen because I’m drug tested regularly.)
Phone: $75 (I need to reduce this because I won’t be going overseas next year and don’t need an international plan.)
Gym: $45
The Wall Street Journal: $25 (I trade my parents for Netflix.)
Max: $35 (I trade friends for Hulu and Disney+.)
Amazon Prime: $15
Health Insurance: $0 (This is covered in full by my employer, along with dental and eye care. The flip side is that the healthcare providers in my area are out of network and don’t take my insurance.)
Supplemental Disability Insurance: $75
Semi-Annual Expenses
Truck Insurance: $650
Annual Expenses
United Club Infinite Credit Card Fee: $525
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
There wasn’t an option B to college. I went because I didn’t know what else to do. I grew up in Georgia, which has the Zell Miller Scholarship, and as long as you kept a pulse in high school and a 3.3 in college, tuition was 100% covered by it (I think it’s more stringent now.) I picked chemical engineering and realized I viscerally hated the actual job during my first internship. I couldn’t afford to change my major and extend my school time because Zell Miller only covered a certain number of credit hours. My parents wouldn’t co-sign for loans and cut me off from any financial support during my first semester. I wound up taking an internship in the oil field just because it was different. Ironically, in this field, most people don’t go to college, and higher education is rarely a job requirement. My boy, B, who I met at work, dropped out of high school and didn’t get his GED until he wanted a job that required it.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My parents were the first generation in their families who didn’t live in poverty, so our conversations were centered around making a lot of money and spending less than you have. They pushed a lot of seemingly high-earning career paths on me (orthodontics, the law, actuarial science, et cetera). I had no interest in any of it and got cut off as a result. As far as any financial knowledge at the higher level, they still have no idea, and I’ve had to fumble through bigger investments on my own. My siblings and I are currently in a battle to make them aware that the short-term rental bubble has burst and that they shouldn’t invest in it. They’re terrified of the prospect of me going to independent 1099 contract work (my goal) because they firmly believe I won’t have health insurance or retirement options.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was as an altar server when I was 13. I was the oldest altar server at my church, so I got asked to do all the weddings (I’d get a $20 tip for each one). My first job that paid taxes was at a local ice cream parlor during my senior year of high school. The parlor was one of three establishments in my upper-middle-class town that hired people under 18. I was hired because I had a 4.0 GPA and honors classes. I’m not kidding — these were the criteria for scooping ice cream.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Constantly, and for no reason. I’m the eldest daughter. My mom took time off from the workforce to go to night graduate school for most of my elementary school years, so there was a lot of budgeting, coupon clipping, and “You can’t do that; it’s too expensive.” My parents were living in an extremely affluent area, and, in retrospect, most of their money was going to keep them there. Additionally, they were very strict, and they used cost as an excuse to avoid conversations about why they didn’t want us to have certain things or participate in certain activities. In hindsight, we were extremely well-off. My parents were both working engineers, and we lived in a large house in a metropolitan suburb with a low crime rate. I have colleagues now who didn’t know where their next meal would come from in childhood. Many had stints of homelessness. One of my work friends was in such a transient situation as a child, he didn’t build memories until he was nearly 10. I had it really, really good.
Do you worry about money now?
Aside from concerns that I will never be able to buy a house (the median home price in my town is over $500,000), no. I bought a truck in cash earlier this year.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
At age 19. My parents cut me off due to lifestyle and educational choices. We’ve made our peace with each other now, but I still refuse to take their money. They were wrong and I’m successful in my own right. My financial safety net is of my own making. I can float for quite a while if something happens. I carry catastrophe insurance (long- and short-term disability), just in case.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
No. My grandparents have nothing, plus they are all thankfully still alive. I’m very fortunate.
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