Accepted a job and doubled my salary

[ganner]

@jollylight Congratulations OP, you're on the right track!

Something to consider: I am also a fellow used clothes buyer, but shopping at thrift stores has started to consume more time than the value in clothes it returns. Lots of times I won't find anything that looks nice or fits right and then I've burned a few hours and some gas hitting several thrift stores with no results.

I have gotten involved in a few community groups (building a network of people who know, respect, and value you is a GREAT investment of time and effort!) and between that and my side hustle the value of my free time has shot WAY up. It's gotten to the point where it's now 'cheaper' for me in opportunity cost to buy new or new-ish clothes (but buying smart: sales, amazon warehouse, sierra trading post, etsy/ebay, etc), I save less money on the purchase but burn less time searching, so it works out for me. YMMV, but wanted to throw out a lesson I learned.

 

[pinkflower89]

@jollylight Buying yourself better food and better clothes are completely reasonable and well deserved!! Clothes can, unfortunately, help you move even further in your career, and anything related to your health is worth it if you can afford it. Keep yourself healthy!

 

[el_help_me]

@jollylight Check out thread up. it's an online thrift store. They sell a lot of clothes and have stuff on clarence often. If you ever want to treat yourself to a designer brand, they have those to at a huge discount. They only sell women's and kids' clothing.

 

[qey]

@el_help_me Online stores making profits selling thrifted goods is one of the reasons why Goodwill has increased their prices. Not to forget that utilities and aspects of the supply chain have also increased in cost.

 

[pinkrose04]

@jollylight How is mint mobile? I’m considering switching but not fully committed yet

 

[jollylight]

@pinkrose04 I’ve had it for like four years. I haven’t had any problems, but the signal isn’t as good as it was when I was on Verizon. I don’t mind, it’s hella cheap!

 

[helpmelord]

@jollylight I’ve found that it’s becoming more laborious to find good stuff that fits right at a good price at thrift stores. So I buy most of my professional clothing at Target or on Amazon. Definitely up to you and your experience with local thrift stores but just wanted to share that I’ve found good success with like $20 for new slacks or $30 for professional dresses

 

[laurenalexylee]

@helpmelord I second Target for great quality for the price. In my opinion their pricing is similar to Old Navy, but the quality is much better.

Check out Target’s clothing sales for upcoming Black Friday or cyber Monday. I’ve seen 30-40% off before which is a massive discount for them.

 

[joint_praise]

@jollylight Are you happy with Mint?

 

[resjudicata]

@shawnab This!!!!! Don’t do it! Lifestyle creep is real. Please avoid. Including the following…. More fast food, steaming services, cloud services, upgraded internet, new phone service, new car lease or purchase…. It’s hard to reel those back after you’ve started them!

Edit. Those financing for a year things. Black Friday apply for credit things. Avoid. Just get addicted to watching your bank account grow!

 

[cjparadise3132]

@resjudicata Completely agree but "steaming" services had me laughing

 

[resjudicata]

@shawnab Really hope your talking other investment like CDs, bonds, and stocks cause you’ll be broke if you stick with a regular saving account

 

[karash]

@jollylight I agree. Stay in your current apartment and build yourself a nice nest egg. Having savings gives you power. Congratulations on your new job.

 

[cardinal2007]

@jollylight Congratulations!

 

[iggit32]

@jollylight That’s great congrats! Be careful of lifestyle inflation. Invest the extra cash into growing your skillset and becoming more of an asset so you can continue to increase your earning potential

 

[ladyswann]

@jollylight That's incredible! Fantastic job with being able to negotiate! I hope everything starts getting much better for you!

 

[bluiegurl33]

@jollylight Congrats! I really need to get off my stupid ass and start sending my resume around.

 

[jollylight]

@bluiegurl33 It's hard! Be gentle with yourself and play to your strengths!

 

[resjudicata]

@bluiegurl33 It took me 2 years after I graduated to land a job. It too doubled my salary and I love it but watching all my classmates land jobs while I couldn’t get anything was tough.

Interviews were brutal too.

I feel like I lucked out more than anything else. But this job was worth the wait.

 

[bluiegurl33]

@resjudicata I’ve been to as many interviews as jobs that I’ve held. The idea of chasing jobs by the dozens and maybe hundreds is positively nothing I ever want to do. And no, I am not young by any definition