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I live in a town of 1000 and commute 15 miles to a town of about 200 to work at a local lumber yard. I make $13 an hour, but with overtime my annual salary is quite a bit higher than that figure suggests. No benefits other than vacation and an employee discount (which is big with me). I'm healthy so a cheap high-deductible policy through the Marketplace suits my needs for health insurance; our state has a great CHIP program so I'm able to insure my daughter without taking on a second job. In the summer I help out at a local campground that caters to horseback campers, mostly I trade labor for free camping but occasionally they'll slip me a fifty if I do something above and beyond what's expected. I also fill in as accompanist at a church a few miles away when their pianist goes to Florida for a couple of months in the winter. It doesn't amount to much, just a little outside-the-budget fun money.
I grew up on the outskirts of a small town with a population of 1,600. I now live on the outskirts of a city with a population of 185,000 and growing rapidly.
Dad still lives in the small town and has always managed to do quite well. But he had to work at it.
Growing up he owned a small construction/renovation company that he and I were employed at. He became the only company in town when others couldn't compete with his costs. He is very good at woodworking so turned his hobby into cabinetmaking, further expanding his market. He is the only cabinetmaker around with up to a year's waiting list.
He used those business to be completely 100% debt free and then as age hit he has all but retired the construction business. But if he needs some extra cash he has no trouble picking up the small odd job here and there. He got on with a local funeral home part time and they paid for his college. He graduates next month at age 62 with a funeral director license. He will then shut down shop permanently and they are going to pay him roughly what he used to make in construction to work the funeral home. Hours are irregular, but the job is less physically demanding and since the cost of living is low and he has no debt he will be set.
It can take a little more drive to be successful there but it's doable. There are a few jobs available but they're limited. Dollar store, fast food, grocery store, Walmart, part stores, tractor stores, paper mill one town over, or drive to the city 85 miles away and work a job there. My uncle owns a lawncare service once he retired from truck driving so he does that all summer for the local bank's properties and in the winter he does odd jobs.
Find work you can do from home for which payment comes from outside your area.
I write books. People buy them online. I can work anywhere.
A guy in town writes screenplays for movies. Half of them sell for good money.
A friend works from home doing technical support for a software company. Work from home phone work pays from $11 to $50 an hour. This gal has tech skills and makes around $40 an hour.
Find work you can do from home for which payment comes from outside your area.
I write books. People buy them online. I can work anywhere.
A guy in town writes screenplays for movies. Half of them sell for good money.
A friend works from home doing technical support for a software company. Work from home phone work pays from $11 to $50 an hour. This gal has tech skills and makes around $40 an hour.
IMO, you never want to be in an area where your only opportunity is remote work. If something happens to that remote job, and anything can happen, you don't want to be economically marooned.
IMO, you never want to be in an area where your only opportunity is remote work. If something happens to that remote job, and anything can happen, you don't want to be economically marooned.
The internet here isn't very good. It can go out for up to 2-3 days though this winter, it's only been out 2x for less than 24 hrs. We decided to start growing some of our own food. The tiny store here is small and very expensive. Otherwise it's an hour drive to go shopping.
We've had chickens and a small garden before. It's so nice to go pick what you want to eat right then. Although our garden should've been larger...I always felt good getting in some amount of vegetables that day, even if it didn't seem like enough.
IMO, you never want to be in an area where your only opportunity is remote work. If something happens to that remote job, and anything can happen, you don't want to be economically marooned.
Maybe 10 years ago. Today most industries that have jobs that can be done from home have several companies that offer this option. I'd be much more concerned about moving to a rural community to be an officer at the only bank Or the superintendent of a school with declining enrollment.
Maybe 10 years ago. Today most industries that have jobs that can be done from home have several companies that offer this option. I'd be much more concerned about moving to a rural community to be an officer at the only bank Or the superintendent of a school with declining enrollment.
One thing you're forgetting. A lot of small towns don't have a good network infrastructure. Back home my dad gets a blazing 1 mb download speed on a good day and there aren't any options outside of satellite and it's expensive and extremely limited on how much you can use.
One thing you're forgetting. A lot of small towns don't have a good network infrastructure. Back home my dad gets a blazing 1 mb download speed on a good day and there aren't any options outside of satellite and it's expensive and extremely limited on how much you can use.
It's not always that simple in a small town.
We have seen speeds as high as a 'blazing' 2 mb download [on a good day].
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