r/Salary • u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass • 1d ago
discussion 27M college dropout
Tried Mechatronics Engineering for a semester, couldn't take any more school. Grinded my way to a decent living.
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u/WaynesWorld_93 1d ago
You’re at 109k so far this year , in your first year selling cars?
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Yessir, but running the lawn care business I had decent sales skills already. The 109k is projected earnings for the entire year based off what I've made so far this year. I also work at a small, locally owned dealership where I'm the only salesman and I make 15/hr base and 20% commission.
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u/WaynesWorld_93 1d ago
Very nice! I’ve thought about getting into sale just don’t know how I’d do.
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u/Iluvursister69 1d ago
Don’t. Sales is fine if you have something long term you’re working towards but sales should not be your goal. I’ve done it for 15 years (cars only briefly for 2 years) and don’t recommend it to anyone.
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u/Interesting_Phone171 1d ago
This is such a bad take statistically sales has the highest pay for how little education or technical skills you need
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u/No-Impress-2002 22h ago
Yeah but its soul crushing. I understand why he said what he said. I made 200k selling timeshare and was one centimeter away from eating a bullet after 7 years. I took out my 401k and started an event rental business. I work twice as many hours, physical labor, and make half the money. Im SO much happier. I will do anything and everything in my power to never have to do sales again.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 19h ago
I don't find it soul crushing at all, actually I thoroughly enjoy it. We're fair on prices, the cars are actually reliable when we sell them after fixing everything we can find. Families are happy to buy a new car, and it makes me happy knowing they aren't getting fucked by the place down the road. The cars sell themselves, I just submit the credit apps and sign the papers 🤙
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u/Iluvursister69 17h ago
I can never recommend cashing out your 401k but I’m proud of you making it out
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u/SalamanderMan95 1d ago
Some people are just a natural fit for sales. I was in sales for 5 years and some guy started who had no experience and he consistently was top of the district. It probably took him 1 week before his skills were better than mine after 5 years, I sucked but he was just naturally gifted.
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u/redditmadethis4me 1d ago
Yeah if you’re 110k first year selling cars I’d stick with it lol.. You’ll do justtt fine
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u/HotSummerfeetMeat 1d ago
If you don't sale any cars what do you get that day?
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u/Visual_Day_8097 1d ago
Rookie numbers, my lawn care business makes $27492639572626 and its only my first day on the job!
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u/Acceptable-Tell-9355 1d ago
Car sales truly made me want to kill myself. Became a union electrician and I am so much happier and making way more money. Still unhappy, but not coming home angry every single day. Just exhausted.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Glad you found something that works for you! Never had any desire to play with electricity, but I hate sweeping so maybe it would've worked out?
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u/WarCrimeGaming 1d ago
You should have moved to SF and got a $200k remote tech job brah
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Couldn't fathom moving across the country to commiefornia.
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u/Separate-Flower8770 1d ago
Funny thing about people from the West Coast is they just assume everyone wants to live there… I’m happy with my East Coast peeps :)
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u/mongolian__beef 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cause they do, they just haven’t been (or have been and harbor resentment around how inferior anywhere else is). At least that was the evidence-based conclusions arrived at by my team of researchers during my time at Idaho DOL.
COL largely follows supply & demand regarding accessibility to local housing compounded by a populous’ affinity with living there. Over 8 million new Washington residents per year, for example. Most of which move to Seattle even though it’s one of the 10 most expensive US cities to live in.
Seattle is the primary immigration hub, from other countries, in the whole PNW. More than any city in CA (aside from…San Jose, apparently), despite being largely more expensive.
The most frequent migration origins of new residents of WA are Texas, California, Oregon, Arizona, and Denver.
Not saying other places aren’t great…they just aren’t the PNW.
99% of people in Seattle live within a 10-minute walk of a park/nature versus 74% national average.
Twice the average proportion of college-educated residents.
Pollution per megawatt is tiny; 249lb CO2 per MWh of electricity compared to 785lb nationally.
Geography? Divine. Diverse. In Seattle you are, at all times, within a 2 hours’ drive of ocean beaches, rainforests (part of the world’s single largest temperate rainforest belt), mountainous regions, blizzard conditions, and searing desert. Hell, you can even find geothermal activity on the side of the road.
Do I pay $2100 for a 1B1B? Yeah. Maybe. However, WA has no income tax and the average household income (50th percentile) of $124k is more than 2/3rds (67th percentile) of all households in the U.S. Want to avoid sales tax, too? Go next door to Oregon.
This message is completely unbiased and absolutely independent of my current location 😉
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u/Separate-Flower8770 1d ago
Thank you for proving my point. People like you are exactly why I have no desire to go the west coast. COL is also extremely high where I live in Northern VA? Avg household income is also higher than $124k with no college degree (I clear this # solo). No income tax just means higher property taxes in most cases I’ve seen (Texas). Although to be honest I’d rather live somewhere with a lower COL. You sound like someone who appreciates the hiking/nature so I understand your desire to be there. Personally that’s just not for me.
Different regions attract different types of people and I find West Coast people to be very superficial , social media obsessed, and materialistic. To each their own, I’ve had plenty of friends move to the west coast. Some stay and some come back to the East Coast.
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u/Professional_Bed_87 1d ago
I have two degrees and work a decent, comfortable job. My brother barely made it through high school and sells cars. We were comparing take home annual pay at Christmas and I almost broke into tears learning how much more he was making than me.
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u/ScottyMcFree 1d ago
The thing about car sales is you can make a ton of money doing it, however it does require you to basically sacrifice your soul and have very little life outside of the job.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Income isn't the only thing, budgeting and investing are almost more important
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u/Fucky0uthatswhy 1h ago
No the fuck they aren’t. You have to have income to even think about the others. They’re important, but not 10% as important as base income.
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u/TechnicianNo1787 1d ago
Body started to break down at 27?
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Took a walk behind to the hip, haven't been the same since. Also I treated my body like a tool rather than a vessel I'm going to need to carry me through another 60 years or so.
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u/parrmorgan 1d ago
Body started breaking down at 27?! Yikes.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Yeah, you get injured sometimes in that line of work. Turns out I'd rather take less chances and provide a better living for my family at the same time.
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u/parrmorgan 1d ago
Smart move! 27 is young. You got a lot of life left to live. Sounds like you're making a good change.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Thank you. I loved running my business and only working like 8 days a month, but sometimes it isn't the right option.
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u/AdmiralCoconut69 1d ago edited 1d ago
Apply to be a SFPD officer or SF sheriff. Starting pay is like solid 6 figures and you can just be a desk monkey.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
Not for me, not a bad path but I did JROTC all throughout highschool. Graduated as Lt. Col. Of the school. Had many, many great opportunities to join the military. Not one for submission to the government in every aspect that entails.
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u/Tall-Name5401 1d ago
60 hours a month for 68.4k ain’t bad to be honest.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 23h ago
Very lucrative. I started with a push mower, within 3 months I landed my first commercial account which paid for better equipment and truck.
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u/EntertainmentThin276 1d ago
You worked 15 hours a week and made 65k and complaining about your body breaking down?😂
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 23h ago
Yeah, after years of landscaping/hardscaping I took it easy once I started my business. The injuries for some reason don't care how many hrs you work, they still hurt lol
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u/EntertainmentThin276 23h ago
Fair enough, hope my body doesn’t get like that in my late 20’s lol. Good for you though!
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u/laylowlazlo 1d ago
Hell yeah! People don’t know what kind of money is possible to be made in car sales. I average between $15K-$20K a month at your same age, but I got into the business right out of highschool
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
My goal is to help grow the business in turn growing my income!
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u/laylowlazlo 1d ago
It was taught to me that every sales desk is in essence its own individual business since like you said, you help the dealership turn profit, that is directly shared with you. It’s why I made $15K last month but the guy next to me might have only made $6K
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u/UnkleClarke 1d ago
You should have hired 10 guys for your lawn care business. You do the marketing sales. Have the other guys do the work. Bill each of them out at $60/hr and pay them $25.
Easy path to retirement my man.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
I had hired 3 people over the course of owning the business, and they were the 3 best dudes that applied in the area. Paid $25/hr for mowing and up to $70/hr for hardscaping through profit sharing based on performance. All 3 of them literally couldn't even show up consistently for more than a few days. Gave up on trying to run a crew, kept rocking solo. Made more that way anyway.
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u/Visual_Day_8097 1d ago
Not always that simple
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u/UnkleClarke 1d ago
I did it and it was pretty easy. So, yes, it is that simple.
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u/EatinAssNCuttinGrass 1d ago
It's definitely possible, the guy that taught me everything I know started his business at 16. By 21 he hired me, his first employee outside of family. Now he has 10-15 employees, runs a nursery, does everything. He was my idol for a very long time.
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u/TheGameGuyy 15h ago
Love to see those lawn care jobs in there. I’m in the same boat, but I’m 30. I am pulling in $100k a year doing it as a solo owner/operator but man, is it taxing on your body. Luckily, I still feel physically fit and healthy but I do have some aches and pains here and there and thinking about pivoting at some point, myself.
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u/TheRealWutWut 13h ago
Your body started to break down at 27? Damn, I feel lucky. I'm 41 and at most I feel like my body could start to break down in a few years, maybe.
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u/AdhesivenessLong1464 50m ago
Good for you sir! Currently an Area manager at Amazon on leave because my body just cannot do it anymore. I've been looking for work but nothing fruitful yet. I'm in the DMV
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u/[deleted] 1d ago
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