How to get buy as a broke CFI!

RPM

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, if your financial situation is as bad as mine -$8, 000 to 10,000 a year being a pro snowboarder,and you plan on going through flight school then instructing, you can enroll in college online while flight instructing and apply for grants! Im enrolled at UVSC online and get appx. 5-6K a year in grants, free-money ya don't have to pay back, minus 3K for tuition/books still leaves some extra cash to help out with the low instructor pay!!
12K a year instructing will be a sweet raise for me over 8K, you guys just need to learn how to live cheap, I live with a bunch of friends, pay hardly any rent, drive a 68' Bronco thats paid for and insurance is dirt cheap $95 a year for full coverage, DON'T have a wife to go out and spend all my cash while im gone, thank god, and i'd have to say i have a pretty damn good time on my terrible pay.

VERY IMPORTANT- Learn to drink cheap beer!!! and drink before you go to the bars, you will save sooo much cash!! and theirs always some crazy drunk people buyin drinks for all, just hang out around them and you'll have no problem savin the little cash you got. Also me and my buds just pool the little cash we have together and buy food in BULK at SAMs Club!! You can save a huge amount of money this way!

Some people are always offering to pay cash for you to do somthing stupid, for example: Hey man, i'll give you $20 if you jump of that roof on your bicycle, or i bet you $50 bucks you wont eat that crazy lookin bug! Prove em wrong and take their cash! Money is money and you gotta take what you can get when your broke! Your also providing valubale entertainment for all, hell look at the show Jackass thats how all those guys started out and their loaded now!

I guess if you've got a bunch of student loans to pay back you might have to defer em for a while, you can do this if your income is that bad, I know my buddy has been deferring his federal loans for a couple years. Why do you guys spend sooo much on college, you must be crazy.
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I see guys on this site that have like 60-80K in student loans, obviously the expensive education isn't helping that much because you'd be smart enough to go to a state school and save a ton of cash! My 3 years at USU has only cost me 9 grand so far, and after grants i've made money going to college.

Very few occupations have employers that care what college you went to, and aviation careers aren't one of them. A big name college degree isn't gonna mean squat to the airlines, they just want you to have one, they don't care how much money you spent. So why waste your money on some big name school, unless you just like throwing away money!
Some of you think that the education quality is better at a big name school, well just keep telling yourself that I guess, and have fun with those huge loan payments.

Just some advice from an extremely low paid snowboarder who gets by, hope to see some of ya at ATP soon!
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Oh yea, if your married, ha, ha, - just tell your wife to get a job or your gonna kick her to the curb, and be sure to DUCK when she tries t slap ya!!!
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Yeah, OK. Thats a pretty long post just to tell us that you're a pro snowboarder. Which, I estimate, will probably impress two, maybe three people- provided they even believe you.
 
Have to agree with ESF here. Only I'm not sure even 2 or 3 people are going to be impressed. And I don't think the advice prospective (or current) students are looking for here is to eat bugs and/or jump off roofs to supplement income.

BTW, did it need to be in two separate threads?
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Sorry guys. not tryin to impress anyone just sayin it can be done without all the huge loans. take it however ya want.
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Oh yea, and I could care less if anyone believes me or not, whatever man.
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DON'T have a wife to go out and spend all my cash while im gone

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Oh yea, if your married, ha, ha, - just tell your wife to get a job or your gonna kick her to the curb, and be sure to DUCK when she tries t slap ya!!!

[/ QUOTE ] Um, you BETTER be ducking cause I got a mind to whop you for saying that!

My husband is in UVSC online (in fact his is taking his CFI test right now) but we haven't applied for any grants. How does it work?
 
Ok, there was like one sentance about being a snowboarder so I am not sure why you came to THAT conclusion.

It would be neat if everyone could pitch in with ideas of what they do to cut costs because a lot of people here need to save money. Some one might have an idea that hasn't been thought of yet.
 
$8-10k/yr hardly equates to being a pro anything.

But cool for you that you're good enough to get sponsored.
 
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Ok, there was like one sentance about being a snowboarder so I am not sure why you came to THAT conclusion.

It would be neat if everyone could pitch in with ideas of what they do to cut costs because a lot of people here need to save money. Some one might have an idea that hasn't been thought of yet.

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Yeah, I know a lot of people here need to save money. Not everyone can eat from the silver spoon. I'm going to pick up my food stamps this afternoon.

But I don't need someone who hasn't even come close to
"been there, done that" telling me how to live. Cheap beer? Sure, thats good advice (I'm taking out my empty bottles of Natural Ice in a few minutes
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), but taking bets and eating bugs? Yeah, whatever.

Sorry if I get a little cranky when my sole source of income is flying stupid airplanes, and I haven't even seen one in over a week.

Now if you'll excuse me, its off to plead with the utilities to keep my gas on so I don't freeze to death chowing on Ramen. Merry #$@#$ing Christmas.
 
I'm sorry you are having a hard time ESF.
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It will all pay off someday!

No beer at all would save more then cheap beer
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And I wouldn't eat bugs for money.
 
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[/ QUOTE ] My husband is in UVSC online (in fact his is taking his CFI test right now) but we haven't applied for any grants. How does it work?

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You just have to fill out the FAFSA fed aid info online and have it sent to UVSC, Its best if you send it in early if you want all the grants, and loans available. The max Pell Grant is I think $4,000 a year and FSEOG is about the same. I qualified for just about the max amount since my income is so low $3,800 PELL and 1,500 FSEOG, and they just send you a check, half at the first of the semester and the rest about half way through. Almost everyone I know that has applied for grants has gotten something it may not be much but even if ya can get $500 bucks it helps, because ya don't have to pay it back.
Oh yea, it also depends on how many credits your taking, have your husband call the Financial Aid advisor, they should be able to help 1-877-336-8872

You can still apply even if the semster is already started.

I knew id probably hear it for that wife comment, i was just kidding, givin people a hard time!
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Well then say your sorry and I'll forgive you!
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Thanks for the grant info. We'll have to check that out.
 
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$8-10k/yr hardly equates to being a pro anything.

But cool for you that you're good enough to get sponsored.

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Thanks Aloft, I'll be the first to admit that i'm not the best boarder in the world, and certainly don't make the big bucks, but I get paid a little to do what I love and thats all that matters
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Hopefully someday I can fly for a living too, certainly not for the money, just because I enjoy it!
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Also, I wasn't recomending that anyone rides a bike of a roof, I was just kinda joking there, although i have done some stupid things in my past, I would never act crazy in an airline with passengers!
 
RPM - welcome to the board (maybe a bit belated as I see you have a few posts).

Can't say that I know diddly squat about snowboarding, but my wife and I have learned a thing or two about "getting by":

1. Go without things that are not "NEEDS" and/or luxuries - like cable television, going out to eat a lot, etc.

2. live within your means = don't buy a brand new car when you can't afford the payment and insurance. Drive whatever you have - pay it off and keep it until the wheels fall off... then put new wheels on it and drive it some more.

3. It takes TWO! Meaning - it takes both partners working towards a common goal. The goal here is to stay out of bankruptcy.

For me, it meant not quitting my job as a Paralegal to go to one of the fast-track pilot mills. I'm doing ALL of my training at the local FBO after work. Sure, it's taking me longer than those academy guys, but I can tell you that some of the same folks who started at an academy the same time I started at the FBO STILL do not have an aviation-related job outside of line guy.

4. COUPONS! Use them. `nuff said there.

5. The Dollar Store. You can buy a CRAPLOAD Of name-brand household stuff there that you would usually pay three to four times as much at your local grocer.

6. Put money in the bank because when you start instructing - there will be rainy days... both figuratively and literally (so I've seen).

Just my $0.04

R2F
 
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Well then say your sorry and I'll forgive you!
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sorry michelle!
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Thanks for the grant info. We'll have to check that out.

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If ya have any more questions about financial aid at UVSC just ask because i HAVE been there and done that.
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Hey ESF, You ever thought about doing something besides Flying Stupid Airplanes?

Doing something else that would maybe keep ur GAS on and put food on the table until u did have enogh money to FLY?
 
Alright, Michelle . . . you asked, so everyone is going to have to suffer through my lecture here.

My wife and I live on very little expenditure and are completely happy and have a lot of really cool stuff to boot. Our secret? About 5 years ago, we sat down and figured out exactly how much we actually made per hour. That means your weekly wage/salary MINUS taxes, gas to get there, clothes or supplies for work, the money you spend eating lunch out instead of making a healthy, cheap lunch to bring with you, etc. Anything that costs you money related to work is taken out of your wage for the week. Then take your weekly hours - including time at work, your lunch hour, time spent commuting, time spent sitting around in the evening while recovering from your hectic work day, even time spent shaving if you wouldn't normally shave - and divide the wage by the hours. Shocked yet?

That $14/hr CFI job (or in my case, a $20-odd/hr photo job) is really paying you about $4 or $5 after it's all said and done (it was about $8 or $9 for me). That's the first step . . .

Next step is the hardest. You have to keep track of every penny you spend or earn. Find a dime on the sidewalk? Pick it up and write it down! It takes a lot of commitment, but is worth it in the end.

At the end of the month, take the expenditure/income sheet and categorize the items. Food at home, eating out, videos, movies, entertainment, rent, insurance, gas, snacks, work, etc. Now take your category totals and divide by your true hourly wage. You took your sig. other to the movies three times? That's $21 for two tickets and popcorn times three for the month = $63. Is that worth 12.6 hours of your working time?

We quit looking at things as costing us money and started looking at them as costing us life energy. Every $8 was an hour of my time. Sure makes a $12 pizza look like it costs a bit more, doesn't it? I was eating a takeout lunch everyday that cost me more than an hour to pay for. Why not just bring a lunch that costs me 20 minutes and go home an hour early? I get the same end product but have an extra hour to ski, talk to my wife, throw a boomerang, brush my dogs . . . or fly!

We got rid of cable, our new cars, and loads of other things that didn't give us satisfaction in proportion to the hours needed to have them. We also found that we didn't miss them because we had more free time and less work frustration so we didn't need to sit in front of the TV for 2 hours a night to decompress! But, we now have money stacking up in the bank from all of the money we saved on things we didn't need. That let us buy really satisfying things that we use and love ($3000 road and mountain bikes, kayaks, skis, books, musical instruments) and STILL have excess to put into savings and investments.

Now we're on our way to meeting our monthly expense NEEDS (rent, insurance, gas, etc.) with income from investments. Not that we have huge investments, but rather low expenses. When we hit that point, all of our income from jobs can be put toward enjoyable worthwhile things and, of course, more investments. That means we won't HAVE to work . . . our costs are covered! Instead, I can make a little less doing something supremely satisfying, like flying planes or, in my wife's case, being a massage therapist.

You want to make it as a low-paid CFI? Get rid of the excess junk in your life, make every minute count, and don't equate success and happiness with money or illusions! Control the money, don't let it control you!

Then again, it has worked for my wife and I, but we don't mind having cheap dishes from the St. Vinnies, sale furniture, and 6 year-old cars that we didn't need loans to purchase. Other people, though I don't understand it, find more happiness in the new car that costs them thousands and thousands more than it should than they do in a hike through the woods or a round of darts with a buddy . . .

Just my take!

- PhotoPilot

P.S. New cars are NUTS! Save and buy an efficient, 5 or 6 year old, 80,000 mile car outright with no loans, no fees, and no interest. Then skip the full-coverage insurance and drive carefully. Even if you get in an accident, the money that you will save over a lifetime of avoiding full-coverage insurance will far out weight the cost of buying another one or two identical cars. When the maintainence costs start to become excessive after 5 years, sell the 10 year old 150,000 mile car for $1500, sink $5000 into another newer one, and know that you just paid less for your car than someone would have paid just in interest over the same time frame if they had bought a new SUV . . .

Ok, I'm off my soapbox!
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Another option for cheap living, is to buy a used camper/trailer and just pay a monthly fee to park at an R/V park, I did this when I was younger and working offshore, and it worked out great, I saved a ton of cash not having to pay apt. rent, and when I decided to go back to college I just sold the camper and recouped most of my money. This is probably what I will do again in the future if I ever can get hired at a regional, until I can afford somthing better.

Lot fees are usually about $100-150 monthly including TV/ Water/Electricity and its really not that bad for young guys without a family.

Plan on on used 18-24ft. camper costing about 3-6K and just sell it when your done with it!!
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We quit looking at things as costing us money and started looking at them as costing us life energy.

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Just curious, this looks awfully familiar. Is this from from some book or...It sounds alot like a book I read some time ago., "Your Money or Your Life"
 
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