Thinking about dropping the $230/mo crashpad expense...

JaceTheAce

JaceTheAce

Well-Known Member
...because I can no longer afford it. I run a very tight budget and now that $327/mo in student loans are kicking in at the end of this month, I have no choice but to drop the $230/mo crashpad expense. I have $37.50 in my bank account and the change in my pocket to my name at the moment. Every last few days before payday leaves my bank account bone dry. I can't do this anymore.

Keep in mind I'm commuting from SAN to LGA. I take the red-eye in on jetBlue which gets into JFK at around 5:30am when I have late afternoon reports. I take the afternoon JB flight which arrives around 9pm for the early morning (5:00am) reports. For morning trip lines...on my way home I take a variety of afternoon non-stop flights at 3:55, 4:40, 6:40, and 7:40pm from JFK to SAN which have never failed to get me home. For afternoon trip lines that often end at 9:00pm to 11:30pm I take the two-leg UPS/FedEx flights out of JFK at 10:30pm or I wait until 6:00am the next day and two-leg it out of LGA, because the two-leggers get me home earlier than the the 9:40am and 11:00am non-stops out of JFK. If the non-stops look better to get on, I wait and take those instead. Even though afternoon trips yield slightly less time at home, I prefer them because they operate more along with my circadian rhythm.

I may have to join the many Captains and FOs that do this. I pretty much have no choice but to snooze in the crew room before and/or after my trips. I am thinking about buying a beat up car and sleeping in that in the employee parking lot of LGA...and move it around so they think I'm not permanently parking it there.

Keep in mind... crash pad rent was due on the 5th. I am still late on that!

This is one reason why going back on reserve or a furlough (hopefully I get furloughed...it'd do my life a favor) that will most likely happen at the end of the year at PDT will force me to get out of the airline industry altogether. If I get thrown on reserve, I most definitely won't be able to afford working the job. If I get furloughed, I'll go back to school, flight instruct to remain current, and do something totally different.
 
JaceTheAce said:
...because I can no longer afford it. I run a very tight budget and now that $327/mo in student loans are kicking in at the end of this month, I have no choice but to drop the $230/mo crashpad expense. I have $37.50 in my bank account and the change in my pocket to my name at the moment. Every last few days before payday leaves my bank account bone dry. I can't do this anymore.

Keep in mind I'm commuting from SAN to LGA. I take the red-eye in on jetBlue which gets into JFK at around 5:30am when I have late afternoon reports. I take the afternoon JB flight which arrives around 9pm for the early morning (5:00am) reports. For morning trip lines...on my way home I take a variety of afternoon non-stop flights at 3:55, 4:40, 6:40, and 7:40pm from JFK to SAN which have never failed to get me home. For afternoon trip lines that often end at 9:00pm to 11:30pm I take the two-leg UPS/FedEx flights out of JFK at 10:30pm or I wait until 6:00am the next day and two-leg it out of LGA, because the two-leggers get me home earlier than the the 9:40am and 11:00am non-stops out of JFK. If the non-stops look better to get on, I wait and take those instead. Even though afternoon trips yield slightly less time at home, I prefer them because they operate more along with my circadian rhythm.

I may have to join the many Captains and FOs that do this. I pretty much have no choice but to snooze in the crew room before and/or after my trips. I am thinking about buying a beat up car and sleeping in that in the employee parking lot of LGA...and move it around so they think I'm not permanently parking it there.

Keep in mind... crash pad rent was due on the 5th. I am still late on that!

This is one reason why going back on reserve or a furlough (hopefully I get furloughed...it'd do my life a favor) that will most likely happen at the end of the year at PDT will force me to get out of the airline industry altogether. If I get thrown on reserve, I most definitely won't be able to afford working the job. If I get furloughed, I'll go back to school, flight instruct to remain current, and do something totally different.
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Boy this almost sounds like some girl I have heard of.... from Washington.

Stay safe out there, man! If you ever go through ATL, I've got a cheap couch....
 
OK so if you are "hoping" you get furloughed because it will "force" you to get out why don't you quit now and leave that spot for someone who wants to stay there? (not attacking I'm just wondering)

Are you on second year pay yet? I had a little less in student loans (around $100-$125) but even my first year with my company I saved a little.
 
wheelsup said:
OK so if you are "hoping" you get furloughed because it will "force" you to get out why don't you quit now and leave that spot for someone who wants to stay there? (not attacking I'm just wondering)
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Because it would be unwise to quit without having a backup job.

wheelsup said:
Are you on second year pay yet? I had a little less in student loans (around $100-$125) but even my first year with my company I saved a little.
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I am on 2nd year pay. 3rd year pay kicks in at the beginning of the Fall.
 
JaceTheAce said:
(hopefully I get furloughed...it'd do my life a favor) that will most likely happen at the end of the year at PDT will force me to get out of the airline industry altogether. If I get thrown on reserve, I most definitely won't be able to afford working the job. If I get furloughed, I'll go back to school, flight instruct to remain current, and do something totally different.
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I'm in you're exact boat. I've been cross country commuting on reserve for almost two years. I don't want to move to domicile because If I get furloughed I'll have to move right back (with my small family). To my old job (which I do on the side). I don't want to quit because I love the job. A furlough will push me back to my old career where I'd make twice as much as an FO, replenish savings, pay down debt and be with my family.

We've just about run out of savings and there's only so much you can make on reserve, so it's put us in a tight situation. Although I never thought I'd say it but a furlough would actually be a blessing in disguise.

I understand completely
 
Seriously, sack up and do a self furlough. Sorry to be harsh, but what is this crap of "I can't make a decision, so I hope the company does it for me?"

Go find a better paying job. This career has its ups and downs. There is no reason to bankrupt yourself to stay in it. Go find another aviation job or something that will pay the bills.
 
Is there a point to this thread or is it another female dog about the low pay y'all knew about when you went to the regionals?
 
wheelsup said:
OK so if you are "hoping" you get furloughed because it will "force" you to get out why don't you quit now and leave that spot for someone who wants to stay there? (not attacking I'm just wondering)
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Getting furloughed would also be a way to keep your number while checking out other avenues.
 
Stone Cold said:
Seriously, sack up and do a self furlough. Sorry to be harsh, but what is this crap of "I can't make a decision, so I hope the company does it for me?"

Go find a better paying job. This career has its ups and downs. There is no reason to bankrupt yourself to stay in it. Go find another aviation job or something that will pay the bills.
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Nah, you're not being harsh. It might be some good advice I should take in.
 
Stone Cold said:
Grow up. Make a decision. Do you seriously want to go back to a job you can't afford? Really? Think about that for a while...
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I think he IS making a grown up decision by not closing that door.

Look at it like this; you get furloughed for a couple of years. During that time you could have any number of things happen in your life. What if, during that period of time, you do a non flying job and realize "Hey, I really DID like flying for a living, maybe I can move to Jersey and make this work." If you quit just prior to furlough you're closing that door and putting yourself at the starting line again.

By holding out a few extra months, taking the furlough and giving yourself some time to figure out some options, you're leaving an additional possibility.

This is EXACTLY what I did. I should be out of law school before I have to decide on being recalled. If I want to go back, I'll be able to. Now while that's likely, if there's one thing I've learned in life it's that you NEVER know what tomorrow is going to bring, so don't burn ANY bridges. I could in theory go to back to my jobs at Skymates, Amflight, ExpressJet or the ski resort.

I like them odds.
 
And for those thinking I might be talking out my rear, I did a self furlough back in August. It's had its ups and downs, but I made more in the first month with my new job than I did in the previous year. I also would have been laid off or taken a severe pay cut to stay "living the dream" in the charter world.

And, just to add to Jtrain's post above, I could go back to any of my previous jobs also. I left on good terms with the charter company (wouldn't ever want to have to go back there again, though), Airnet (LOL, yeah when are they going to hire again), flight instructing (one school is out of business, and the other is in the Northeast), and aerial survey (good job, decent money for the job, but love my wife so wouldn't go back).
 
Stone Cold said:
And for those thinking I might be talking out my rear, I did a self furlough back in August. It's had its ups and downs, but I made more in the first month with my new job than I did in the previous year. I also would have been laid off or taken a severe pay cut to stay "living the dream" in the charter world.
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That's great, and it worked for YOUR situation.

It might not work for everybody.

You also live in Russia now. I mean seriously dude, it's cool that you've got an awesome job at all, but SCREW MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY TO FLY AIRPLANES!
 
Stone Cold said:
Grow up. Make a decision. Do you seriously want to go back to a job you can't afford? Really? Think about that for a while...
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I said twice as much as regional FO pay, not captain pay. When things pick up it'll will defeinately be affordable. It would be a way to replesh some savings. In the meantime don't assume I'm NOT working on ways to make extra money and get through until things do pick up. Hopefully this side gig will work into something that can supplement my income for quite some time and be a back up if for some reason I couldn't fly anymore. I've never been one to put all my eggs in one basket so to speak. No one in this industry should
 
jtrain609 said:
That's great, and it worked for YOUR situation.

It might not work for everybody.

You also live in Russia now. I mean seriously dude, it's cool that you've got an awesome job at all, but SCREW MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY TO FLY AIRPLANES!
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Nope, never did make it to Russia!!;):bandit:

Also, I am on a 20/20 schedule (for the most part, there are some times the schedule works better than others, but I get paid for extra days). I still live in Florida, and have a "resort" in the Ukraine.;):sarcasm:

I'm not saying this is the route for everybody. My pay has been cut due to the people that run this company trying to start a charter in the worst economic downturn of my lifetime being frugal. It has not been easy. It also has not been as difficult as you make it sound.

I am still "living the dream", making money, and when I'm home, I'm not on a leash. QOL has improved tremendously. At one point in time, I was flying 75-85 hours/month. That is an insane schedule in the charter world...

Also, I'm not saying to even stay in the game. Go find something that WILL NOT BANKRUPT YOU!!! WTF, why are people staying in a job they cannot afford???:panic: That's my question...
 
Seriously I cringed reading your post. Doing a tran-con commute is brutal (done it) but even worse when you have little to show for it. By that I mean living pay check to pay check.

If you have another job you could move to close by (flying or not) I'd go for it.

As for having a car to crash in at LGA...You'd have to buy it, insure it, register it etc...Cars are a big expense. Maybe less than a crashpad but still you'd be paying $$. And what are you going to do in winter when it gets dark at 4:30pm and the temperature drops into the 20s?
 
While I was sitting on reserve in Atlanta, I had a crashpad that I wasn't able to afford. That's why I have a wife...to help me afford the little things in life that matter. She pretty much paid it for me.

Thank You Honey!
 
JaceTheAce said:
...because I can no longer afford it. I run a very tight budget and now that $327/mo in student loans are kicking in at the end of this month, I have no choice but to drop the $230/mo crashpad expense. I have $37.50 in my bank account and the change in my pocket to my name at the moment. Every last few days before payday leaves my bank account bone dry. I can't do this anymore.

Keep in mind I'm commuting from SAN to LGA. I take the red-eye in on jetBlue which gets into JFK at around 5:30am when I have late afternoon reports. I take the afternoon JB flight which arrives around 9pm for the early morning (5:00am) reports. For morning trip lines...on my way home I take a variety of afternoon non-stop flights at 3:55, 4:40, 6:40, and 7:40pm from JFK to SAN which have never failed to get me home. For afternoon trip lines that often end at 9:00pm to 11:30pm I take the two-leg UPS/FedEx flights out of JFK at 10:30pm or I wait until 6:00am the next day and two-leg it out of LGA, because the two-leggers get me home earlier than the the 9:40am and 11:00am non-stops out of JFK. If the non-stops look better to get on, I wait and take those instead. Even though afternoon trips yield slightly less time at home, I prefer them because they operate more along with my circadian rhythm.

I may have to join the many Captains and FOs that do this. I pretty much have no choice but to snooze in the crew room before and/or after my trips. I am thinking about buying a beat up car and sleeping in that in the employee parking lot of LGA...and move it around so they think I'm not permanently parking it there.

Keep in mind... crash pad rent was due on the 5th. I am still late on that!

This is one reason why going back on reserve or a furlough (hopefully I get furloughed...it'd do my life a favor) that will most likely happen at the end of the year at PDT will force me to get out of the airline industry altogether. If I get thrown on reserve, I most definitely won't be able to afford working the job. If I get furloughed, I'll go back to school, flight instruct to remain current, and do something totally different.
Click to expand...


Maybe it just me, I'm having a hard time comprehending why you can't afford the crash pad. Assuming you're a line holder at PDT, which pays $31 an hour, that should yield you around $2100 bring home right? Now with the student loans and maybe another car payment, you should still have money left! Off course, if you're like me and spend a lot of time at the strip clubs, you would have problem paying for a crash pad. :)
 
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