Ok...since I see many people in the Lounge are talking about their future plans, I thought I shared...and of course waiting for others to hear their similar stories.

So, basically, I am 28 and still live at home(not so rare in my country, but still), because I can't figure out how I could live on my own(that is, pay rent and bills) with the standard mimimum wage, which is now about 600E!(from latest news).

All the jobs I've had were in Athens, and that forced me to wake up about 6:30 to be there at 09:00, and leave at seven the afternoon to return at 9-10. Plus, I don't even know if software developing even interests me anymore. In my first jobs, around 20, I loved it. But in my very last job, I was literally falling asleep in my desk with my boss watching! I tried for some time to find some freelance gigs, but those are 1 in a 1000. Anyway, most job oppurtunities I guess are still in Athens, so I do want to move there still. I am considering getting a "straight" job, like working on a wharehouse or a phone store, it's just the age and no previous experiences in that department that are a minus. And to be honest, I kept finding excuses not to be bogged down in repetitive jobs, I liked things that came easy. That's my nature, I am lazy.

On top of it all, I could, in theory, finish my degree at informatics, but the thing is I have labs to take(which range from early in the morning to even 8 at evening), and I have to be present there. So if I take them, I can only work part-time.

I'm just tired living at home anyway...my parents are who they are, they are used to live as they have. But I've been trying to convince them for the very small stuff, like not clutter the bookshelves with useless junks like photo stands or chinas or whatever, nothing. We've fought, I've taken them and threw them away, we have agreed those shelves will remain clear, nothing. It's just the way they are. My mother thinks it's good taste. It might be. It's her house. They're tired people who had to work 15 hours a day, and now they're retiring and with health problems. I'm just causing more trouble right now.

So, I don't really want an advice on what to do, just if anyone was in a similar situation in such a stage, share what he did.

Thanks!

I cannot specifically advise you on this, as "your mileage might vary", and I don't even live in your country.

a) take a part time job. this depend on your study class schedule. so it might be limited. for example you can only take part time casher work on weekends only.

b) convert your study to part time. you might want to talk to your councellor / PA on this. But it will open up the work option, although it does not guarantee you will get a good job, but at least your option is bigger.

c) start with renting a room. even though i live in a 3rd world country, when i first started I only rent a room, and it's a very small room. I measure it before and posted in here, and people shocked how small it was, and was shared by two person. try googling for bed with desk underneath if you want more space, in case the room came with nothing else.

d) start your own side income business. if you are really studying for a degree, i'm sure you can tutor things for kids, etc.

anyway, start small, take one day at a time.

I moved abroad. Okay, I was only 24.

Seconded on teaching. I'm an American living in Poland - moved here when I was 20 cause my woman's a pole - and I put up some ads that I teach English or something.

I have a 10 year old English student who I sometimes use to experiment with spelling games, and a company in Warsaw has me do voice recordings or proof documents.

Knowing English is a light asset like that. Pays the groceries!

Also, renting a room!

I did this when I was 17 way back in Oregon country. Had a job at a grocery store, found a studio for $250 a month, declared to my Dad "I'm movin' out!" It was so, so awesome.

I'm sure you can find just a room, shared in a flat with other folks like you.

Athens, Greece, yes? (i.e. not Athens, Ohio [smile]) Aside from where you're living, I could've written almost the same thing. 28, parents, degree, etc.

I've got no advice. Just saying tell me if you figure it out and, in the words of Mr. Red Green, "

">I'm pulling for ya, because we're all in this together."

Quote: Original post by mikeman
I liked things that came easy. That's my nature, I am lazy.

That, I believe, is the problem.

You said you couldn't live on the standard minimum wage. How many professional programmers do you know who earn the minimum wage? Of course, getting and keeping a job like that requires effort and action on your part.

If the field no longer interests you then change careers. That also requires effort and action on your part.

If you don't like the hours, then change it. You can change the job to a company that is closer, or move out of your house to an apartment closer to the job. But again, that requires effort and action on your part.

Quote: I don't really want an advice on what to do, just if anyone was in a similar situation in such a stage, share what he did.

Yes, I was about 17. I decided that I wanted to become an adult. So I started taking control of my life, which includes doing work to reach my goals.

You are certainly free to leach off your parents, to fail to take your place in society (or perhaps to take up your place as a vagabond). Just be aware that society doesn't tolerate laziness for very long.

Quote: Original post by mikeman
a wharehouse

My brain is fully prepared to go either way on this one.


On a serious note: seems like at 28 you would do well to just take a leap of faith. A few options present themselves:

1) don't get a flat to start with - rent a room in a shared apartment
2) don't view Athens (or Greece for that matter) as the whole playing field - it's not. The door to most of the rest of Europe is wide open and living standards tend to fluctuate a fair bit from one place to another
3) if you can't decide what to do with your life or are unable to function within the confines you're finding youself, consider taking a leap of faith (not necessarily anything spiritual, mind you): sign up on Couchsurfing and just travel around. It's cheaper than you might think. A lot chaper. I did 4 months though France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Holland and Gibraltar for €800 - and I was travelling lavishly: took trains and buses and flights and such. I could've done it for €200-€300 with half the crap I was dragging along and just hitching a ride.

If you can't figure life out, go shock your brain - go to the Far East (er, borrow the money - it's not like you need a lot to survive) or just do Europe if you feel insecure travelling around blindly on the other side of the world. Vent your head and keep your eyes open - you might find a place or a person that changes everything and you can end up just about anywhere provided you first create the opportunity (this bit is entirly up to you). You're 28, so keep that in mind as well.

It's your life and there's an awful big world out there. Go suck on it for a while and you'll never know what might find. I did and the problems you've posed became largely non-issues - instead, completely new and different opportunities arose that would never have presented themselves had I not given them a chance.

Oh, and forget about your mother - it's your life and you're entitled to live it any way you want to. Plus, you'll let her live hers - something she'll be happy to appreciate.

PS - don't worry about money that much - there's an abundance of it. Only worry about spending it more or less responsibly.

Quote:
You said you couldn't live on the standard minimum wage. How many professional programmers do you know who earn the minimum wage?

I don't know. In my last job, there was this guy, a family man at his 40's, that stayed on his desk for 10-12 hours without moving(I kid you not - his breaks were to play some platform games), and earned half of what the hot-shot 30yrold salesman at the opposite desk earned, which find it funny to call him 'you little programmer you'. How I got hold of myself and didn't threw my chair on that asshole is beyond me.

Quote:
If the field no longer interests you then change careers. That also requires effort and action on your part.

The field interests me, just not how it's working today. In my first job at 19, I made an issue tracker for a company as a 'freelance', using Access and owner-draw viewlists basically and, although I can't remember for sure, I am pretty certain it did handle large number of entries. Since they kept calling from time to time for support and I e-mailed them patches, I am under the impression they're still using it. Some years later, I go to another company, and they're doing the exact same thing by throwing every purchased component they could find on the fucking thing(including skinning - for a fincancial application for WinXP!!), which takes about 10 seconds to present 50,000 entries and leaks 30MB every time you do it. I don't want this. It sucks. That's what I mean when I said I'm lazy; I can't just suck it up and accept that work is supposed to be boring, with the upshot of giving you money that allows you to have fun outside of work.

Quote:
My brain is fully prepared to go either way on this one.

STOREHOUSE. WAREHOUSE. Geez, it's not like the keys are right next to each other! :P

Quote:
2) don't view Athens (or Greece for that matter) as the whole playing field - it's not. The door to most of the rest of Europe is wide open and living standards tend to fluctuate a fair bit from one place to another

I don't wanna leave Greece. I used to think I did, but I don't. Besides, if I do have some skills in my profession, it'll be easier here, at least for starters.

Quote:
Oh, and forget about your mother - it's your life and you're entitled to live it any way you want to. Plus, you'll let her live hers - something she'll be happy to appreciate.

Look, the thing with my parents is a deadend. It's not like I haven't done anything to change their mind. I've caused awful situations, gotten into fistfights(nothing too big, but hey) with my father, talked awful to my mother. They. Won't. Budge. Ever. Ever. My mother has been brainwashed that she is supposed to serve every man in the family and that it is her duty to get physically ill from anxiety, otherwise she's not doing it right. Cancer is in the family. Her father died, her sister too, her female friends are married and have their own things to worry about. My father, the same in reverse terms - he doesn't have the slightest interest in anything other than staying to work until late at night and come hope to watch TV and sleep. Anything else it kills him; he can't even bring himself to accompany her to weddings. I woke up in the morning and see them coughing ready to throw their lungs out, and they STILL can't put that ONE cigarrette out until they feel better. Sometimes I really feel like passing them a joint or something, it would be better. I am not trying to pose here as the 'emo kid' who blames his parents for everything; actually they just operate as everyone else; my guess is that I am the "odd" apple in the bunch, my sister turned out just fine.

Anyway, probably the only thing it's going to make them feel better is if I get married or something(you know, to have another woman take care of that 30+ yrold poor poor baby), which is something I do NOT want to do, and certainly not forced to do it to make them feel better.

Anyway guys, thanks a lot for the advice :)