Good morning from Canada!

Hey there Ri. Welcome from the coast of Maine.

If i could offer a bit of advise from an old guy to a young fulla just starting out .... ?

There's this whole Zen thing going on with scrapping. A lot of folks find fun and relaxation with it. It's something that you and your wife can do together. It's important to spend time together .... makes for a better marriage. Just make sure that you are both on the same page about it. She may not be as much into it as you are. Maybe it's more that she just wants to spend some time with you. It sometimes gets lonely when you are stuck at home and your spouse is off doing other things.

The term ... "scrapper's widow" has been bounced around here and there over the years.

The money aspect of it is a different matter. Scrapping is not gonna help you make ends meet. You make very very little after you take out all of your operating expenses.

You gotta figure out something different. I switched jobs this year and more than doubled my take home pay. We're holding about even as compared to how we were doing before Covid and inflation started started up a few years ago.

The point is .... you have to do big things just to stay even these days. Scrapping isn't gonna cut it.

My best advise would be to get her back to work part time. My wife and i had a really good setup when we were first starting out with two kids. I would work my regular day job and she would work her part time job in the evenings for three or four hours. That got her out of the house. Working and earning her own money helped build her self esteem. We worked together as equal partners to support the family and raise the kids.



Things are even harder for your generation coming up through. You really need at two full time wage earners to support a family of four now. Anything less is well apt to leave you short on the essentials like food,housing, and heat in the winter.

Originally Posted by hills

Hey there Ri. Welcome from the coast of Maine.

Hills,

Thank you so much for taking the time to right such a detailed reply, I didn't see it until today.

Your sound advice really hit home with me. It's tough times indeed. We are on good ground between her and I thankfully. I am passionate about recycling and taking care of the environment regardless of the financial incentive, and if I can learn (which I have TONS already) and make a few bucks with my spare time then I'm happy to do it, even if it isn't paying much. You are right though, we can't continue on this way sadly... it's just a tough one coming to that conclusion.

Thankfully all the bills get paid with my salary, but it's getting harder and harder to keep up. Part-time gig for my wife might be a good option... but eventually I need to pull a "hills' and get a career that compensates me better for my time. I am grateful for my job, and it's stability, but I guess it just leaves me feeling empty. There is no passion. I want to have the passion and flow state that I get when I am taking things apart and tinkering. Well I guess that gives me a start on where I should look to get into... tech of some sort.

Bottom line is I got to make more moola, and I don't want to sacrifice my marriage to do it. I appreciate your wisdom on the "scrapper's widow". I will ensure I am always including her and reserving extra time to do things she wants to do together. It's important to me that my sons grow up with their mom and dad on good terms. She is a good woman, she's been by my side since we were 16. Bless her heart!


Hills, thank you again for the thoughtful reply. Your advice is so appreciated.. Cheers, see you around.