Tag Archive: work

Salary vs Commission: Which Do You Prefer?

Written by in Employment
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Everyone’s job situation is different. Some people are paid hourly, others a flat rate for the year, and others on commission.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each payment system, and it definitely takes some getting used to when changing from one system to another.

Here are the pros and cons for the 3 most popular compensation structures:

Hourly

Pros: It’s very easy to see that the more you work, the more you earn. If you are a hard worker, you have the potential to earn even more money for working overtime, which is often at a rate of 1.5 times the usual rate.

Cons: There is very little stability. Also, if you are sick or need a vacation day, you may feel guilty and go to work when you shouldn’t.

Salary

Pros: There is more stability here and it’s easy to know exactly how much you’ll make every pay period. You are likely entitled to benefits, which can help you take off work without having to worry about making less money.

Cons: There is not much ability to increase earnings since performance reviews are often once a year. Also, you may have to work more than 40 hours a week without being compensated for it.

Commission

Pros: The better you are at your job, the more you will get paid. There is no limit to how much you can earn.

Cons: You can never be sure how much money you will make in a given month, which makes planning difficult. Sometimes, factors outside of your control will determine if you have a good or bad month.

Throughout high school, I worked summer jobs, all of which paid me hourly. The more I worked, the more I got paid. So when I wanted to leave my job picking fruits and vegetables on a local farm at noon, it meant that I wouldn’t be making money during the afternoon.

After college, my first job was a set salary for the year. There was definitely a sense of security which I apprecited.

Now, my compensation consists of a base salary in addition to commission based on a percentage of sales. There’s no limit to how much I can make, which I like. I am able to motivate myself because I know that the harder I work, the better I will do, and the more I will earn.

Readers, what payment structure do you have? Do you like it? Which is your favorite?

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The Hardest $100 I Ever Made

Written by in Money Stories
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Previously I’ve written about the easiest $100 I ever made, but today is time to talk about the day I made the most difficult $100.

Actually, it was such a grueling job that it spanned 2 almost full days of work. When I was 16, I got a job making $7.25 as a farmer. I would bike to work at 6am and immediately start picking whatever the vegetable of the day was. Sometimes it would be corn (ever have fresh corn on the cob? The sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted), sometimes it would be strawberries (pick 3, eat 1), and other times it would be sugar snap peas.

But in August, it becomes planting season, which means a lot of weeding in the hot and humid field. And when things haven’t grown yet, it’s not really a field. Just a big brown area many acres long and wide. And I’d stand there weeding around the pumpkins for a few hours, making my way up the line. When I got to the end, I’d move one row over and work my way back.

Obviously this wasn’t the most interesting work, but the time managed to tick by just a little bit faster because I was working with a few friends from school. At noon, we’d go back in for a two hour break when the sun was hot and grab some cold water and usually some bread and jam. At 2pm, we were out the door and back to weeding.

It was brutally hot, 100+ degrees at times, and in New England, it was pretty humid, too. I would come home and shower and the dirt and mud would come off, but I was left with a mighty fine farmer’s tan that summer.

The reason I hated this work was because it involved no thought whatsoever. Every minute was the same as the last one and the same as the next one and there wasn’t much to look forward to. Why? Because the next day was going to be exactly the same. The only thing to look forward to was that I’d be picking an actual vegetable and would be able to grab a healthy bite to eat every few minutes!

Readers, what was the hardest $100 you ever made? Any horror stories from your teenage years?

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The Easiest $100 I Ever Made

Written by in Money Stories
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On Sunday, HP had a firesale on their TouchPad tablets. They did not sell well at high prices over the past year or two, and this is their last batch that they’ll be selling. I wanted to buy a tablet for $100 because at that price, I could use it sparingly and still get my money’s worth.

I knew there would be a lot of competition, so at 7pm EST sharp, I went to HP’s eBay page and tried to purchase the $99 16GB refurbished tablet. The site was slow, and while I was able to get to the checkout page, it hung up there. I tried in several different tabs and browsers, but with the same result.

I got a tip from a twitter user to use ebay.co.uk, and that site was working much faster. However, I was too late to snag the $99 version. All that was left were the $149 32GB version. At that price, it didn’t make much sense, but I figured I could worry about that later and sell it for a little profit if I decided it wasn’t worth it.

I was able to check out successfully and I had a $149 version on the way. I immediately listed my item on eBay to see how much it could get. I was hoping for $200 so that I could turn around and buy a Kindle Fire tablet (which costs $200). The total price for me would effectively be $149, which is great for a tablet that would have much more value to me.

After half an hour, I refreshed the page to find that the price has skyrocketed from the initial $0.99 price to a whopping $212. I had to double check that I was reading it properly, but my eyes weren’t deceiving me. 30 minutes later it had reached $232.50.

Well, that worked out well. The final price ended up being $250, which meant a $101 profit before fees (but the buyer paid for shipping).

This whole operation took no more than 20 minutes of my time on a Sunday evening. It was the easiest $100 I ever made and it allowed me to get the tablet I really wanted for effectively $100, which is a no-brainer.

Readers, what is the easiest $100 you ever made?

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Best of the Rest: Quitting Time Edition

Written by in Best of the Rest
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Yesterday I let my employer know that I will be leaving the company in a few weeks. I’m moving to LA! I’m going to be a Hollywood star! I won’t have a job for a little bit, but we’ll get there! In the meantime, I’ll be hanging out with @NealFrankle, @littlehouse2009, and @WInformatics, among others!

Lauren is dragging me back to the land of warm weather and happy people, and it’s hard to say no! It will definitely be a big transition, and I’ll be writing about it much more detail next week.

While I pack, check out these great reads from around the blogosphere!

Is Unemployment Hurting Your Job Prospects? Why You Should Accept a Job Below Your Salary Requirements (via Free From Broke)

Why Does Everyone Want to Quit Their Jobs? (via The Financial Blogger)

How to Save 15% on Cell Phone Costs (via Free Money Finance)

How to Insure Jewelry for Cheap (or Free!) (via WiseBread)

I Hate Extreme Couponers (via Punch Debt in the Face)

5 Financial Gurus You’ve Never Heard Of (via Financial Highway)

The Dividend Investing eBook (via The Dividend Guy Blog)

Happy Friday!

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