I have been very fortunate to receive a union construction job through a relative, and I am very excited about the position. I have no debt of any kind and currently live at home with my parents. The job is 7 days a week, with double shifts during the summer, which gives me a lot of overtime pay. I’m in shape, down 120 lbs, and muscular. I’m also stress-free because my diet is already planned out on a spreadsheet, and I have no college debt (didn’t go) and no credit card debt.
According to my calculations, the job should provide take-home pay of $3,778/week, or $16,400/month during the summer. During the winter, it goes down to $1,430/week, or $6,200/month. The year-round average take-home pay is $8,800/month, which works out to about $2,020/week.
I currently have no money saved except for investments in XMR, and I want to invest around $10k–$12k into it. I also plan to contribute as much as possible to a 401(k). I do not plan on buying anything unnecessary, such as a new car, RV, computer, guitars, or anything else I do not really need.
My expenses are:
- $370/month for car insurance
- $50/month for my phone bill
- $150/week for groceries
- $15/month for Planet Fitness
Total: $1,085/month
I do not pay rent. My parents would not ask me to pay rent and are okay with me staying until I am able to move out and buy a house.
My plan is to build an emergency fund first, then set up automatic transfers into separate accounts for index funds, a house fund, a personal fund, a buffer fund, and a crypto fund so I can invest passively. I do not really want a credit card, but I need to start using one because my credit score dropped to 550 after not making a payment for a while.
Any advice is appreciated. Currently looking into HYSA and IRA, and will adjust this post later to show the amounts I want to transfer over to each account.


Long term this job doesn’t sound sustainable and if it is it will likely cost you your health like most construction work.
Don’t blow your money and plan for a transition to another career before this one does too much physical damage. I know too many older broken down construction workers that are absolutely fucked now.