Is Your Job Too Expensive?

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I am sure the list changes with age. I am not sure what i would do if my TIVO was taken away, but do I really need it on three TVs at home? How about drycleaning/laundry delivery services? (I know now why they never put the cost of individual cleaned items on the bill.) Plowing my driveway gets pricey up here in Minnesota, but I am saving $5 a month now that I have discovered REDBOX, the DVD rental idea at McDonalds. So, I am saving money right and left here.

GL HOFFMAN of MN 4:02PM April 21, 2008

It used to be...
The company paid for dial-up access (and, later, broadband), so I could do work at home.
The company paid for a BlackBerry and associated service, on which I got work-related email.
Now the policy is...
Everyone gets their own broadband, because... well... because they do, so the company no longer pays.
You buy your own mobile phone or PDA.
You pay for the service plan for the mobile device. The company will selectively reimburse you, but won't pay for regular service.
There are professional organizations, and such, and many of us find it in our best career interests to join them. On our own dimes, of course.
So, let's see... annually, approximately:
$ 500 -- cable Internet (not counting TV)
$ 800 -- BlackBerry service
$ 200 -- IEEE membership
$ 200 -- ACM membership
--------
$1700
... plus the one-time cost of a BlackBerry that's replaced every two or three years.
It does add up.

Barry Leiba of NY 3:39PM April 21, 2008

What is meant by "earnings"? Does that take into consideration that many people are working part-time, therefore earning less? Does the number include benefits, including government transfer payments? Is it household or personal earnings? Since households now number many fewer persons than in the past, household earnings have not been growing while inflation-adjusted personal full-time earnings have increased well above inflation in the past 20 years. (re Sowell, Economic Facts and Fallacies)

Sam C of CA 3:03PM April 21, 2008