Overseas Contractors what do you do with the money?

[ExpatMedic0]

So your a DOD contractor or expat in the sandbox, probably single, making the big bucks.... Your obviously not spending much of it while your over there. So I would like to hear from some of you. What do you do with it? Pay off debt, Buy a house? Invest it? Travel the world, Something else?

 

[DrParasite]

spend it on high priced hookers and expensive beer

 

[MrBrown]

Invest it in a high interest savings account .... after buying something less conspicious than an orange jumpsuit to roll around in

I hear medical school is expensive

 

[exodus]

Invest it in a high interest savings account .... after buying something less conspicious than an orange jumpsuit to roll around in

I hear medical school is expensive

Okay Im sorry, but can you please stop with the orange jumpsuit with the green doctor on the back BS? I Swear every single post you make is *never* even on topic, and all you do is bring that up. It's starting to get annoying, and not even slightly entertaining anymore.



OT: My partner who did an over-seas contract, basically took a year off work to himself. Which sounds fine at first, but i'd get hella bored!

 

[firetender]

Ultimately it would go to a shrink, rehab and the court system to cover the PTSD. I'd make a small donation to Dr. Parasite's VD fund. Nah!

 

[ExpatMedic0]

well this thread already went to **** lol.

 

[Wild_Weasel]

I dropped $1,300.00 for the EMT-B course I'm currently attending here in Afghnaistan and another $300.00 on my Ricky Rescue bag. My wife spends the rest...

Cheers,
W-W

 

[akflightmedic]

First, when you say contractor, just about everyone imagines high speed medics and security operators. A lot of people do not realize every job you can think of is out there for contracting. There is food service, trash, water, fuel, drivers, IT, etc...

The majority of people who fill these jobs are barely high school grads with limited work/life experience. They see these jobs and the green grass on the other side beckons.

Having said that, very few of them save or know how to invest and what I have witnessed is a vicious cycle. People quit because they have enough only to return a few months later because they can't hack it with a regular paycheck.

Imagine working Burger King from rural TX or AL for 2 years (maybe 20-24K a year) barely getting by and then being hired as a food service worker making a minimum of 6K a month or 65-72K a year!! All that for nothing more than a HS diploma, plus it is tax exempt if you meet the requirements.

What I noticed very quickly was a lot of people wearing their paychecks or having really great stories from their RnRs, but very few were showing pictures of houses or bragging about being debt free. It is quite sad actually but what can you do?

For myself, I eliminated all debt, bought a house during a recession for a very good deal, took some very special family vacations, socked away a chunky savings and invested the rest through 401K, US bonds (my contribution to my country), and some mutual funds. I prepared for the day when I have to return to a normal paycheck, however when I return to the states to work, I will no longer see overtime as a necessity and have now increased my available personal time...that there is a hell of an investment!

 

[mycrofft]

A co-worker was on Johnson Island by contract.

They were able to buy stuff from departing workers very cheaply due to transport costs, they didn't use cars much. If you don't blow it on food booze and phonecalls, do as AK did.

Grandpappy was with ARAMCO in Iraq, Iran, etc. in the Fifties. They blew their money in the American Quarters on stuff like western food ($6 for a bottle of ketchup when min wage in the US, if it existed, would have been about 0.75/hr).

 

[medic417]

First, when you say contractor, just about everyone imagines high speed medics and security operators. A lot of people do not realize every job you can think of is out there for contracting. There is food service, trash, water, fuel, drivers, IT, etc...

The majority of people who fill these jobs are barely high school grads with limited work/life experience. They see these jobs and the green grass on the other side beckons.

Having said that, very few of them save or know how to invest and what I have witnessed is a vicious cycle. People quit because they have enough only to return a few months later because they can't hack it with a regular paycheck.

Imagine working Burger King from rural TX or AL for 2 years (maybe 20-24K a year) barely getting by and then being hired as a food service worker making a minimum of 6K a month or 65-72K a year!! All that for nothing more than a HS diploma, plus it is tax exempt if you meet the requirements.

What I noticed very quickly was a lot of people wearing their paychecks or having really great stories from their RnRs, but very few were showing pictures of houses or bragging about being debt free. It is quite sad actually but what can you do?

For myself, I eliminated all debt, bought a house during a recession for a very good deal, took some very special family vacations, socked away a chunky savings and invested the rest through 401K, US bonds (my contribution to my country), and some mutual funds. I prepared for the day when I have to return to a normal paycheck, however when I return to the states to work, I will no longer see overtime as a necessity and have now increased my available personal time...that there is a hell of an investment!

I see that same viscous cycle when we have oil booms in my area. Lots of high paying jobs for a year or two. Instead of paying off debt most get into more debt. Then the boom goes bust and they lose everything.

Glad to hear you used your income wisely.

 

[Kthanid]

Ak is correct. I don't know what the ratio is but I think it would be better than 50% come back with their only wealth measured in depreciating items like overpriced cars or even less a computer hard drive full of lewd party pics. Especially your first 6 month contract or year you realise just how quickly all this money can dissappear into nothing. Even RnR, for some reason, doing nothing greatly different than before so you think, goes from spending a grand or two back in your old life to suddenly you are like" where did that last 3 months pay go???"
I got smart after the first 6 months and since then its all in various bank accounts.
A lot of older guys(and smarter) are here just to pay off the final mortgage and they make sure it all goes onto that. They have their time here estimated to whatever is needed to make the final payment.

Quite a few guys also buy cheap houses and land in places like Thailand, the former yugoslav republic countries and turkey to have as a holiday home and also avoid tax..

Salary wise as mentioned there are 7-10 regular jobs for every security operator, which is probably similar ratio of noncombatants to frontline guys in any army for example.Most of the workforce aka the really menial stuff is made up by TCN's( 3rd worlders basically-africans, indians, phillipinos no offence to them or anyone) and westerners hold supervisory/foreman jobs and up from there. TCN wages are usually from 500-2000 /month.

Westerners money is a lot more but probably not as good as people think. The glory days of profiteering in iraq for $1000 a day have almost dissappearesd.
Example construction foreman, warehouse guy on a team here
6000-10000 month(the difference between say a cheapo Euro company and a top firm).
Manager, site manager,projects/ ops manager.
8000-15,000 with 20,000 month max( the latter is pretty rare those these days. Most mid managers here are on 10-12 grand a month)
Country/regional level manager- 15+ and maybe also profit sharing which then makes him a millionaire of course.
Base paramedic(never leave major base) about 7-9 grand per month.
Firefighter about the same.
Consultant Engineer/expert/scientist- regular hostile road trips- anywhere from 10-18 grand a month
Gym attendant at one of the local base gyms- 6-7 grand month
Chick who makes the base ID cards. 5-7 grand a month.
Guy at base in the middle of nowhere organising a team of TCN's to pump gas into war machines- 8-12 grand a month.
Guy serving pies in the UK canteens. 2-3 grand a month(no idea why they even come over for that wage)

And of course "Security operators"-well the last couple years it tapered off and you are happy to get 10-15 grand a month with a good company. I have seen some guys still on 20 grand but that's pretty rare now. Or maybe I am not just in that category A lot of groups are outsourcing the PSD teams and the toughest jobs to expendable TCN's. Also KArzai has put a foriegn worker cap on security numbers, so more companies are forced to hire local afghan guards(for around $300/month)Good news is medics on teams still command a premium. At least as far as I am aware. Those of us who came earlier are still on our original contracts....for now.

 

[akflightmedic]

Spot on mate...nice to see someone posting who actually knows what they are talking about these days.

I head back to KAF tomorrow, if you are in my neck of the woods say so...we can meet at Timmie's.

 

[Kthanid]

Also will add the US govt departments and major companies are the best paying, and can add a grand or few to the above figures depending on who it is. The Euro/canuck/Uk companies are generally a bit less.

Also there are quite a few afghan owned companies getting huge. Some Afghan bigwig and his relatives who provide the backing and legalities to register and he hires western workers or freelancers to run it. Salaries there can be anywhere from average to really really high. The type of work can be really really risky though!

 

[Kthanid]

Ak back at a FOB now, but thanks for offer. They still got Timmies at KAF? I thought some general closed down half the boardwalk. :glare:

 

[akflightmedic]

Ak back at a FOB now, but thanks for offer. They still got Timmies at KAF? I thought some general closed down half the boardwalk. :glare:

McChrystal did, but he has since been fired.

It is true, he shut down all AFFES related businesses however Timmies is Canuck, so no worries there. Same with several other establishments...all safe and sound.

PM your locale if you do not mind, I am making rounds and hitting a few FOBS myself on this trip.

 

[Lima-Charlie]

Invest/save. I've seen guys piss it all away on bs and are still struggling whereas I'm set to "retire" in a year at 35. And I mean retire-retire. I wouldn't have to work again if I didn't want to.

 

[TransportJockey]

If I get one of the two positions I applied for I plan on paying off all my student loans, finishing P-school and a BSN, and then save the rest

 

[MrBrown]

To paraphrase Ron James, you know you're buggered when you have gone halfway down the Highway to Hell and you ain't seen a Tim's in a while ...