Originally Posted by
shakti
I agree that $9 an hour is impossible to live on let alone pay off debt, but just be aware that the "Screw the real job I should go back to dancing" pattern is exactly how stripping becomes a trap. A year later stripping starts to suck again and you're right back to square one. I'm not saying returning to dancing is a bad thing, financially speaking it does make more sense. But if you do return you have to get extremely focused and fierce about your goals.
I'm just saying this as a word of warning because it's a pattern I've seen so much. The remedies seem to be:
1) Do both the real job to build experience and stripping to get out of debt. Yes, it's exhausting.
2) Screw the real job. Strip 5 nights a week and live like you make $9 an hour. Do this for ten years and invest well so you never have to do another job again. Not easy for most people.
3) Do a combination of a little bit of all of the above. This is what I did. All goals being accomplished but at a slower rate. Yes, very exhausting.
4) Do none of the above and find yourself making $9 an hour at age 40. Exhausting and depressing.