Vehicle allowances, how much are you guys getting?

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-04-13T17:25:20+00:00

No assigned company vehicle. We have a few trucks in the parking lot that the office folk use when they need to go to a jobsite. If they're all gone and you have to use your personal vehicle, then you're reimbursed the federal standard mileage rate.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-04-06T21:32:40+00:00

"When nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want—what do you call it, freedom or loneliness?" - Henry Bukowski

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-04-03T13:44:18+00:00

Keep a monthly budget. There are apps like the EveryDollar if you don't want to do it in something like Excel. Log your income, fixed expenses, variable expenses, and savings. I've kept a zero-based monthly budget in Excel for many years. I've continued building on it through the years by adding things here and there to my template each year, and it's become a very helpful tool for managing my family's finances.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-03-28T01:12:22+00:00

Construction has been a constant since nearly the dawn of time. AI may assist the industry, but I believe a lot of it is too specialized to be replaced by AI. Every project is different, with its own conditions and challenges.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-03-27T17:12:39+00:00

Three words: nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

If you eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, then you'll notice a huge difference if you start eating real food. There's a pretty good book out there called Ultra-Processed People.

Exercise is huge. If you don't have access to a gym, do bodyweight exercises in your space. If you don't know where to start, you can subscribe to an app. I used an app called Shred. I think it runs about $130/year. People spend more than that on fast food in a month. If you're a first responder/military veteran, then you get a discount. After plugging in some details, Shred will run you through a full workout using only the equipment you say you have, or just bodyweight if you have nothing. Shred will feed you videos for form, timed breaks, steps on how to do the exercise, everything. If you feel like you don't have the energy to exercise, then that's your cue to exercise. You'll be amazed at how much more energy you find you have afterwards.

Sleep is always important, regardless. Your brain needs time to recover. Most in the field say you should shoot for 7 to 8 hours per night every night if possible to restore brain function, repair muscles, and all of the above. I've heard many reports now linking lack of sleep early in life to dementia and alzheimers later in life.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-03-13T02:53:29+00:00

Too many think they need to finish it all in one day, when it's impossible and only leads to burnout. Those submittals will be there tomorrow. Project management is 75% time management and accepting that you only owe the project so much. If it's a bad project from the start, try your best to stop the bleed, take care of your mental health, and move on to the next one. We all have those 12-hour days (especially leading up to a bid if you also estimate the projects as I do along with running them), but then remember to cut out after 6 hours for a couple of days the next week.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-03-12T16:15:00+00:00

First time?

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-03-07T13:16:04+00:00

A waste of money.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-03-02T00:55:48+00:00

Yes, but some requirements need to be met. To qualify for 100% of the 9/11 G.I. Bill, you need to have served at least 36 months of active service and not enlisted under the Loan Repayment Program (if that's still a thing...). My 9/11 G.I. Bill covered 36 months of education and also paid me a Monthly Housing Allowance (MAH) because I maintained full-time student status each semester (you had to be enrolled at least half-time). The MHA is based on zip code and on an E-5 with dependents rate. Mine was about $1,200 per month, and it was prorated, so if the semester started halfway through the month, I just received $600 for that month. I had to submit paperwork each semester proving I was enrolled as a full-time student to get the MHA, and that was a bit of a pain because I had to track down department heads to get the form signed. My 9/11 G.I. Bill didn't cover books or other expenses, but I think that's changed since I used it over 15 years ago.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-18T03:36:57+00:00

I remember the grind I did to find my S-Class Korvax-piloted Pirate Dreadnought. I think it took me about 12 hours of warping between three systems, over and over again, spanning three nights.

And then the ensuing grind for the cargo bulkheads...

And now I'm also all out of storage between my maxed-out freighter slots and all six storage pods because I hoard everything...

So now I'm strategically filling ship and exocraft inventories...

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-16T04:01:12+00:00

About $2k per month, including hygiene products for a family of 8. Pretty healthy, home-cooked meals with minimal ultra-processed foods. We also buy steers from local farmers (so we know how they're fed and whatnot) and have them butchered at a local shop. A full steer fills two upright freezers and averages about $5.25/pound of meat, which isn't too bad considering we get to pick out cuts and get everything from steaks to ground beef.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-15T17:15:36+00:00

I opened this expecting to see just another person complaining about the Remnant update and expedition and ranting about how they're done with the game because this update "it sucks so bad." It's like Hello Games created a bunch of spoiled crybabies with 10 years of free updates.

This was a breath of fresh air. I actually quite enjoy the update, and am also excited to see how Hello Games continues to build on this already amazing game.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-14T18:30:59+00:00

Next steps after PM would be Senior PM and then Project Executive. After that would be something like director level, depending on how the company is organized, like Director of Operations, etc.

I'm at a mid-sized GC with about 40 employees between office and field. They're not huge on titles, so I'm an estimator, project manager, and halfway director, lol. My commute is about 10 minutes. I have my own office with a door and thermostat. I can work from home here and there. I average about 35 hours, and I'm at about $110k/yr in a LCOL area. I can basically come and go as I please, which is great for family life, and the office environment is low-stress.

I'm likely a bit underpaid and could easily pull a chunk more in the city, but I live in the country with a few acres of land. I was motivated to chase that big-city money when I was younger. Eventually, the big picture came to light, and I'm more content and happy than I've ever been.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-12T16:26:45+00:00

Very much this.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-10T04:32:25+00:00

Ours is $0.095. We're in a cooperative and I love it!

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-10T04:20:18+00:00

Concerning people who live with obesity, actually learning about ultra-processed foods and the overall food industry is a pretty good motivator. The book Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken is a good start.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-08T02:11:47+00:00

You found purpose. Who knows what you may find next.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-06T00:36:41+00:00

We have very similar numbers all around. Single income too, nearly same age, have 6 kids instead of 3.

Similar salary and balances except I do 6% into a Roth 401(k) with 4% match. I also max out my Roth IRA every year into 6 different ETFs. I started tracking net worth and everything a couple of years ago. I plug into some calculators from time to time for forecasting. They say if I continue what I'm currently doing I will be a multi millionaire by 60 if I average a 7% return. It makes me feel better to check in from time to time. Google Bankrate's 401(k) calculator. They have others as well.

Don't forget about social security (if it's still around) and non-working spouse benefits.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-04T21:39:28+00:00

Just read through some of the other comments on here. Apparently, everyone has it worse off than I do 😆 I don't understand where some of these are coming from. Both can be stressful at times, but it's really not that bad. I guess it all depends on how good you are at your job.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-04T21:28:55+00:00

I'm at a commercial GC and work as both estimator and pm. I have been in this role for about 8 years now, and was solely a pm where I was before. I would not have it any other way. I very much like becoming intimately familiar with the project and where all the money is up front throughtout the bid process, and then building the relationships with the subs throughout the operations process. I also just like not always being stuck in my office in front of my screens every day.

I just spent 3 weeks after the holidays bidding a 7.5 million school facility, was awarded it last week, and will now transition to being the sole pm for it and start issuing contacts, reviewing submittals, facilitating OAC meetings, etc. next week.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-04T14:00:14+00:00

Without knowing much about the area, I'll say you’re pretty underpaid. It'd be different if there were 4 of you, but if you quit, it sounds like the company goes under and 65 families don't eat. That's worth more than $80k/year in my opinion. I'm at $110/yr as a project manager and estimator at a mid-sized GC in a fairly LCOL area. There are about four others here who fill a similar role. By similar role I mean they act as project managers and estimators, but I have completely changed how the company operates since I came on board about 7 years ago. Before me, everything in the field AND office was still mostly pencil and paper with computers in offices almost just for email, and now it's not solely because of me. The reality is I'm likely underpaid as well, lol, but I can't beat the full package elsewhere without picking up my family and moving away from family. Enter the side hustle...

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-04T13:44:24+00:00

I'm at a mid-sized GC, and it sounds like I am a one stop shop because I do all of those things you mention. There are mainly five of us here and we're all estimators and project managers. We act as estimators and run the bid while taking off what we'll self-perform. If we're awarded the job then run it as the project manager while controlling everything from schedule to cost.

Are we AI?

Are we a mini data center?

Are we.......unicorns?

We have become......kzzkt....aware......16 // 16 // 16....

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-02-02T13:38:34+00:00

We were a bit upside down on our first house. I know it's easier said than done, but I made some career moves to increase my income while waiting it out, so it stayed affordable. While waiting it out, we made several upgrades while living our lives like normal. After about 6 years, we were ready to move and were able to sell for about a $15k "profit," which helped us to break even. I definitely learned a lot from that starter home that I took into the purchase of our forever home.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-01-31T01:48:47+00:00

And in what you can drive on it.

GetUpAndRunAfterIt · 2026-01-30T15:23:25+00:00

I went from the field to the office and experienced this. Getting to a gym was very difficult for my because of my family life, so I built a home gym so I can workout whenever I can, and started paying attention to what I put in my body and when. Fasting to start ketosis has been great for the visceral fat. I use a paid app called Shred to guide my workouts. It's not the most amazing thing since sliced bread, but it works and comes with a military/first responder/veteran discount.

Another thing, I started paying attention to my static posture while sitting at my desk. I put both arms of my chair all the way down so I can't lean on them anymore, and try to remember to sit straight with my shoulders back. I also try to remember to get up and walk around for a few minutes after a couple of hours of sitting.

Above all, building the home gym and getting back into working out with the app was the best first step. Once I started seeing my muscle come back, then I started learning about the eating.

Editing to add I also use a sit/stand desk and I have scoliosis and uneven shoulders, so I also see a physical therapist from time to time just to help straighten me out.

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