I recently received a raise from my boss, and 5 whole dollars an hour is literally life changing. It means 10k more roughly a year. I work in manufacturing and the pay I receive is still below what my counterparts at other companies make, but it was such an affirmation of my hard work and commitment to this place (January will be 4 years here).

My goals are to use a debt payoff snowball, and I've already paid off a personal loan and I'm applying the payment I don't have to make to a in-house credit line for tires. I'll keep that rolling till I am debt free. And I still have 700 in the bank halfway through the pay period where normally I would be shaking out the change jar for gas money.

Advocate for yourselves! I had to push to get this raise, and that was uncomfortable for me but I was worth it.

Thank you for this sub, I learn a lot here. Hope this gives someone the confidence to make a boss see their worth as an employee.