How do you people survive financially???

I had an in at a AF reserve unit but I was 29 and they had a mandatory one year waiting period after the procedure. Oh well, such is life.

I'm so classy I'd put the tip jar out BEFORE the flight and scream, "Who wants a good flight?".

How old are you now? The Army National Guard could use a guy like you. It's tough to find quality flight school applicants these days.

Hotness wears off ... quick. Crazy is ...

Don't try to under value hotness. How dare you!

I'm meeting one tonight. Horray SFO overnights! And super early departures

All the "good ones" are COMPLETELY INSANE! You probably would be too if society gave you certain advantages based solely on your looks. The craziness is usually my favorite part. I find totally unwarranted irrationalism completely fascinating.

I always wonder: why did I do this again?

Cats, lots and lots of cats...

I bounce back and forth over flying "professionally" after I wrap up with the Air Force. The biggest thing here is that I would have a pension (hopefully), really cheap health insurance and a side gig that I have been moderately successful at to pay all the bills and maintain my current standard of living...so I wouldn't have to worry too much about the inevitable pay cut. It doesn't hurt that the wife makes decent scrilla too. If it wasn't for the pension, I don't think I would even be considering it...outside doing anything other than being a professional instructor.

You know, I often hear people say that the airline lifestyle is good for a single person but I still can't see how one would make it work even with zero debt. Between rent(1000-1200), gas + tolls(500), and food(600) there just isn't going to be any disposable income. If anything, you would be burning cash monthly. After how many years at a regional can one expect to get a decent salary?

I used to live in the northeast so I can feel your pain (and I was in the cheapo NE, Hartford). One option is to get to a cheaper city, especially with the option of commuting to work. I'm in Denver and it's considerably more interesting and cheaper than just about any city in the NE. You can also live with your parents, a crashpad will only cost you a couple hundred dollars a month for the days you're on reserve. I found living in a crashpad for a short time wasn't all that bad a few days a week. Sort of like being back in a dorm again. Granted, I wouldn't want to do it for more than a year or two. That takes care of rent.

Gas and tolls, leave the northeast and you don't have to worry about tolls anymore. When I was flying I don't think I spent more than about a hundred dollars on gas a month. You must be driving an hour each way to work in a hummer if costs you $500 in gas a month. Get a cheap car that gets good mileage, like an old civic hatchback.

Food, that will get you. I have to concede your point there. There are ways to lessen the blow though. I made sure that I rarely went out to eat when I was an FO. I always packed a lunch and brought food with me on trips. This had an added advantage of helping me maintain a healthy diet. If you work at an airline that gives you per diem (Colgan didn't at the time I was an FO) that means you can keep a couple hundred dollars a month to yourself.

How many years? Who knows, seriously. I was only an FO for a year and a half, I made about $18,000 and $21,000 (if it would have lasted the whole year) respectively. I upgraded during my second year and jumped up to about $42,000, a liveable wage if you're single. I wasn't and I had a new baby, with daycare at a $1000 a month I was only making about a $100 a month more with the upgrade. I lasted another year and quit flying to stay home with my son (and now daughter too!). I came to the point that I no longer liked being away from home, or flying at all for that matter. At that point all the bs associated with the job became unbearable.

If you truly love to fly, especially for an airline, then you can make it happen on fo pay. If you're careful you can even live well. Don't forget about the fringe benefits of working for an airline. You can fly anywhere for free, visit old friends in cool cities, couch surf, go to hostels etc. See the world and really only pay for food. If you're senior enough, bid reserve and start a side business. Get it to a profitable point and you can quit your job when it starts to really suck.

I CFI'd for 2 years after college (mixed with random manual labor jobs for spare cash), and blew through a few grand in savings. As I saw the bank account getting low, I realized I couldn't do it anymore. Eventually the money would run out. I moved across the country and took a dispatch job that paid a steady salary, and flew a couple times a month with friends to try and stay current. I left the dispatch job (couldn't stand it) and took another aviation-related desk job that pays a good salary for the region I live in, and worked out an arrangement where I can work a flexible schedule so I can CFI whenever I want. Now I have an arrangement where I can build my hours and experience up(only at 800/100 or so), and still have a solid job to fall back on when the weather turns or there aren't any students. I realize I got very lucky to find an arrangement like this, but the moral of the story is that there are ways to be able to fly (even if you're low time) and not starve at the same time.

The pay does suck but it's the people who accept the job with said conditions who maintain the status quo. Flying airplanes has an inherent enjoyment and regardless of how crappy the job is from time to time, I still absolutely love flying airplanes and that is the extra mental bonus I take home in addition to my paycheck. If it is worth it, then come on in. If it is NOT worth it, then not don't accept the job. If enough people do not accept the job under the terms offered, then the market will have NO CHOICE but to offer more pay (Note: the LACK of government interference/regulation required to "fix" the "situation.")

That said, living on first year pay was rough and sucked a whole lot but I was able to manage even with all of my debt and even able to have fun with my fellow broke pilots in my base once a week or so.

A few things I did...
-BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET!!! Spend every $ of your paycheck before you even get it on THE BARE ESSENTIALS you need to get by. Cable / internet / beer / nights out / parties may seem pressing at the time but they are NOT ESSENTIALS.
-USE ONLY CASH!!! It is soo easy to overspend when you don't have to fork over 3 twenty $ bills for a night out. Cash hurts = you usually spend less.
-I chopped up the credit cards. Having several pilots licenses on them... enough said about their amounts.
-I sold a lot of my crap that I bought when money was no object (about $2,000 worth of stuff). Since I was unable to sell my motorcycle, I rode it through the ENTIRE Portland Oregon winter to and from the airport. 10 miles each way, 5 days a week. I may have been thought of as an idiot but 25 MPG vs 70 MPG allowed me to actually afford the payment AND eat.
-Learning to cook helped too.

The pay sucks, but the fun I had during my first year of being a REAL commercial pilot, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I am soooooo close to finishing "Baby step #2" I can taste it!!!

I don't know where you're living but you could probably come down on the rent amount if you had a roommate. If you're living in the NE and based at one of the biggies like EWR, JFK, BOS, etc, you could try living in the city and ditching your wheels and save a TON of money. As others have said, you can fly ANYWHERE you want to on your time off, and if you found a inexpensive roommate situation in Manhattan while being based at EWR, do you really need a car in NYC? As for food, eating out will kill you every time.

Woohoo! Technically I'm past that as I have more in savings than I owe but since I'm on a job hunt I really like the extra liquidity and that 2% student loan really aint killing me. But, after I land my next gig it's going to be gone very soon.....

Well, it seems like an awful lot of sacrifices one has make in addition to having no debt. I'm sure it can be done but is it really worth it? I guess it all depends on the individual's circumstances.

I make just under $80k a year, and I'm on these forums trying to research how I can get out of the Flight Engineer seat (I fly full time for the Air Guard) and get into the Civilian Pilot's seat. The more I read about the money in the civilian world for newbie pilots, the more I have to ask myself "WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?"

But...I'll probably jump off the pier, just like the rest of y'all. :-/

On the upside, I still can make more as a weekend warrior once I give up the full time gig than most people seem to be making at their full time pilot gig while low timers. I fly with a Regional FO who makes $50k or so at the job sucking up his FO time, and then goes to fly Drill or AFTP's with us, and drags in Lieutenant Colonel pay...bagging all PIC time in a 4 engine turboprop.

Strange business, this aviation thing.