Questions on how to support this hobby? Supporting this hobby, what do you do?

[Hachoo]

FYI, your life earnings over the course of your life statistically double with a Bachelor's degree, triple with a Masters, and quadruple with a Doctorate. Has nothing to do with the actual piece of paper, but the factors that got you there. Part of it is the "need money to make money" aspect of life, part of it is your drive and determination, part of it is your intellect, part of it is the prestige that goes with the piece of paper.

That's not to say you won't see extremes. You can get super rich high school graduates, or super poor doctorate holders, but as far as where the bell curve sits, you see those numbers.

I've seen some info that contradicts this lately....

So many recent years employers have demanded college educations but paid mediocer salaries in return - now the people holding the paper are demand premium salaries (while at the same time having zero real world experience), so employers are starting to care less about paper and more about previous experience.

I've worked with college educated people in the past that couldn't' wipe thier own asses, let alone do the job they were hired for.

I've seen the same. I've actually seen quite a few comparisons. Now of course some of this only holds up depending on what you are capable of doing without a degree. However think of it this way... two 18 year olds just graduated high school. Teenager one goes to college. He turns 22 and graduates with a bachelor degree - total earned so far - $0 (of course he might have had some jobs throughout but most likely just to pay for some food etc). At 22, with a bachelor degree but no practical experience, he goes and finds a job that doesn't require any experience at a company where he can work his way up - it pays $36k a year. By the time he is 26, he is now making $55k a year. At 30 he finally gets his big break into upper management and is making $100k/year. It can go beyond this of course, but this is also a good scenario, a lot of people with a bachelor degree may never even see $55k a year.

Teenager number two does not go to college. At 18 he gets a job in a helpdesk making $35k a year. At 22 he is now a full time system admin making $50k a year. At 26 hes a Sr. admin making $75k a year, and at 30 he has now been making $95k a year for a couple years.

By 30, teenager 1 with a bachelor degree has made $364k total and is now making $100k/year. However, he had to pay back $50k in student loans so his total made is ~$314k.

By 30, teenager 2 without a bachelor degree has made $680k. He is also now making $95k/year.

By the time both people retire, theres a decent chance they'll have made the same amount or even that the teenager that didn't go to college made more.

Of course this is one example and the variables can all be wildly different depending on the scenario. Just want to show that having a degree isn't always going to mean you will make more money over the course of your life. I will also say that IT is really the one major field (aside from entrepreneurship) where this can happen and happens a lot. Most fields, having the 4 year degree will earn you more over the course of your life.

I don't have a bachelor degree (or any college degree), but I am a firm believer in most people getting one. Sometimes though I wonder if it is worth it. I have a cousin who is 23 that graduated with a bachelor degree last year and hes making $33k right now, 1 year after graduating with a degree. He will move up eventually but hes not going to be at the $100k mark any time in the next 10 years if ever.