How old are you and what you do in real life? How you afford your gaming?

@skektek: I worked in call centers before for 5 years so I That's why I keep getting hired because I have a lot of experience and know how to sell myself. I just hate it with a passion, but they are the only one who keep calling me back.

@Nick3306:

damn, congrats man

was CS hard? I wanted to study the same thing, but i hated numbers, so i was like nah man...

Seeing some of the replies in this thread makes me feel more grateful for the situation I'm in. It's good to finally put some backstory to some of the characters on this site. One of the best SW threads in awhile. No bashing. Just people sharing how we all afford gaming:)

@howmakewood: is the insinuation that I don't have a Master's degree.

How you liking New York? I'm 26 as well, I'm a Bartender here in Orlando, but I'm moving to New York City in January with my girl as well to continue with my acting

I used to live in Orlando! Small world. I live just outside the city, but I really like it. City's crazy, though. Wouldn't want to live in the heart of it.

just wondering when you have 10 years of experience at that age, thats all

I live in New York as well. I can tell you NY is awesome! Tons of great place to dine and lots of night life. Full of Arts and Music. The only down side is the cost of living are pretty damn high here!

If you live outside the city it isn't actually that bad. In the city, though... whew. Expensive.

That is also depends on which part of the outside city. Some area in Queens and Brooklyn can go pretty crazy when it comes to price to buy or rent.. Also the Subway price is getting out of hand!! Other than that I love NY lol

That's true. I live in Westchester and it's not bad, but I do rent an apartment in a private residence.

Oh yeah Westchester is nice area. Hope you enjoy New York! No other places like it lol

23, still a college student and hope to become a teacher or translator someday.

Haha small world indeed! Yeah, I've known New York to be quite expensive, but my girlfriend & I actually got a pretty good deal on an apartment, her best friend lives in Queens, and her mom actually owns the apartment complex there, so we'll have a 1 bed/1bath that will be available to us in January, once the prior tenants leave. I'm just saving up and possibly selling my car before heading up there to buy a monthly train pass

@howmakewood: I started working at a Catholic school. Because of the high school and college I went to they had high expectations and a confidence that I would succeed in the classroom. Catholic schools across the country at that time didn't require certification, but many preferred it.

Worked there for 3 years, full time teacher and student, busted my ass to get certified and moved on to public/charter schools since.

There are tons of teacher certification programs like Teach for America and NY Teahing Fellows that allow recent graduates to teach full time while working on their Master's/certification though.

The gentrification in certain areas of the city is also making it difficult or many city residents to stay in their communities. I live in DUMBO right now (right next to the Brooklyn Bridge in downtown Brooklyn) and my rent is 3K a month for a one bedroom apartment. We're moving soon to a 2 bed, on the outskirts of Bedstuy (an area that is being severely genrtified) for the same price.

@skipper847:
For the record I'm male (like the majority of users here). And let me tell you, it's not easy to work in this field because of it. It's an antiquated notion to be sure, but nothing that can be changed overnight. I've been doing this long enough to know how to ease parents' concerns, however, so it's not such a burden anymore.

I've been looking to find work elsewhere for some time, but with little success.

God Bless you! 1 bed Room Apartment can easily cost you like $1200 to $1400 in Queens lol

Right next to Brooklyn Bridge?? That is the most expensive area in Brooklyn.. ouch!! Yeah 3K. not surprise at all!

Nothing is hard if you truly have a passion for it.

Thanks man, it's in the past, for better or worse.

I am a 32 year old General physician working at children's ER.

Pay is okayish but too many expensive hobbies are getting me broke so fast.

With the work and the shifts I can hardly touch my games so handhelds are Godsens.

28, customer service for a broadband company in Stockholm. The job could be more fun (as in there could be less people yelling at me and more things for me to do), but the pay is OK. I can afford everything I want in gaming. I'm on the lookout for something else, so we'll see where I end up.

33, maintenance technician. The work is varied and the pay is alright.

28. I help out the severely mentally disabled at a high school.

Pay is enough to get by in San Diego but video games is my only hobby that cost money so when I have leftover it is to buy videogames.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with getting an associates degree or taking a rudimentary class to get your feet wet and yourself back up to speed.

I normally don't talk to appliance but ummm hi I guees

lol JK.

Ya nothing wrong with that at all, in fact, that is usually a much better idea than groin into something at a university only to realize you don't want to do it.

31, Electrical Engineer in Aus, work mostly in the mining industry on heavy power. Pay is awesome when working on site, when in the office pay is probably about average for engineers I suppose.
Not much money going into gaming at the moment, mostly into wedding planning (WOOT!).

23, Musician. In a band- dont have a "real job". Because of touring /band commitments I occasionally teach private lessons/freelance in other ways when I have time off. When I'm not on the road / in studio / blah blah music business, I'm gaming. It's all i'm doing. I graduated with a Music Business degree (technically fine arts degree- not business degree)

And yes my yearly earnings are shit. I make 34% of a penny per Spotify stream, and no one buys music anymore- Which means I typically live below the poverty line and have to be very creative with my gaming purchases. (Buy used game from Gamestop /beat it/ return in 7 days for refund)

I'm 33 I'm a product manager.

In the past I worked in the game industry as a games journalist; I contributed to various magazines and web sites. I'm looking to get back into that gig, actually (just stretching my legs a little right now - see my signature for the evidence). :-)

In terms of games, I guess I'd say that my biggest problem is time rather than money. I buy far too many games (and now I'm back into retro collecting...what a money drain!), and I don't actually get time to play them enough. So I end up with a big backlog of stuff to play.

41 Operations Manager for IT company working in schools. I pay for all my fun stuff through match betting and football/horse trading.

Kids at pokemon/minecraft age so while I might game its rarely what I want to play.

Full time gynecologist, part time cow proctologist treating massive SW butthurt. lol :P

54, purchasing manager.

Just turned 30 last month, and have a three-month old baby daughter. Currently work in a night shift IT support job. I earn money both from work as well as tenants who are renting one of my houses (I own two houses - one for renting out to other people, and for me and my wife to live in it).

16 and thinking about going into business or computer science. Parents pay for games but I barely ask for it anyways...used to buy $60 games but they're now $80.....definitely working next year.

I think I'm the youngest here.

@clyde46: hey, passed my class 2 yesterday but took a few attempts and a few days extra training, so the money I had saved for my class1 has been dried up.

I have money left for my CPC so I can apply for roles, class 2 for now.

What types of work would you recommend for class 2 ?

I do have bid vest lined up currently, I know its hard work and you spend most your time picking, but its a start to get experience and its well paid.

I'm open and eager for any work though.

22, about to start working full time in retail. I make enough to pay rent and utilities (in conjunction with my GF, we split everything). For gaming, I almost never buy anything at full price unless I really, really want it. Usually wait for sales, price drops, or used copies. For instance, I dropped thirty bucks and got eight games on the recent Steam Halloween sale.

I'm 25 and just got out of the Navy, I was a Junior Officer. Now I'm changing careers to be a Data Analyst, I can't wait to start. I saved up a lot of money so I can afford to play games.

25 part time courier viagra and suppository to the elderly but mostly I stay behind to dispatch the drivers, hoho. Pays enough to eat, and if I have enough than I'll buy something cheap like forza horizon 3 $20, thanks Target for the mistake :D

This thread is over three months old. Why it is bumped?

28, all-round animator and graphic designer.
Pay for gaming by working obviously. Unfortunately gaming a lot less these days because of work as well obviously.

The upside is that I occasionally work on small games for clients.

Well I missed this thread the first time round so nice to see some of the stories behind the names,

anyway 26, office manager for a construction firm, basic pay is okay but performance based bonuses help a lot.

I'm 45 and I'm unemployed I don't buy buy that many games as much as I did when I was younger and I worked for 20 years before I lost my job so I have saved enough cash to buy these systems for instance xbox one and sony ps4 pro and I have quite a few insurance policies that I still haven't touched yet so its all good

I was wondering the same thing.