I am looking at possibily making the move to a oil field frac co. The spot I am looking at is a Etech to start and hopefully there is some lateral movement for promotion in the future. The hours are 12-13 hours onsite for 14 days and you can figure a extra 1-4 hours of driving a day from my house to location followed by a week off and I wont have to move. The starting pay is way low at 17.00/hr compared to my salary at current job. The only reason I would make way more is because of the sheer number of hours worked a day and 2 hours of paid drive time a day.

But the biggest wildcard here is family time or lack thereof seeing as our baby is 6 months old and I am very family oriented.

How does it work for those of you with kids and a good family life is it worth it in the end if bills are paid now. Theres just not much left afterwards

 

Never worth it just working your and your kids youth away. If you wanna put those hours in, it's just smarter to go to school full time and end up with a better life for you and your family. Pretty easy to find a cynical person who is in their 40s-50s who is just angry and missed out on everything. Sure their bills were paid but what does it all matter in retrospect? I will say this. A guy in my reserve unit took a job with Haliburton in Elmendorf last year. He makes a ton of money but now spends his money drinking himself under and is divorced. He was kicked out of the reserves also. Not saying that working hard is a bad thing but anything that literally consumes your life with all those hours can't be a good anything for anyone close to you.

 

Like anything- it's all about balance. People are quick to point out you are gone but forget your home for that week solid.

I travel for work- a lot. Not oilfield but probably as much.

Still- I get just as much quality time with my kids. I get to attend as much of their stuff now than I did when I worked in town. Probably more. Working normal hours are just that- normal. I can plan around pretty much anything and get to meet them at school for lunch, spend time with them after school- stuff like that.

It's on you to make sure you make good use of your time. You can easily spend that week in the garage and never see your kid.

Not sure if oil field will give you that flexibility or not.

 

My wife and I have kicked it around 9 ways from sunday and I'm pretty much at the same conclusion. The extra money would be great but at what cost to our family life and time does it come. My wife heard the numbers and kinda can't see the forest for the trees type deal and doesn't quite understand my reasoning behind questioning the job vs family time. I have a good solid job decent benefits and pay is acceptable wife lost her job of 7 years after the baby arrived and it hurt the bottom line a bunch. That's the only reason I started looking at the oil field and this particular job came as a recommendation by a family member. We could pack up and move to Houston or dallas and put my degree to work for us but we choose to stay here mainly because of the small town atmosphere and great schools. That and when both of us were working we weren't getting rich but the bills were paid and able to put some back into savings. We adjusted cutback on things and have been doing ok financially not going to buy a yacht anytime soon but enough to keep the lights on and all the bills paid just not much left over every week.

 

I make nothing,but im family rich.
I guess it all comes down to which rich you want to be

 

Ditto.

I did 1 tour in the patch and the money was awesome. That said, Im a family man and that life aint for me. Several of my friends do, 2 are single and 1 is married +1 kid but he put his years in (11+) and now doesnt travel quite as much.

 

Also- remember that things change.

Ironically I was in the same boat. Wife and I worked, quit her job when first baby came and I had to start traveling to be able to pay for the kid, house and cars.

She and I decided that rather than put the kids in day care I would continue to travel so they could be raised at home. It's worked out great and don't regret it at all. Now that they are both in school she feels a little more comfortable going back to work and is starting slowly.

My point was- you may just be paying the bills now but if your saving some then you are doing better than most. Things change- quicker than you might think. Now that I am getting older I realize it. 10 years ago when my first kid was born and we live a completely different lifestyle now. Not rich by any means but much more comfortable, bigger house, etc.

You don't need to make all your money now. You have plenty of time to work. In 10 years it's going to feel like your kid was born yesterday. I assume 20 years will be the same.

 

I just made the switch to a different field. I will make more hourly now, but probably less throughout the year due to less overtime, BUT I will be working 4-10's vs working on an on call basis with NO set schedule, working 0 hours some weeks and 90+ other weeks just to balance it out, it's a valuable tradeoff to me, and I don't even have a family...

 

You're thinking it through and that's more than most. You already mentioned moving to where you could use your degree. Those papers are about as valuable as their ink anyway. That said, Plano is good and has good schools... just sayin' ...

What do we do with our money? Spend it... I decided my budget was adequate and passed on the fields. My ex went and she didn't last long... nor did our relationship. It's NOT fun out there and if you have a well paying job(pays your bills and has a future), put stock in that.

Plus, oil work pays well, to be sure. It also moves around and keeps you awake... till you're beat. The last thing you want is to leave your wife and kids because you worked so much to get ahead... then fell asleep at the wheel and died in the crash.

 

I compare it to the military. Sure the pay is good but you miss so much valuable time with your family. I told my wife I wouldn't get married or have kids until I got out. Now I'm out and am a full time student. Sure I put a lot of hours into that but I'm home with my family all the time and haven't missed a moment of my three month old daughters life. On the other hand, my buddy just got back from a tour. I couldn't imagine how it feels to miss seven out of your child's first 9 months. And that comment about a degree being worth the ink is very true if you are referring to an Arts, Business, or most online universities. Get a skilled degree (engineering, medical, teaching, or most science degrees) and the chances of you breaking your back in the oil field are almost nonexistent.

 

When did military pay become good? For officers, it's awesome... enlisted... sucks by comparioson. That's why I firmly believe officer pay increases should be no more than the LOWEST enlisted pay annual increase, for at least the next 15yrs. That could save the military enough to KEEP each and every officer they're currently throwing out! :off topic: though.

Anyway... it may or may not surprise you, but "oil field trash"can earn 75k annually without killing themselves. If you wanna work, and work outside, you can do really well in the fields. If you make more already, doing something else... why leave??? I'd have to despise my job to take a pay cut and hit the fields. That said, I've actually considered coming out of retirement to see about an operator job laying pipe(no pun intended). My brother went out as a helper and busted his ****(he was already in his 40's), but took home over $1,200 per week. It was a short term thing though. His operator was making about double that. Good pay, but you've GOT to be willing to pick up and leave. I'm just a little rusty on the equipment... haven't run any to speak of since '07. It's REALLY tempting to go to the fields for that pay.

 

I spent several months in England, made a **** ton of money (16k per month) but it was not worth it. I love being home with my 10 year old boy. Getting ready to do it again in Norway. But at least I can save up some money to do something for them when I get back. Not looking forward to it, but the money will be nice. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do...

 

Another thought is try to get a gig working in rotation East Africa. I have a friend that did that, like 4 weeks on, 2 weeks home. After about 1 year he bought a Ford Powerstroke w/ diesal and an RV, paid cash for both.

 

"Oil Field Trash" can make a ton more than 75k. My neighbor goes offshore and twist wrenches for a living, and he does every bit as well as I do with my engineering degree.

 

Calm down there man. I never said e pay was the best but it's consistent money and when you deploy it's big bucks. And don't put words in my mouth. I never said oil field trash. I understand just as well as anyone what hard work is and I've performed duties far exceeding even the most arduous job on the field. But let's be honest, its prettying are to say the oil field isn't full of America's most intelligent or capable. Pretty comparable to the general human resources pool in the military. Anyway Htown when you're in your later years, your neighbor will be arthritic and beaten and you'll be WAY better off. This thread has gotten a bit off topic.

 

That was my whole point... 75k with little effort and plenty more with serious effort.

You totally misinterpreted what I said... almost 100%, actually.

 

Working in the oilfield can have different effects on different people so listening to someone else's opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. There are plenty of people that are very happy working in the oilfield and others that are miserable doing the exact same job, it all depends on you and your outlook. I've worked for an offshore company for lhe last 14 years and have enjoyed it for the most part. I was offshore for 12 of those 14 years and the last two years have been in the office. When I started I was single with no kids so it was a no brainer to go work offshore, good money, only work 6 months out of the year, etc. When I met my wife I was working offshore so that was all we knew. I have been working in the office for the last 2 1/2 years, home every night and free on the weekends to spend time with the family. Now I am returning offshore for another company and it is much more difficult to leave my family for a month at a time now than the first time I was offshore, however I would rather sacrifice my time to give my wife and kids the life they deserve.

That's my perspective on things. One thing you have to consider is your relationship with your wife. Will your relationship survive without you being there all of the time. Personally I think mine is better when am gone for a while. There has to be trust and honesty between the both of you or jealousy/insecurity will be the demise of your relationship.

 

I have a 2.5yr old and a 6month old. I was in the field for about 6months for my first child then came back into the office. Money was awesome but I was working 21/7 babies changes are soo drastict at that age. He was changed a little bit every time I was gone. I've been thinking about going back to the field as both the PSL's i work with now are on 14/7 one gets paid on the days off and the other doesnt. The 14/7 I did before my first son was born and it was great the wife and I got along great the little time away goes super fast and the wife missed me while I was gone so the return was nice . To each there own, the 14/7 goes very fast both ways days on fly by but the days off do to.

Hope this made sence or helped you in any way, any questions hit me up.

 

You better think long and hard about it.

 

If you are in a position where your family situation necessitates you bringing in the cash, then do what is necessary to get your situations squared away.

But if you are in a good situation already, there isn't any amount of money that will give you a better return than the return you receive on the investment in your relationship with your wife and child.

I have kinda been in both situations......I would rather scrape by and see my kids come into their own and grow the relationship with my wife than spend any additional time with my coworkers.....