Comments on: Book Review: Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting by in America

By: Customers Revenge

Customers Revenge — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:09:22 +0000

This book was no good in any way. I read it hoping to follow an interesting adventure in which some great unfairness was exposed and my view on life would change.

The author was simply a person who looked for anonymous jobs for which she wasn’t qualified and blamed other people. She had no specific goals except apparently to try a bunch of motivational speakers. Lo and behold, she didn’t accomplish much. She pretended she had experience she didn’t and was suprised that there were no job offers. Her conclusions were that nobody can find a white-collar job.

Just get a skill. If your current job involves no real skill then you ARE in danger of being surplus and you will find it hard to convince someone else to hire you.

For example, suppose you’re a first line supervisor and you get let go. Other companies would probably like to promote supervisors from within because the people have specific experience, so you’re not going to just into a supervision position right away especially if the new place is not just like the old place. So you do a stint, get the experience, and move up.

By: Canadian Dream

Canadian Dream — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:06:34 +0000

George,

I have yet to read that book, but I’ll have to look for a copy.

Trevor,

Very true.

Elizabeth,

Thanks for the feedback. I agree she didn’t seem to make much of an effort to improve her situation. Perhaps because she knew it was only going to be a month.

Tim

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:00:45 +0000

I read this book a few years ago and still think about it from time to time. One thing that struck me was how tiring the jobs seemed to be and how little energy she had left to deal with the struggles of her daily existence.

I think the experiment would have been stronger had she stayed in one place the whole time. *Of course* she’s going to be one paycheck away from disaster after only a month on the job. It takes time to learn about the cheapest places to live and the cheapest places to shop in a particular city and build up a network of friends with whom you can trade favors.

Your three tips would be a great place to start for anyone in this sort of situation.

By: The Dividend Guy

The Dividend Guy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:03:40 +0000

Don’t read the fliers that we all receive in the daily newspaper – it only let’s us know what we may not have and that can be tough to get over.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:59:15 +0000

1) Do not smoke cigarettes.
2) Do not use drugs or alcohol. At all.
3) The stuff you said.

By: George

George — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:28:18 +0000

A book written in response to Ehrenreich’s book “Nickel and Dimed” is called “Scratch Beginnings” by Adam Shephard – an interview with Shephard appears on Get Rich Slowly, and Shephard was kind enough to send me a copy of his book in PDF form (he’s made the offer to anybody that asks).

Shephard’s goal was similar to Ehrenreich’s, but he started with nothing more than $25, the clothes on his back, and an empty gym bag. Shephard lived in a homeless shelter for a few months, and eventually landed some decent employment and moved upward to better living conditions.

Shephard’s biggest argument is that motivation and optimism are what allow people to achieve the “American Dream”. Ehrenreich didn’t exactly go into her “experiment” with much optimism, and she seemed motivated to prove that her goal was impossible.