Cleaning Service Professionals versus Computer Software Engineers

Friday 9/16/2005

Computer Software Engineer
Lets assume that the average salary of a Computer Software Engineer with 3 years of experience is $100,000.

Pre-tax salary per week = 100,000/52 = $1,923

Lets assume that an average software engineer only works 40 hours a week.
Pre-tax salary per hour = 1,923/40 = $48

So an average Software Engineer makes $48 per hour pre-tax. Lets jump ships and look at a Cleaning Service Professional.

Cleaning Service Professionals
Cleaning professionals usually charge based on the size of the home ranging from $50/hr for a small condo/flat all the way up to $150/hr for a huge 5 bedroom house.

Another point to note about cleaning professionals is that they take payments in cash. Their only expense more than a software engineer is gas.

As I've made myself pretty clear, software engineers making $100,000 or less can make more money by opening a cleaning service. A point to note is that students graduating from college with a Computer Science degree are paid the most among all majors at entry level jobs.

Write code in C,C++, Java, etc. and feel like you've achieved a big thing or make more money cleaning homes without spending $60k in college for four years.

Thinking oil prices? Think California. "Oh wait, Katrina"

California has the highest oil prices in all of US throughout the year. However, hurricane Katrina brought disaster and oil prices were touching $4 in almost all parts of the country. Guess what though? California had the cheapest oil prices at this time and people were very happy about it. Amazing how things work sometimes.

Are you thinking house prices now? Think Bay Area California. In Oct 2005, an average 2-bedroom condo costs over $450k. I've read enough articles about the fact that the california housing market is in a bubble right now. But a lot of people have made huge amounts of money from this bubble already and a lot are still making it. It is not easy (if not impossible) for a newbie to come settle in Bay Area California. And guess what, folks evacuating from Katrina hit areas are being brought to San Jose. I guess its good for them if they're going to be given free housing, but I doubt it! How much can these folks claim from the insurance companies - probably none since natural disaster insurance costs quite a lot. Those who flee before Katrina hit may have had insurance but the ones suffering are the poor. Its a horrifying disaster.

If you would like to make a donation, please visit the American Red Cross website at http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html and make your gift to "Hurricane 2005 Relief”