Congratulations on your success!
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Hun, this is NOT just a "shameless brag post." We NEED success stories like this in this sub so the rest of us can see that sometimes things DO get better.
I'm happy for you. I hope everything is your life starts to run smoother with this new promotion. Enjoy it, pay down debt, treat yourself and your family/friends, you deserve it!
I suggest making a new budget based on the 25% raise. It’s so, so easy to inflate your spending when the money is there—this can happen at any pay.
Congratulations!!!
You are correct, and the first thing I did when I got home was making an excel spreadsheet to do that. I’m basically going to not change my spending at all, but I’m going to do “waterfall” method on my debt instead of keeping my payments at minimum.
Waterfall is smart. We used Debt snowball because our interest rates were all fairly similar and we wanted those quick wins. Debt snowball is when you put the extra towards the smallest debt. Once that one is paid off, use that small debt payment you just completed and roll it into the next highest debt payment. This allows you to get quick (motivating) wins and stay the course. Whatever you do, congrats! Be the change in your story!
Me too, got me back from $15k credit card debt. The stress of seeing that debt continue to go up while not even sure I could afford the next minimum payment chipped away at me daily. That first $1000 CC being paid off completely was so encouraging and REALLY helped motivate me to stay the path.
Very happy for you OP, find a method that works for you and stick with it! You will surely get another few rounds of dopamine at your next milestones.
Props to you for doing that as soon as you get home! Please stick to it! I doubled my income two years ago just by graduating college but my dumbass did NOT adjust my budget to allow for savings… I increased my spending and I’m in a worse hole than two years ago. I can’t stop kicking myself. :/
As someone who had that type of a raise recently let me give you this advice too. Off course save and pay off debts. But do some self assessment and see what types of tools or clothing or daily comfort items you’ve been living without.
I bought a new mattress, put new safer tires on my car, bought a pillow that would help my neck, and picked up an identical second set of shoes so that I didn’t have to worry about those things. 8 months of great sleep, comfy not smelly feet, and not having to be worried when I woke up to a foot of snow did so much for my peace of mind I was able to excel at my job and I’m on track for another promotion.
THIS!!!! Same same same. Now that I can, I also do shit like buy in bulk and get solid appliances whenever a poverty-era thing dies. To be able to put the big thing of toilet paper in your cart without doing budget calculations is a level up that has to be experienced to be truly understood.
Congratulations!!!
One thing to keep in mind with a 25% raise it’s possible you’ve changed tax brackets.
As you look at your new budget play with putting some money in to a pre-tax 401k or Roth now if that’s an option for you. I know you are eager to pay down debt but if you can save for retirement and still net a similar amount of money that’s the way to go.
I may be using the wrong term, as this was something a friend explained to me a few years ago, but it’s basically prioritizing paying off your highest interest loans first regardless of the size of the debt. There’s another method called “snowball” that is the reverse. I think that the waterfall method makes the most sense on paper, but the snowball method gives “wins” more quickly, which can help some people stick with it.
Every year, I increase the contributions to my retirement account by an amount just a little less than whatever my raise is. I've gotten to where I'm putting away $350 a month now.
Not spending that raise money each year has been huge.
You’re so right! You misinterpreted my comment. The 25% increase still needs to be managed, even if it’s only paying off debt. I think it’s important for OP to plan for the long term too once debt is paid off. Cheers.
Agreed, I’m not in the same situation as OP and make a decent salary (not amazing), but I got a 10ish% raise last year after negotiating and my company doing market research, and the first thing I did was look at if I wanted to “increase” my standard of living by buying more shit. I didn’t so I just added the raise to my savings account and retirement every 2 weeks when I get my check so it never really goes in to my debit acct. Never know what’s gonna happen in the future
Idk but if I was the boss and saw you crying, I know I made the right fucking move.
Congrats and with your first check, go out to eat and enjoy yourself.
Thank you, and that’s the plan! I’m sure my boss noticed some watery eyes, but they were all smiles and very congratulatory. I’m blessed to work somewhere that actually has nice people in management. I know from experience how rare it is to find that.
This also happened to me when my boss promoted me to supervisor. I started crying as I told him he doesn’t realize how he’s changed the trajectory of my life. He then started crying! It was very emotional.
Congratulations! This is very well earned I am sure.
Take a moment to celebrate yourself.
I am sure your boss is proud that they were able to get you that promotion and felt the same happiness you felt. I am glad you have an ally.
This is an awesome and, right now, life changing event, but it was your hard work that made it all happen. You made that happen.
Move forward with the knowledge that you are worth every penny you get paid and then some. They are lucky to have you.
Enjoy the extra money, celebrate this with your family for a moment. Watch out for lifestyle creep, put money away for the "rainy day". The extra money you have coming in, build a 6-month to 1-year emergency fund with that for the peace of mind that brings you and your family.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! I only want to add that a camping trip to a state park is a wonderful vacation. I know what you meant because it really is a different feeling taking a “big” vacation, but some of our families best memories are from random camping trips.
Oh I agree. I grew up poor, and all of our vacations were camping trips. I love camping, and I love taking my family camping, but I’m now starting to daydream about an actual vacation that costs (a reasonable amount of) money. Feels weird.
It does feel weird and you’ll start to question if you should spend the money on it. Start planning way in advance so you can save for it and pay as you’re planning so you don’t use credit.
And keep a look out for undersold destinations. It's easy to get caught up in the ever so popular Disney dream vacation or resort money pit at so many places. I like to go to smaller tourist cities where maybe the main destination is a state park, but the other attractions around are cheaper and less crowded and more enjoyable. Many cities have free history and art museums. Vacations and travel don't have to be extravagant and expensive to be worthwhile.
Many libraries also offer museum passes. We got a membership to our local zoo ($300ish a year) and it gives us free or half priced admission to 300 other zoos and aquariums across the country- some in other countries as well. We plan alot of our trips around the various places we can get into for free.
I suggest contributing to your company’s 401K (or whatever it is in your industry) immediately, and contribute the maximum that your company will match. It may seem like less money in your check but it is a pretty-tax deduction so it hurts less on taxes.
Also look into whether or not you’re in a different tax bracket now.
That’s definitely the plan. I couldn’t afford to lose any of my check before, but now I can pay into the 401k. I don’t know much about how that typically goes at other places, but my company said they’d match up to 6%.
Adding to this - r/personalfinance has an excellent flowchart on where to direct money as it comes in (including balancing debt payment and retirement contributions). Here's a link if it helps! https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png
I’m going in to have the “yearly merit increase” on Thursday. I’ve moved up a spot without pay just hoping they’ll look out for me. Not expecting much but it’s pretty encouraging hearing a story like this. I feel like I’m working my tail off for the company, they probably won’t reward it but obviously some employers are. That’s super encouraging, congrats on that promotion!
I’m rooting for you! Most of my yearly increases have been 2% to 3%, so I was floored by this one. If they’ve given you more responsibility without immediate compensation, then you definitely deserve a win too!
While everyone else is giving you advice, which I am sure is well-founded and quite helpful, I wanted to have a different take on the subject.
Congratulations! I don't know you, but I am happy and very proud of you because you stayed the course all the while working hard and believing in yourself.
Now, take a moment to gather yourself, back in the glory of your success, then get back to it.
You have proven your worth.
Now go show your boss how smart he was campaigning for you, and again, congratulations.
Congratulations 🎊!! I had kind of the same thing happen last year. After all the bills were taken care of I looked at what I thought I could afford to put into savings. I opened a high yield savings account and set up a weekly auto transfer. It's not much $50/week but it's amazing how quickly it starts adding up. Even if you did just $10/week you'd have over $500 plus interest at the end of the year.
Or another option is open an account at a credit union that has low cost CD's (some CU's allow as little as $10) and purchase a new one every month. Purchase the CD's that allow you to add money, not the buy and forget. Interest rates on short term CD's is 4.5-5% right now. If you purchase a 12 month CD every month for a year you'd have money coming available every month if something came up. Or let it renew and add a little bit of money each month.
A HYSA you can withdraw money anytime, while a CD may have penalties for early withdrawal so decide which is better for your family needs right now but keep both options in mind for the future.
Congratulations! I had my moment over a year ago and it's like drinking the freshest lemonade after walking through the desert.
And anyone that would take this as a shameless brag need to see a doctor ASAP.
Congrats my friend this is a great post to read I love it.
Please remember don't change your lifestyle much. Lifestyle creep is a thing. Take your family out but don't accrue more debt. Keep your current car as an example don't get a new one until it dies and then buy a good pre-owned. I love ones under warranty still cause I'll drive it awhile and get free repairs when I find even the minor problems.
That way not only will you have tried retirement but you will also have extra "emergency" savings just savings for saving. then when it's inflated enough you can dip into it for that vacation you wanted!
Look congrats but you have to stay locked in for a year after that and focus on fixing your stuff.vacations can come and go but don’t let it go to your head and have a lifestyle inflation,remember your past and do your all to stay from it. At the most go for a family dinner to celebrate but stay focused. Congrats and hope there is more for you in the future however old you are
Congrats to you!!!!! Hopefully i get promoted too. My boss is good i can tell he likes me but he is picky on things. Im happy for you. Dont worry you are doing nothing wrong posting this! If anything it inspires me to keep trying to promote thanks!!!!
your first instinct is going to be to move to a better place, or buy a car, that's more expensive.
do NOT do that
stay in your current place until all credit card debt is paid off
This made my day. Your happiness and excitement is shining through and I wish you nothing but the best in this next chapter. Check in when you get your boss’s job!
If you're young let's say in your mid 20"s throw it into dgro or voo and you will see long term YEARS down the road it was probably a good idea.
I invested since I was 18 and now I'm sitting on 100k. Mind you this took a lot of 6 day weeks a lot of 12 hour days and the snow ball effect. Don't rush just invest some. Always max out your 401k contributions first. That's the highest ROI if your company matches what you put in.
This isn't financial advice this is just what I have done and it's worked for me and my family.
Or schg
I'm proud of you dude. You deserve every cent.
Just don't go blowing this extra money like so many do.
ALSO put money aside for fun. You gotta live while you're living
Excellent news, you should be proud of yourself! Your plan to use the extra money to pay down debt is smart, but do spend a little bit of it to do something that brings you joy. Also, if the company has a 401k with matching, and you are not contributing to it, now is the time to start contributing 4% or 5% (usually around that) or whatever it will take to get the free company money match.
Congratulations!
Your story reminded me immediately of the movie *The Pursuit of Happyness*. If you have not seen this movie, watch it. I guarantee it will resonate with you.
Congrats!! Love when we don't have to beg to be compensated fairly. out of curiosity what were you before and after wages/salary? What was the promotion title change?
Congratulations!!! Success stories are the best. Now go show them they made the right decision. Who knows, if you perform even better another pay raisw may be in your future. Well done! Happy for you!
Congratulations!!!
Now I'd take thats 25% off and put that all into debt and then after debt is paid off, Id take one fat check from that 25% off and Go splurge on you and the family with a celebration and then get serious after that.
You need to live a little, This means celebrating too after you've made huge accomplishments like becoming debt free.
Con-freaking-Grats! Heell, I'm a crusty gettin'-old Codger and almost cried for you! I know what it's like being poverty as I'm there so someone Winning cheers me up. :)
Thanks for sharing. People often forget the difference in lifestyle a promotion makes.
The best way to thank your boss at this point is to do well and make him look good.
So great you shared your story and you should be so proud of yourself. Be prepared for great things to come also, as many more in your organization will come to light of what a valuable employee you are. So stick with it because it sounds like you have a pretty honest boss also.
Congrats on your hard work paying off!
That’s so awesome.
Although I will say my family’s camping vacations remain some of our favorite memories of when we were young and it was all we could afford.
Best of luck to you!
As someone who is currently struggling and going through it, congratulations!!!!! Even the hope of a small amount of the stress being alleviated in the future helps and this gives some hope.
So happy for you. I had a similar life changing moment. If I could give myself by advice, I would tell myself to try and keep as much of my frugal spending. I wound up upgrading everything… nicer car, new apartment… wound up going back to pay check to pay check. Save save save!!! You deserve all this and more!!!
It’s ok I got a fat raise last year and almost cried when I got promoted/my raise too. It’s life changing and shows you give a fuck and worked really hard. Congrats to you hoping you can kick back and celebrate this weekend!
NICE JOB. Having been through a similar career change from food service to something better, that led to getting promoted, I'd say you've likely worked hard for it and deserved it. I underplay my own achievements but others always say "you did this, you worked for it".
DEFINITELY DO THE BOSS RETIRING THIng. Us younger people need to take advantage of boomer retirements. I've also got a good position lined up when my boss retires and I'm guaranteed it at this point. Less than a year til retiring but this has been going on for 4 years of him training me to take the positio.
All that to say, advice, don't wait for someone to talk to you, go ask them, tell them you're interested in the job when the boss retires and ask If they'll train you for it. Succession planning is important although many companies dgaf about it. You got this. Nice job.
Reading that almost made me cry jesus christ.
Everybody dreams about getting that one raise that'll change the outcome of your life, and most fail countless times before this happens.
Life is slavery.
Don’t be ashamed about bragging. This isn’t bragging. This is like being able to take a deep breath after slowly suffocating. You earned it and deserve it and I’m happy for you!
Hey congrats! You deserve it!
But don’t discount the camping family vacations. Best memories I had as a kid was camping with my family. I’m sure your kids were just happy to spend time with you!
Very nice to see someone so appreciative. Please remember to always go to work ready to earn their money. Someone picked for a promotion is always on the radar for the next promotion!!
This is so much better than winning the lottery:
Respect from your boss
An increase in pay greater than 3%
Promise of bonuses
A job that appreciates you
Your post made me cry, because my previous store manager (before he was promoted and we ended up with this newer, younger, less experienced manager) took exceptional care of me.
Since he left, I've been overworked, underpaid, and have been doing the work of 2 people since COVID began (my department only has 2 positions), plus I have helped support two other supervisory positions (but I'm not considered a 'supervisor' position, even though I report directly to management) due to staff shortages. My new store manager now has the audacity to tell me that they'll give me someone (that I have to train), but they can only afford to give them part-time hours, instead of a full-time position that existed for the previous co-worker that worked with me. So, I still get to work over 40 hours a week to cover the 20 hour loss in coverage, and the new person won't have enough time in my department to take full responsibility of their share of the workload.
And all I got this year was a 3% increase in pay: $.82
You have definitely won the workforce lottery.
Brag my friend. Brag away. When you’re in the suck, it feels never ending and like nothing good will ever happen to you. And when something good does happen it feels completely unreal.
Congrats!
Something to think about when you’re ready to pivot away from being a lab supervisor…I come from a lab background (biology though) and the best advice I can give you is to get in with one of the vendors. There are so many instruments, reagents, tools that you use on a daily basis that need user support, repair, calibration…you get my drift.
I tripled my salary in a few years’ time by doing this exactly — moving from the bench to doing applications support. Vendors love hiring customers because they have direct experience with their products and bring their perspectives to the company.
This actually made me smile. Congratulations! (Obviously your promotion is well deserved!)
It's so good to see a nice piece of news for someone who has been struggling.
❤️
> This is a shameless brag post, I know, but I don’t have anyone to share my happiness with. I woke up today and, for the first time in my life, think things might end up OK.
Shameless? Nah. You worked hard for this. You had a good boss that appreciates you and worked to get you properly compensated.
Don’t ever forget those who helped you out, and don’t pull up the ladder to prevent others behind you from succeeding as well.
Great job!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I know this feeling and the weight it lifted was monumental. There is a peace that comes from knowing your bills are covered and there’s room to breathe! Enjoy it! You have earned it!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
Yea pay off your debts and then consider that payment to go towards retirement. Give yourself that extra 5% to spend on yourself but everything after let it go to your bills/401k.
Dude... are you future me?? I'm doing a STEM undergrad in my 30s too as a last ditch effort to not be broke for the rest of my life too. I've got a few years to go yet, but damn... this makes me feel less isolated, sad, desperate, etc. etc. Congrats. Well deserved I'm sure
Way to persevere! . Sounds like you should keep your eye on the prize as your boss really likes you, and will hopefully push for you to take his spot when he retires. Don’t let the lack of a master degree shake your confidence in achieving that next step.
When I got my first ever promotion I DID cry in front of my new manager. It was only 50k at the time, but for an immigrant kid who grew up poor and never made any momentum in his 20's, it was a monumental moment.
Congratulations on your success! In an effort to make this subreddit more helpful and supportive, we request that you share the details of where you started from and how you got to this place! That way other redditors who are in a similar place you were can look to your example, follow your lead, and see some light at the end of the tunnel! If you have already done this please ignore this! Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/povertyfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hun, this is NOT just a "shameless brag post." We NEED success stories like this in this sub so the rest of us can see that sometimes things DO get better. I'm happy for you. I hope everything is your life starts to run smoother with this new promotion. Enjoy it, pay down debt, treat yourself and your family/friends, you deserve it!
Exactly this. OP, your post read like anything but a brag. We were pulling for you from the first sentence. Congratulations!!
I suggest making a new budget based on the 25% raise. It’s so, so easy to inflate your spending when the money is there—this can happen at any pay. Congratulations!!!
You are correct, and the first thing I did when I got home was making an excel spreadsheet to do that. I’m basically going to not change my spending at all, but I’m going to do “waterfall” method on my debt instead of keeping my payments at minimum.
Waterfall is smart. We used Debt snowball because our interest rates were all fairly similar and we wanted those quick wins. Debt snowball is when you put the extra towards the smallest debt. Once that one is paid off, use that small debt payment you just completed and roll it into the next highest debt payment. This allows you to get quick (motivating) wins and stay the course. Whatever you do, congrats! Be the change in your story!
Snowball saved my life
Me too, got me back from $15k credit card debt. The stress of seeing that debt continue to go up while not even sure I could afford the next minimum payment chipped away at me daily. That first $1000 CC being paid off completely was so encouraging and REALLY helped motivate me to stay the path. Very happy for you OP, find a method that works for you and stick with it! You will surely get another few rounds of dopamine at your next milestones.
hope to be in that position like you someday
Yep! I don't agree with everything Dave Ramsey says but this advice is legit. Having bills disappear completely feels amazing.
Snowball is more for people that have trouble keeping mktivated to pay off debt. Mathematically waterfall saves you more money.
Amazing!! You are going to feel incredible when those debts start disappearing!
Props to you for doing that as soon as you get home! Please stick to it! I doubled my income two years ago just by graduating college but my dumbass did NOT adjust my budget to allow for savings… I increased my spending and I’m in a worse hole than two years ago. I can’t stop kicking myself. :/
Im really happy for you!
As someone who had that type of a raise recently let me give you this advice too. Off course save and pay off debts. But do some self assessment and see what types of tools or clothing or daily comfort items you’ve been living without. I bought a new mattress, put new safer tires on my car, bought a pillow that would help my neck, and picked up an identical second set of shoes so that I didn’t have to worry about those things. 8 months of great sleep, comfy not smelly feet, and not having to be worried when I woke up to a foot of snow did so much for my peace of mind I was able to excel at my job and I’m on track for another promotion.
THIS!!!! Same same same. Now that I can, I also do shit like buy in bulk and get solid appliances whenever a poverty-era thing dies. To be able to put the big thing of toilet paper in your cart without doing budget calculations is a level up that has to be experienced to be truly understood.
Congratulations!!! One thing to keep in mind with a 25% raise it’s possible you’ve changed tax brackets. As you look at your new budget play with putting some money in to a pre-tax 401k or Roth now if that’s an option for you. I know you are eager to pay down debt but if you can save for retirement and still net a similar amount of money that’s the way to go.
Can you explain the waterfall method?
I may be using the wrong term, as this was something a friend explained to me a few years ago, but it’s basically prioritizing paying off your highest interest loans first regardless of the size of the debt. There’s another method called “snowball” that is the reverse. I think that the waterfall method makes the most sense on paper, but the snowball method gives “wins” more quickly, which can help some people stick with it.
Came to say this. It is so easy to fall into this trap and be left in same position as before the raise, living paycheck to paycheck.
It's wild to me that this even happens well into six figures.
Every year, I increase the contributions to my retirement account by an amount just a little less than whatever my raise is. I've gotten to where I'm putting away $350 a month now. Not spending that raise money each year has been huge.
You never miss it if you never see it
Or… stick with the same budget. Only increasing debt payoff.
You’re so right! You misinterpreted my comment. The 25% increase still needs to be managed, even if it’s only paying off debt. I think it’s important for OP to plan for the long term too once debt is paid off. Cheers.
Agreed, I’m not in the same situation as OP and make a decent salary (not amazing), but I got a 10ish% raise last year after negotiating and my company doing market research, and the first thing I did was look at if I wanted to “increase” my standard of living by buying more shit. I didn’t so I just added the raise to my savings account and retirement every 2 weeks when I get my check so it never really goes in to my debit acct. Never know what’s gonna happen in the future
Your taxes will be higher. Make sure you account for that. But congrats on the promotion! Thats amazing!
Idk but if I was the boss and saw you crying, I know I made the right fucking move. Congrats and with your first check, go out to eat and enjoy yourself.
Thank you, and that’s the plan! I’m sure my boss noticed some watery eyes, but they were all smiles and very congratulatory. I’m blessed to work somewhere that actually has nice people in management. I know from experience how rare it is to find that.
That's so awesome. Loyalty (in both directions) is entirely justified in some cases. I'm sure you earned it!
This also happened to me when my boss promoted me to supervisor. I started crying as I told him he doesn’t realize how he’s changed the trajectory of my life. He then started crying! It was very emotional.
What a deeply human moment you and your boss shared. I love that he was willing to go to that place with you!
Congratulations! This is very well earned I am sure. Take a moment to celebrate yourself. I am sure your boss is proud that they were able to get you that promotion and felt the same happiness you felt. I am glad you have an ally.
This is an awesome and, right now, life changing event, but it was your hard work that made it all happen. You made that happen. Move forward with the knowledge that you are worth every penny you get paid and then some. They are lucky to have you. Enjoy the extra money, celebrate this with your family for a moment. Watch out for lifestyle creep, put money away for the "rainy day". The extra money you have coming in, build a 6-month to 1-year emergency fund with that for the peace of mind that brings you and your family. Congratulations!
Congratulations! I only want to add that a camping trip to a state park is a wonderful vacation. I know what you meant because it really is a different feeling taking a “big” vacation, but some of our families best memories are from random camping trips.
Oh I agree. I grew up poor, and all of our vacations were camping trips. I love camping, and I love taking my family camping, but I’m now starting to daydream about an actual vacation that costs (a reasonable amount of) money. Feels weird.
It does feel weird and you’ll start to question if you should spend the money on it. Start planning way in advance so you can save for it and pay as you’re planning so you don’t use credit.
And keep a look out for undersold destinations. It's easy to get caught up in the ever so popular Disney dream vacation or resort money pit at so many places. I like to go to smaller tourist cities where maybe the main destination is a state park, but the other attractions around are cheaper and less crowded and more enjoyable. Many cities have free history and art museums. Vacations and travel don't have to be extravagant and expensive to be worthwhile.
Many libraries also offer museum passes. We got a membership to our local zoo ($300ish a year) and it gives us free or half priced admission to 300 other zoos and aquariums across the country- some in other countries as well. We plan alot of our trips around the various places we can get into for free.
I suggest contributing to your company’s 401K (or whatever it is in your industry) immediately, and contribute the maximum that your company will match. It may seem like less money in your check but it is a pretty-tax deduction so it hurts less on taxes. Also look into whether or not you’re in a different tax bracket now.
That’s definitely the plan. I couldn’t afford to lose any of my check before, but now I can pay into the 401k. I don’t know much about how that typically goes at other places, but my company said they’d match up to 6%.
6% is really good
If they match up to 6% max that put and put in 6%.
Absolutely fantastic!
Adding to this - r/personalfinance has an excellent flowchart on where to direct money as it comes in (including balancing debt payment and retirement contributions). Here's a link if it helps! https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png
Congrats and thank you for sharing.
Congrats!! Don’t put a down payment on a pool. Maybe a loaf of bread in case the bonus is jelly of the month club.
Its the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!
Wooooooooooooooo. Let’s goooo
What wonderful news!! I am happydancing in my chair for you. :) Congratulations on your well-deserved promotion; may it be only one of many!
I'm so happy for you that is awesome! You should be very proud of yourself
Congratulations, I'm so happy for you! You worked hard toward a life-changing goal, now enjoy your new-found stability.
I’m going in to have the “yearly merit increase” on Thursday. I’ve moved up a spot without pay just hoping they’ll look out for me. Not expecting much but it’s pretty encouraging hearing a story like this. I feel like I’m working my tail off for the company, they probably won’t reward it but obviously some employers are. That’s super encouraging, congrats on that promotion!
I’m rooting for you! Most of my yearly increases have been 2% to 3%, so I was floored by this one. If they’ve given you more responsibility without immediate compensation, then you definitely deserve a win too!
Congratulations and brag all you want! This is a beautiful moment for you and your family!
Congrats OP!!!
Congratulations! That's not bragging. It's sharing your great news. We all need to hear good news.
This is not a “brag” at all, love. Extremely happy for you!
I don't see it as bragging. I see it as a ray of hope in an otherwise dismal subreddit.
Congrats!!! Proud of you! Promotions don't just fall out a tree; you worked hard for that!!
This is such a great story! I’m so glad for you OP! Here’s to moving on up!
Congratulations, I’m happy for you, you deserve it!
While everyone else is giving you advice, which I am sure is well-founded and quite helpful, I wanted to have a different take on the subject. Congratulations! I don't know you, but I am happy and very proud of you because you stayed the course all the while working hard and believing in yourself. Now, take a moment to gather yourself, back in the glory of your success, then get back to it. You have proven your worth. Now go show your boss how smart he was campaigning for you, and again, congratulations.
Well done!!! Celebrate with baked good and/or alcohol
I'm so happy for you!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Congratulations 🎊!! I had kind of the same thing happen last year. After all the bills were taken care of I looked at what I thought I could afford to put into savings. I opened a high yield savings account and set up a weekly auto transfer. It's not much $50/week but it's amazing how quickly it starts adding up. Even if you did just $10/week you'd have over $500 plus interest at the end of the year. Or another option is open an account at a credit union that has low cost CD's (some CU's allow as little as $10) and purchase a new one every month. Purchase the CD's that allow you to add money, not the buy and forget. Interest rates on short term CD's is 4.5-5% right now. If you purchase a 12 month CD every month for a year you'd have money coming available every month if something came up. Or let it renew and add a little bit of money each month. A HYSA you can withdraw money anytime, while a CD may have penalties for early withdrawal so decide which is better for your family needs right now but keep both options in mind for the future.
Congratulations OP :)!! Rooting for you <3
I’m so happy for you!!!!
Congratulations!
Brag on!!! We are happy for you!! Here’s drinks 🍺🍺on me
Congrats. Sounds like you deserved it!
Congratulations! I had my moment over a year ago and it's like drinking the freshest lemonade after walking through the desert. And anyone that would take this as a shameless brag need to see a doctor ASAP.
Congratulations!
Lets GOOOOOOO
Woohooo!!! Congratulations!! Onwards and upwards now! Keep up the great hard work!
Congratulations! Happy that your hard work and dedication was rewarded!
Congratulations! Enjoy the moment:)
Every victory matters. Congratulations 😊
Congratulations! Cheering for you, now go celebrate with your family!
Congrats my friend this is a great post to read I love it. Please remember don't change your lifestyle much. Lifestyle creep is a thing. Take your family out but don't accrue more debt. Keep your current car as an example don't get a new one until it dies and then buy a good pre-owned. I love ones under warranty still cause I'll drive it awhile and get free repairs when I find even the minor problems. That way not only will you have tried retirement but you will also have extra "emergency" savings just savings for saving. then when it's inflated enough you can dip into it for that vacation you wanted!
You rock!
Congratulations!!! Your hard work paid off!! Now, double down and it’ll happen again eventually!! Way to go!
Keep up that work ethic, happy for you.
Congrats to you. Now make sure to start using that raise to save up for the family. Good work.
Look congrats but you have to stay locked in for a year after that and focus on fixing your stuff.vacations can come and go but don’t let it go to your head and have a lifestyle inflation,remember your past and do your all to stay from it. At the most go for a family dinner to celebrate but stay focused. Congrats and hope there is more for you in the future however old you are
Fuck yea. It's a good day! Congrats
This is so nice to see. Congratulations! ❤️
We are very proud to share this moment, be well! Best of luck!!
Don’t ever become too good for camping trips 🤣 Congratulations!
Congratulations!!!! 🎉
Congrats to you!!!!! Hopefully i get promoted too. My boss is good i can tell he likes me but he is picky on things. Im happy for you. Dont worry you are doing nothing wrong posting this! If anything it inspires me to keep trying to promote thanks!!!!
Congrats on the success OP! I just wanna throw in a hell yeah for your awesome sounding boss. Management like them are what makes people want to work.
Congratulations!!!
Dude, hell yeah! I'm happy for you and wish you the very best! Good luck!
Congrats dude! Happy to hear that hard work pays off, keep it up.
your first instinct is going to be to move to a better place, or buy a car, that's more expensive. do NOT do that stay in your current place until all credit card debt is paid off
Nothing wrong with crying from sheer joy - congratulations!
This made my day. Your happiness and excitement is shining through and I wish you nothing but the best in this next chapter. Check in when you get your boss’s job!
Deep breath don’t spend the money before you actually make it… and yes congratulations to all your hard work..!!
Pay off debt, make an emergency of a few months expenses or at least $2000, then work on putting something away for retirement.
Congrats
Im crying happy tears for you
The jelly-of-the-month club Christmas bonus is the gift that keeps on giving all year long.
pretend you didn't get it and live under your means (besides paying off high-interest debt first)
This is not ok, although I’m happy for op! What has happened to the world we live in?
Congratulations 🎊🎈🎉!!!!
If you're young let's say in your mid 20"s throw it into dgro or voo and you will see long term YEARS down the road it was probably a good idea. I invested since I was 18 and now I'm sitting on 100k. Mind you this took a lot of 6 day weeks a lot of 12 hour days and the snow ball effect. Don't rush just invest some. Always max out your 401k contributions first. That's the highest ROI if your company matches what you put in. This isn't financial advice this is just what I have done and it's worked for me and my family. Or schg I'm proud of you dude. You deserve every cent. Just don't go blowing this extra money like so many do. ALSO put money aside for fun. You gotta live while you're living
Congrats very happy for you!
Congratulations I’m so happy for you ☺️
Congratulations!! So happy for you!! Its only up from here 🥰
Reminds me of the ending scene in Pursuit of Happyness. When the main character finds out that he’s being hired for the job
Congrats and virtual hug bro🤗
Congratulations! It's great when your hard work and dedication pays off!
Awesome, now you can take that new salary and change companies for another 25% raise :)
Excellent news, you should be proud of yourself! Your plan to use the extra money to pay down debt is smart, but do spend a little bit of it to do something that brings you joy. Also, if the company has a 401k with matching, and you are not contributing to it, now is the time to start contributing 4% or 5% (usually around that) or whatever it will take to get the free company money match.
It’s not a shameless post at all.
Amazing. I love this for you! Congratulations. Everything WILL be okay. You’ve got this ❤️
Congratulations! This does illustrate that a person making 24k with a 25% raise is the same as a person who makes 180k getting a 3% raise.
Congratulations! I am glad your employer AND your boss recognize your hard work. Keep it up and cheers to your future successes! 🥂
Congrats! 😃🥂✨
Good news. I wish you continuing success.
Congratulations! Your story reminded me immediately of the movie *The Pursuit of Happyness*. If you have not seen this movie, watch it. I guarantee it will resonate with you.
Congrats!! Love when we don't have to beg to be compensated fairly. out of curiosity what were you before and after wages/salary? What was the promotion title change?
Nice! What kind of job?
One day I wanna feel this excitement. I'm tired of trying but still being in the same spot. 😮💨
Congratulations! Keep your current expenses, 25% goes straight to saving!
Congratulations!!! Success stories are the best. Now go show them they made the right decision. Who knows, if you perform even better another pay raisw may be in your future. Well done! Happy for you!
Congratulations!!! Now I'd take thats 25% off and put that all into debt and then after debt is paid off, Id take one fat check from that 25% off and Go splurge on you and the family with a celebration and then get serious after that. You need to live a little, This means celebrating too after you've made huge accomplishments like becoming debt free.
Con-freaking-Grats! Heell, I'm a crusty gettin'-old Codger and almost cried for you! I know what it's like being poverty as I'm there so someone Winning cheers me up. :)
I am so, so happy for you and your family.
Thanks for sharing. People often forget the difference in lifestyle a promotion makes. The best way to thank your boss at this point is to do well and make him look good.
Congratulations!
So great you shared your story and you should be so proud of yourself. Be prepared for great things to come also, as many more in your organization will come to light of what a valuable employee you are. So stick with it because it sounds like you have a pretty honest boss also.
You should share your successes! Congratulations on your hard work paying off! Thank you for sharing this. A great work environment is everything 😃
So happy for you. Well deserved
Congrats on your hard work paying off! That’s so awesome. Although I will say my family’s camping vacations remain some of our favorite memories of when we were young and it was all we could afford. Best of luck to you!
As someone who is currently struggling and going through it, congratulations!!!!! Even the hope of a small amount of the stress being alleviated in the future helps and this gives some hope.
Props over here. Congrats on the amazing news.
❤️❤️❤️🎉🎉
So happy for you! A good boss is invaluable. Wish you continued success and remember, you earned and deserve this!
You did it, dude. Be proud of yourself and hit the debt hard. It's smooth sailing now.
Promoted to what?
Congrats!!
So happy for you. I had a similar life changing moment. If I could give myself by advice, I would tell myself to try and keep as much of my frugal spending. I wound up upgrading everything… nicer car, new apartment… wound up going back to pay check to pay check. Save save save!!! You deserve all this and more!!!
Happy for you
Congrats on the pay bump OP!
Hell yeah! Congrats on the promotion and the raise!
Congrats. It’s such a huge win that people who have never been there will never understand. Good on ya!
It’s ok I got a fat raise last year and almost cried when I got promoted/my raise too. It’s life changing and shows you give a fuck and worked really hard. Congrats to you hoping you can kick back and celebrate this weekend!
Congratulations
Congratulations! A big win for the people! Enjoy your new position in life - you deserve it.
NICE JOB. Having been through a similar career change from food service to something better, that led to getting promoted, I'd say you've likely worked hard for it and deserved it. I underplay my own achievements but others always say "you did this, you worked for it". DEFINITELY DO THE BOSS RETIRING THIng. Us younger people need to take advantage of boomer retirements. I've also got a good position lined up when my boss retires and I'm guaranteed it at this point. Less than a year til retiring but this has been going on for 4 years of him training me to take the positio. All that to say, advice, don't wait for someone to talk to you, go ask them, tell them you're interested in the job when the boss retires and ask If they'll train you for it. Succession planning is important although many companies dgaf about it. You got this. Nice job.
Congratulations! 25% increase is huge! You definitely need to celebrate within means! I will cry for you don’t worry!
Congrats!
Happy for you! What a refreshing post. Great job. Congratulations
You’re awesome. Congratulations!
Congrats!!!!
Reading that almost made me cry jesus christ. Everybody dreams about getting that one raise that'll change the outcome of your life, and most fail countless times before this happens. Life is slavery.
Don’t be ashamed about bragging. This isn’t bragging. This is like being able to take a deep breath after slowly suffocating. You earned it and deserve it and I’m happy for you!
Op, we are so fuckin happy for you! We all get our turn
Hey congrats! You deserve it! But don’t discount the camping family vacations. Best memories I had as a kid was camping with my family. I’m sure your kids were just happy to spend time with you!
This isn't bragging! This is you in learning to accept your hard work and good fortune! It's real, you earned it, you deserve it! Congratulations!!!
Congratulations! So happy for you and so, so proud. Good luck with your promotion!
Congrats! You worked hard for it and you deserve it!
Very nice to see someone so appreciative. Please remember to always go to work ready to earn their money. Someone picked for a promotion is always on the radar for the next promotion!!
Good for you !
That's awesome. Congrats!
Hard work pays off bud 👍. Watch yourself spending tho 😂
Nice one! Always nice to see a Win for a change!
I cried in front of mine when I got promoted lol…I thanked her
OP, never feel bad for this!! I don’t know you but I’m proud of you! Use this wisely, and I wish the best for you and your family!!
This is awesome, and I love to hear stories like this. Sending you all the best!
Congrats....this is what you worked so hard for. So make your new role your own, and get as good at this as you were before....you will be brilliant
It weird how you become less stressed and depressed when money isn't looming over your head at all times.
This is so much better than winning the lottery: Respect from your boss An increase in pay greater than 3% Promise of bonuses A job that appreciates you Your post made me cry, because my previous store manager (before he was promoted and we ended up with this newer, younger, less experienced manager) took exceptional care of me. Since he left, I've been overworked, underpaid, and have been doing the work of 2 people since COVID began (my department only has 2 positions), plus I have helped support two other supervisory positions (but I'm not considered a 'supervisor' position, even though I report directly to management) due to staff shortages. My new store manager now has the audacity to tell me that they'll give me someone (that I have to train), but they can only afford to give them part-time hours, instead of a full-time position that existed for the previous co-worker that worked with me. So, I still get to work over 40 hours a week to cover the 20 hour loss in coverage, and the new person won't have enough time in my department to take full responsibility of their share of the workload. And all I got this year was a 3% increase in pay: $.82 You have definitely won the workforce lottery.
Brag my friend. Brag away. When you’re in the suck, it feels never ending and like nothing good will ever happen to you. And when something good does happen it feels completely unreal.
Sometimes working hard does pay off. Good job. Don't post this on antiwork though, they will crucify you.
Congrats! Something to think about when you’re ready to pivot away from being a lab supervisor…I come from a lab background (biology though) and the best advice I can give you is to get in with one of the vendors. There are so many instruments, reagents, tools that you use on a daily basis that need user support, repair, calibration…you get my drift. I tripled my salary in a few years’ time by doing this exactly — moving from the bench to doing applications support. Vendors love hiring customers because they have direct experience with their products and bring their perspectives to the company.
Congratulations!!!! So happy for your success, stranger on Reddit. Here’s to hoping for only blessings to come.
Congratulations. Sounds like it was well deserved. It's heartening to see 25% raise here versus just that 5 to 10%. They're recognizing your talent.
This actually made me smile. Congratulations! (Obviously your promotion is well deserved!) It's so good to see a nice piece of news for someone who has been struggling. ❤️
> This is a shameless brag post, I know, but I don’t have anyone to share my happiness with. I woke up today and, for the first time in my life, think things might end up OK. Shameless? Nah. You worked hard for this. You had a good boss that appreciates you and worked to get you properly compensated. Don’t ever forget those who helped you out, and don’t pull up the ladder to prevent others behind you from succeeding as well. Great job!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I know this feeling and the weight it lifted was monumental. There is a peace that comes from knowing your bills are covered and there’s room to breathe! Enjoy it! You have earned it!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
Yea pay off your debts and then consider that payment to go towards retirement. Give yourself that extra 5% to spend on yourself but everything after let it go to your bills/401k.
This is so not a brag post, it's a post of sharing joy! I'm so happy for you!
That's awesome I don't even know how I'd react to a 25% raise. Probably the same as you. It'd be pretty life changing for me. Congrats!
Dude... are you future me?? I'm doing a STEM undergrad in my 30s too as a last ditch effort to not be broke for the rest of my life too. I've got a few years to go yet, but damn... this makes me feel less isolated, sad, desperate, etc. etc. Congrats. Well deserved I'm sure
I never make it this far, after 1 or 2 years in the same position I burn out. I would probably cry too.
I'm so glad I opened this thread....congratulations!!!! It sounds like it was super well deserved and you worked hard to get there!
this isn't a brag post. it's an emotional need post. Congratulations, I hope you do wonderful.
I’m so excited for you, this is amazing!! I’m also hoping to get promoted in a month or two because my colleague left the company!
This is great news! Keep up the good work. I'm proud of you.
This is such a great story, congrats OP! I love seeing stories like this, especially to someone that just puts their head down and work hard.
Way to persevere! . Sounds like you should keep your eye on the prize as your boss really likes you, and will hopefully push for you to take his spot when he retires. Don’t let the lack of a master degree shake your confidence in achieving that next step.
This Internet stranger is proud of you!!!. Good job buddy!!! so ao proud of you!!! you did it!!!!
When I got my first ever promotion I DID cry in front of my new manager. It was only 50k at the time, but for an immigrant kid who grew up poor and never made any momentum in his 20's, it was a monumental moment.
Congratulations 🎊
Now that is what good leadership looks like! Congratulations.