Jason Eldridge - ~60%
Jason Eldridge (right).
Old Job: Personal banker - $40,000
New Job: Cook - $8/hr
Hardest thing to give up: The hardest thing I've had to give up is the freedom that I used to have. To be able to go out and spend money and not to have to worry too much about the ramifications.
"I was working as a personal banker at Chase Bank in Peoria, Ariz., and making $40,000 a year when my roommates and I decided to try our luck and move to New York in June 2008. Little did we know how hard it would be to get a job in banking out there.
To make a long story short, we failed. And I was broke.
My roommates moved back to Arizona, and I moved to Massachusetts to stay with my dad. I thought it would only be a few weeks until I got a decent job. That was seven months ago.
I work at a restaurant, Rebecca's Place Too, making $8 an hour.
This is a vast contrast to where I was a year ago. In Arizona, I was going out every night, having fun. Now life's a lot more simple. I wake up and walk to work because I had to sell my car. I don't go to restaurants or bars anymore. I canceled my Internet, and I use the library computer. I cut back the plan on my phone.
I would tell people that if you have money, save it right now. You never know what's going to happen." - as told to Lara Moscrip
NEXT: Jarrod Posner - 70% pay cut
Last updated January 12 2009: 3:07 PM ET
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