Hello Brown Cafe, it's the OP...five years later.
I created this thread in February 2020...right before the pandemic. Today, it's February 2025.
Thought I'd let you know what has transpired over the last 60 months.
FIVE YEARS later, I'm still at FedEx Express at the age of 49.
I just finished by 21st year as a courier, finally topped out after 18 long years, and have gone from $26.19 an hour to $35.19.
Still married (23 years now) with three kids (21, 19, 17).
At the start of 2023 I woke up and realized that I needed to change my depressing financial life. My wife and I were drowning in $58,000 of credit card debt.
Stupid decisions and absolutely no financial discipline for many years led us to this moment. Our minimum monthly payments to our seven credit cards were $867 per month. Disgusting.
We signed up for a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class and after 19 grueling months of hard work, sacrifice and throwing over $3000 a month to our CC's, we are now officially free from the shackles of debt. Words can't express what a feeling it is to have that weight taken from our shoulders.
Up until 2022, my best gross yearly salary at Express, including OT, was $77,654 in 2022
> In 2023, I made $108,881
> In 2024, I made $126,551
To crack $100k, I basically sold my soul to FedEx, working just about every scheduled day off, many Saturdays, and even sold some of my 5 weeks of vacation to make this happen. To me, it was WELL worth it.
As much as I cannot stomach the current changes from the Express and Ground merge, I'm grateful I was able to get the opportunity to make money to pay of my debt.
Currently working on a three month Emergency Fund, because quite honestly, I have no idea what will practically transpire with the Express and Ground merge in the months/years ahead.
Thank you all for your comments five years ago, especially for the vast majority of you who recommended that I stay at Express at the age of 44 to enjoy my kids teen years...and not take the plunge to UPS.
I'll pop back into this thread five years from now in 2030 for an update.
All the best.
