A Week In Caracas, Venezuela On A $36,000 Salary

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes. I can’t quite think back to whether there was an imposition. I wanted to be a vet, a lawyer, and a journalist at different points, so I always knew I’d go to higher education. I ended up studying fashion design, and my mom paid for it, which is standard here. I started working in my second year and have been working ever since. I have taken many professional certifications, including a project management program and a UX design program. Fashion design isn’t quite a degree, so I’ve always felt self-conscious and often consider getting a degree, but the cost is too high and my career has never really required it.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My mother was a single mom with two kids (my dad disappeared), and money was sparse. We didn’t have explicit conversations beyond “We can’t afford this or that.” I learned more about the extent of my mom’s struggles through passing comments as I got older, and we had some slightly more open conversations because I was very frank about how much I started making back when I hit peak freelancing in the pandemic.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked at a toy store when I was 17. My mom was freshly unemployed after I graduated, and I didn’t know what to do after high school, so this felt like the right thing to do. She landed a job shortly after, and I went back to school.

Did you worry about money growing up?
I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get this or that. But we never felt like we’d go hungry. We had some international trips when we were about 10-12, and while our schools were modest, they were private. Public school in Venezuela is for the truly lower class, and there are tons of modest private schools for middle class kids.

Do you worry about money now?
I think about it a lot but not necessarily worry. I have two dogs and no one to rely on, so I’m always aware of any potential expenses. I’m also used to making like three or four times more than I’m making right now (at peak freelancing, I made about $7,000 per month), so this sense of living “paycheck to paycheck” is a bit nerve-racking. I bought a new-to-me car (a 2008 SUV with about 100,000 miles on the clock; paid in cash) in December because my previous car had a massive issue, and that left me basically with $1,000 in my account. Dog emergencies are expensive. As I said, the businesses I mentioned in my first diary went to shit. I’m crossing every finger and toe that my partner actually pulls through and pays me back. That would be about $13,500, which would replenish my savings.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I started working at 18 and never stopped. But I lived rent free with my mom for a while. I moved to another country in 2015 and came back in 2016, launched a business, started freelancing, et cetera. I lived at home through this whole time and contributed to food, internet, and so on. I moved to my apartment in 2022 and have been on my own since. My mom and I went no contact about seven months ago, so I don’t really have a safety net — I guess if things got super bad, an uncle or my brother might be able to help, but that’s not really a given. My brother also lives with my mom.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
Not really. As I mentioned, I tried investing money in 2023, but the whole thing didn’t work, and I risked a lot of money with no return. Not the first time this has happened, unfortunately. I estimate I lost about $24,000 in a previous business attempt, and I’m hoping to get back the $21,000 at some point. None of it is passive, though — I handed this money out for several businesses that ended up failing, and my partner is slowly paying it back.