First time traveler, offer okay?

[goshozal]

Hi there,

I'm a first time traveler considering the following offer:

Phoenix, AZ

$27/hr taxed rate

$245/wk meals stipend

$360/wk housing stipend or company housing

According to my math, that's about $974/wk take home if I take company housing, or $1334/wk if I find my own housing. It's definitely going to work out to more money than I make now at my full time job, I'm just too new to have a comparison. I'm traveling with the goal of making more money, so I'd love to hear tips on how to make sure I get the best offer I can get.

Sorry if this type of post occurs 100 times a day.

[NedRN]

It does! Short answer is shop around. That is the only way to find out the fair market value for your experience and specialty in a given location at a given time.

Looks like you can do calculations fine, however it may be easier to compare offers using PanTravelers calculator. It will output a number of useful results which you can now compare directly to other offers.

The full calculation requires a trip to Craigslist to get a quick estimate of local housing costs. It is not just about the paycheck, but how much you have left after expenses. Sometimes a lower paid area will leave you with a higher net.