Is There Really Such A Thing As Bad Luck?

Is There Really Such A Thing As Bad Luck?

The other day I was going over my expenses and admiring my low transportation costs. How have I have gotten so lucky that my transportation costs are only 8% of my household monthly expense? That’s pretty good considering how much it costs to commute out here in the Bay Area. Tracing back my path to this point, I realized that it’s sheer luck that my transportation expenses are so low. Okay, maybe not 100% luck, but it definitely feels like 75% dumb luck.

Good luck certainly, right? Well, no, not really. Actually bad luck. Bad things happened and forced me to take new paths in life. Paths I otherwise would not have considered.

When bad things happen to us, or people we know, it’s impossible to imagine that this might be a good thing in disguise. Bad events force us to go down paths we wouldn’t normally choose. Or they turn paths into dead ends, and sometimes we have to go backward to find another path.

Is there really such a thing as bad luck?

Of course, there is. There are tragedies and sadness in life and we feel unlucky when bad things happen to us or our loved ones. That’s unquestionable. I don’t mean to make light of bad luck events that may cause lingering trauma or constant pain of a lost loved one. Those things are bad and there’s no way around that.

But I propose that bad luck and good luck are not two distinct things.

Here is some (bad) luck of mine that fermented into good fortune. In concert, these two bad luck incidents lowered my transportation costs by $540 a month and delivered a salary increase of 57%.

At it’s most expensive, our monthly transportation cost was $1,520 a month ($690 combined car payments/$190 insurance/$400 gas/$240 tolls). Or 30% of our monthly expenses back in 2015.

Transportation is now +/- $510 a month. It’s 8% of our monthly expenses. Both cars being paid off took this expense down a few notches.

Car Accident

One morning in 2016 while driving to a job in Foster City, I was rear ended on I-880. Traffic came to an unexpected slow down and the truck behind me slammed into me. We pulled over to the side of the busy freeway and exchanged information under the eyes of thousands of commuters crawling by us, likely blaming us for the slow down. At first glance the damage to my 2011 Honda Civic looked extremely minimal. A sliver of a crack in the bulbous fiberglass bumper, some swapped paint, and that was it. No broken tail lights. The trunk opened and closed fine.

Was it even worth reporting to the insurance company? I owed about $8K on it at the time. If the car was paid off I wouldn’t have reported it–I hate dealing with insurance companies–but owed on it, so I reported. Should be a straight forward process to get the fiber glass bumper replaced, I thought, being rear ended and all.

To my surprise, when the insurance adjuster came out to inspect the car, he totaled it. He unclipped the carpet that lined the trunk and showed me how the metal was crumpled in accordion like. A look from below the car revealed a bent frame.

They valued the car at $9k, promptly paid off the balance, and wrote me a check for $1k. Then they asked if I wanted to keep the car for a fee of $200 dollars. Hell yes I wanted to keep the car! And I was able to get it registered as salvaged.

This Honda Civic is now a daily commuter for my wife. 35 mpg and the engine is perfectly fine nearing 200k miles, minus the cracked fiber glass bumper, its a perfect car. Luckily, we were able to lose the $140 monthly car payment, by an unlucky incident.

Getting Fired

This took place before the Honda incident, but the luck fermentation process took a bit longer reveal its bounty. The outcome wasn’t immediate like getting a check from an insurance company, but it was 100 times better and changed the course of my life.

This is how we used to set “floors” on high rises. They are called flyers and we just drop them in with the crane then pour concrete on it. Once the concrete has cured to strength we push it out and fly it up again. A floor poured every 4 days. This is the job that changed everything for me.

In early 2015, I was transferred to a 40-something story high rise that was experiencing serious problems. This was when I worked doing structural concrete. I was told I needed to put my bags back on and help the guys in the field by laying out the building (reading the drawings and marking out locations for the carpenters and other trades to build to). I wasn’t too happy about it, especially after being recently promoted to a general foreman, but like a good soldier, I obeyed. Layout was my specialty.

This was a good young company. I’d risen fast in the two years I’d been there. A few months earlier they’d shook my hand and told me they were going to start to transition me into the office as a superintendent. It was an exciting time and I really thought I was on the threshold to the promised land.

A few weeks after throwing my bags on and working in the field like a regular carpenter, I got into an argument with the senior superintendent who’d been brought in to “fix the sinking ship”. The company was in the process of transitioning the entire project management team off the job for a more experienced one. I was brought in as a lower tier band aid and this senior super, who I didn’t know, was an upper tier band aid. I remember one Friday, 30 of our guys getting laid off in one swoop from this job; it was that kind of bad job. This super wanted to bring in his own guys, mostly family that he brought from job to job. So to make room he swung a heavy axe.

Our point of contention was that he didn’t want to pay me to attend the morning foremen meetings because I was too expensive. He wanted me to come in for free, and if I wouldn’t, he’d rather have “layout” represented in the meetings by a guy who was laying out curbs 10 floors down in the basement instead of me. He also started blaming me for concrete layout problems that happened before I stepped foot on the project.

In response, I told him I wouldn’t be a foreman for him anymore if he didn’t want me going to the meetings, politely handed him my radio, and said he could have someone else come and layout the building and land material with the crane up there.

“I’ll happily take orders from that person and be a regular carpenter the remainder of the job.” I told him.

He gladly took me up on this and gave me two checks the next day.

Up to that point in my life, I believed in company loyalty and being so good they couldn’t afford to fire you. I thought that stuff mattered. It doesn’t. Politics matter.

Being fired out of spite is devastating. I was so angry that I ignored calls from other supers who I’d known for years in that company asking me to return. I knew I had no future at that company if this guy was employed there. It was embarrassing as well to just be tossed to the curb after being supposedly one of their top carpenter foremen on the fast track. Previously, the owners of the company had taken me out to lunch, I’d been invited to the last few management only company Christmas party’s, given a computer and email address. I felt like I was a part of the company and helping them grow–not just a hired union carpenter in the field.

I got new work from a smaller company as a regular foreman and started putting my resume out for superintendent positions at every company’s website I could find. Then 6 months later, the very first company I started my career with called and asked if I was interested in becoming an assistant superintendent on the general contractor side. I’d sent my resume to them first and they interviewed me for a concrete super position, but they’d ultimately turned me down. They said it wouldn’t look good to the other foremen since I’d quit them to go to their rival and would be coming back in a higher role.

But they liked me enough to work on their general contractor side? I knew structural concrete, not being a general contractor on the job site. How much harder could it be? I just had to watch other trades/companies do their work and make sure everyone got along and stayed on schedule. Sounded easy…

Another caveat was they were offering me less money and I had to get out of the union. How much less? About $30k less than I made the year before. They said I could get the same hour rate as a union carpenter, but I’d be salary, no over time. Could I live on making $30k less a year? It felt like I was going backwards if I took this deal.

After much thought and helpful conversations with my father and wife, I took the position. The experience was worth the pay cut I figured. I convinced myself it was a temporary sacrifice.

So I took the job, and turns out I loved the general contractor side. I love starting buildings from the very beginning and handing the keys to the owners. I love learning about and working with other trades and their roles in building a building. It also now pays well, like 57% salary increase from when I started well. And 37% more than I was making when they’d fired me at the other company.

I ended up getting a company truck with gas and tolls paid. This saved me $240 tolls and $300 in gas a month. A total of $540 dollars a month in transportation.

Looking down into the hole. Ah, being a GC is great. I just make sure things are done safely, on schedule, and per the plans…easier said than done. .

Thank you senior superintendent for firing me back in 2015. At the time I hated you for ruining my career. But in reality I need to thank you. You set me down a course to become a general contractor with another company, a role I would have never considered for myself. I found it suits my personality well and I like it better than concrete. You taught me valuable lessons in life: how to be humble, how to handle sudden job loss, how to swallow my ego and take a job for less money. And if fate ever brings us together and you end up on one of my jobs as my concrete subcontractor, I will no doubt teach you the same lesson you taught me and return the favor by kicking you off my job.

Happily Disengaged

Now, what sort of luck will it take to eventually lower my grocery bills?

Have any of you experienced bad luck that surprisingly turned into good luck or maybe the reverse? Do you believe in luck?


Here is my affiliate link to Personal Capital . I use them to track all of my expenses and my net worth. It’s so easy to use. I highly recommend them if you are on your FIRE journey.

17 thoughts on “Is There Really Such A Thing As Bad Luck?

  1. I tend to think most things even out in the end. But like you, a layoff after 10 years at the same company proved to be a blessing in disguise. And as you already know, rehab was a big turning point for me as well. I don’t wish it on anyone, but my entire life has benefited from getting clean/sober – my marriage, relationships, career, health, etc. etc. etc. Most things happen for a reason and not much use in fighting it. But if you stay positive, you can usually turn any short term negative into a long term win.

    I also think significant change for most people is usually caused by an outside force. It’s sometimes more scary or even harder to leave toxicity if it’s comfortable. But after the initial shock to our system, these life altering events tend to work out in the long haul.

    Good reflection bud.

    1. Wow that had to be rough getting laid off after 10 years. I can’t imagine how tough rehab must have been for you, but I’m happy for you and your wife and family that things turned out ok. I imagine you know more than most people the ups and downs of life. Things do even out in the end. It always seems like for me the roughest points in my life have led me down fantastic paths.

      Yeah I agree. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re in a toxic environment till you’re shaken by something. We can’t control those outside forces you mention, but its how we deal and cope with the uncontrollable that makes all the difference. Thanks for reading and sharing your take on this Q-FI!

  2. that’s outstanding you kept that car with the little damage. i remember a bad hail storm in new orleans damaged a lot of cars and roofs, including my little beater truck. it was paid off and pretty old but insurance paid us a couple of grand. i didn’t fix that minor cosmetic damage and drove it another 5 years. then, a few years ago my mother in law scraped the side of our old beater backing out of her driveway. that car was 10 years old and we would not have ever filed a claim but she filed to fix her nice new car so the deductible was already used. ch’ching! another $1500 for free for just a scrape.

    i like that move you made with that supervisor you did not respect. “here’s my radio, best of luck.” i was a supervisor in a brass mill and they called those extra unpaid hours “casual overtime.” i quit that job without having one lined up. another door always opens when you’re capable. here’s to bad luck!

    1. Oh yeah I lucked out with the car situation big time. I later found out that it’s rare to be able to keep a car after getting it totaled. Wow 1500 bucks for a scrape is a deal! Way to get some of that money back. Sometimes things work out with insurance companies I guess…seems especially so when they involve beater cars and insurance lol.

      Yeah I didn’t expect to get canned like that, I thought the worst would be a transfer off the job. I chalk it up to naiveté. If I had of known that would happen I would have made a big o’ scene and stormed out. I’ve yet to live out my “F-You I quit.” fantasy…one day. Here’s to bad luck!

  3. Some great stories and lessons here. I also like that you kept the car as well as transforming the ‘bad luck’ of job loss into a new GC career. Very cool.

    I’m not sure I believe in lick per se, but both good and bad things occur to us all in a random, chaotic universe. As both your stories prove, it’s more how we respond to these things and move forward to open new potential paths that, sometimes, totoally change our lives. It’s like that old adage, “The harder I work the luckier I seem to get.” Or maybe it’s “If life gives you lemons, punch life in the face.” Anyway, good on you for spinning good luck from bad juju!

    1. Thanks for stopping by Mr. Fate. I like your take on it. It’s how we respond, you are right! I’m not even sure if luck is the right term. They are just events and our minds and thoughts are what make the difference between good and bad. Just like that saying: “There are no bad days”. Either way, I guess that’s how I comfort myself through the tough times, I tell myself that something good will likely come of it one day. For the most part, that thought process has worked for me. Appreciate your reading and commenting!

  4. The end of that letter to previous superintendent made me burst out laughing!!!! Wasn’t expecting it. LOL! Oh man! He definitely needs a lesson in table turning.

    I love reading your construction stories. I find that work to be so fascinating.

    There’s an old saying that my mom would always say to us when things didn’t go our way. Every disappointment is for a blessing.

    It’s hard to see the silver linings when your in it, but they eventually reveal themselves.

    Another great read! Great job, Noel.

    1. Oh yea, that letter part came as a surprise to me too haha. It sort of just flowed out of me at the end. Felt really good to write it. Thanks for appreciating my construction stories! When you do it every day for a living it becomes a bit mundane and normal, just like anything else in life I guess. I still get all wide-eyed when the big cranes come out though, just like a little boy.

      What a great saying! That’s so true. I think that’s really what I was trying to convey. You have some good family sayings. Thanks for stopping by and reading and commenting!

  5. That is quite a story of bad luck turned good. Or maybe not luck at all and just an example of the circuitous routes we all seem to travel to get to where we are going. That’s incredible that taking that 30% pay cut worked out so well. I need to keep that in mind for my own situation and never knowing what’s possible. Great way to encourage us all to hang in there during what feels like the darkest times!

    1. That’s right it’s not luck at all. That’s kind of what I was trying to say I guess–you say it a bit more eloquently–that there is no such thing as luck, there are just events we deal with. The good and bad are all connected. I knew that 30% pay cut was a sacrifice I had to take. Especially because I don’t have a college degree to fall back on. I needed that title and experience to take my next step. Taking that pay cut also helped prepare us to live on less. We still live pretty close to that salary to this day.

      Thanks for stopping by! I sure hope you’re healing up well!

  6. Loved these stories Noel! I’m just happy that you’re okay from the car accident and you’ve got a better job than you had previously! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It’s also really cool to see these behind-the-scenes photos at your construction sites. Never knew that they set floors on high rises like that. Fate is a funny thing!

    1. Hey FLA thanks for stopping by. Yeah that car accident wasn’t too bad, it was a pretty violent jolt though. I tell you though, for a few months after that, every time traffic slowed down I thought I would get rear-ended again. It’s nice being able to share the pics, even though they don’t have much to do with any of my posts most of the time lol. Thanks for taking the time to read and for commenting!

  7. Noel,

    As I’ve remarked before—it’s really neat to see trades represented out here in personal finance land, thanks for being that voice. It’s interesting to learn a little bit about what makes them different from the sort of tech or tech-adjacent/visual work that I (and so many bloggers) do.

    On the other hand, it’s almost reassuring to see that you battle so many of the same problems. Heh. Politics, bureaucracy, and a whole bunch of crap. 🙂

    So far as groceries…
    Through at least 4/30/2021, Chase is letting folks redeem their points with a 50% bonus value towards Grocery purchases on the Reserve card. That’s what we leveraged throughout 2020 (it’s a little “stimulus” for COVID they added). I’m not sure exactly how many redemptions we did through the year, but I’d guess we cut at least $3-4K off our annual grocery bill!

    We’ll keep dumping our points into monthly grocery bills until at least April.

    1. Thanks Chris! That’s nice of you to say. Yeah construction is full of political battles. Guys get clicked up and go job to job together and don’t take well to outsiders, so it can be hard to break in for some people if you aren’t speaking the same language, related, or from the same town as the leader of the click. But it’s not that bad as long as there’s enough work to go around for everyone.

      Right on for that tid bit of info for the reserve card! I happen to have that card. I’ve been trying to stack points to do my first ever “travel hack” trip this coming fall if we can make it to Portugal. But that grocery deal is pretty enticing. It might be worth dropping some points for that. That’s quite a bit of money you saved. I liked your recent 2020 expense breakdown post too. I’m learning a lot about how to retire the right way from you guys.

      Thanks for commenting!

  8. The annoying thing about insurance is that you are never fully indemnified in a car accident. Your car is valued at X and has depreciated, but good luck finding the same car with the money they give you. Plus, you probably had to pay sales taxes on it so when you go buy a new one you get hit again. Then add on the time and hassle of dealing with the whole mess and no matter what they give you, you are down! /Rant Off

    1. That’s right. Luckily they let me keep the car. That really fell into my favor when they did that. It’s salvaged now but I’m not complaining. I’m gonna ride that thing till the wheels fall off

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.