I made the mistake, after graduating with a B.A. from a great school, of starting a family and staying home with the kids for 10 years. Then when it was time to go back to work, I made anOTHER mistake of getting into the nonprofit world. I figured I wouldn't get rich doing nonprofit work, but certainly I'd make more than the $9.40 I started at. After all, I knew nothing about nonprofit world when I started. Three years later, having researched and written grants, planned events, managed donor databases, and just about everything in between, and getting great performance reviews, I was making $10.03 an hour. I knew I couldn't survive, so I quit and went into business with a friend. Now a year and a half into the shop, we are doing better but STILL are not breaking even. Again, about $10 an hour. I'm in my mid 40s now, kids are getting older, and am AGAIN looking at restarting a career. I'm looking at getting into programming now, in hopes that I can make more when I'm up to speed. I'm scared, though, after years of going down bad paths. At least I can learn coding without going back to school. I wouldn't go back now - not worth it.