re: How to make 100k a year?

Tough love here: sell the damn house. You bought too much house for your present income, and now you’re unhappy with your pay cause you’re spending too much on that mortgage. You know that an advanced degree or training in a new field will boost your income, but you say it’s not an option because you’ve got to pay that mortgage. See the theme here?

You’ve decided to pin your frustrations on your poli sci degree, when the problem is that you’re in a dead end job by choice. You choose to go there everyday. Choose to do something else. You could land a job teaching and get an alternative certification leading to an MA/MEd in 24 months....but NOOO, you’ve got that big fat mortgage. The poli sci degree and mortgage are excuses that allow you to feel frustrated and give you permission not to do anything about it.

What have you done/are you doing, right now, to improve your skill set? What’s your side hustle? Why are you worth $100k to an employer? Get off your couch in your too expensive house and do SOMEthing—learn to code, become a youth sports official, teach piano or guitar, do small job home repairs, study to be building inspector or real estate appraiser....

In short, do something with your free time that makes you more marketable. I like the appraiser/inspector angles, personally. They’re related to your construction world experience and you can work your contacts in that arena.