Walking away from the money

Author
Discussion

Ali2202

3,815 posts

203 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
A timely topic for me.

As of this Friday I'm 'retired'

Made a bit of money over the years and have had the toys I never thought I'd be able to afford. I turned 50 in February and something inside just screamed at me to not spend the rest of my days staring at a PC screen with a phone glued to my ear. I'm a little bit nervous but very much looking forward to closing that door. It's unlikely I'll ever be as fiscally comfortable as I am now but I'm sure I'll be richer in other ways. More tennis,cycling, golf, travel all on the cards.

There's always window-cleaning if I get desperate ... hehe


Monkeylegend

26,227 posts

230 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.

CX53

2,964 posts

109 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.
Interesting post. I find that self employed people/entrepreneurs always have a totally different mind set to the average employed person, and seem to manage the stresses of their own jobs more than those who are stressed working for someone else.

People who have made a few quid working for themselves think totally differently, my uncle is one of those - made quite a few million doing various things and I bet if he lost it all tomorrow, it wouldn't take him long to set something up with a nice standard of living again. Totally different outlook and a much more positive attitude.

Whilst I probably can't relate to some on here wanting to wind down after years and years of hard work, I feel like I'm wasting the best years of my life in many ways. It would be great to have a better work/life balance and possibly work for myself, but it's hard to shake the 'employee' mindset or even think of something to do! We spend so long chasing money that our own fulfilment often gets put on the back burner I suppose.

toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
I've not done it personally but a mate of mine left a very well paid factory maintenance job (with shift allowances, etc.) to become a fireman. I don't think he lost lots of pay but enough while he trained. It was more of a calling and he's much happier now.

Monkeylegend

26,227 posts

230 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
CX53 said:
Monkeylegend said:
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.
Interesting post. I find that self employed people/entrepreneurs always have a totally different mind set to the average employed person, and seem to manage the stresses of their own jobs more than those who are stressed working for someone else.

People who have made a few quid working for themselves think totally differently, my uncle is one of those - made quite a few million doing various things and I bet if he lost it all tomorrow, it wouldn't take him long to set something up with a nice standard of living again. Totally different outlook and a much more positive attitude.

Whilst I probably can't relate to some on here wanting to wind down after years and years of hard work, I feel like I'm wasting the best years of my life in many ways. It would be great to have a better work/life balance and possibly work for myself, but it's hard to shake the 'employee' mindset or even think of something to do! We spend so long chasing money that our own fulfilment often gets put on the back burner I suppose.
I worked for 2 large FTSE100 companies for a total of 30 years, and spent the last 16 years self employed before I retired. Guess which I enjoyed the most, and got the most satisfaction from wink

TartanPaint

2,981 posts

138 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
Yup, I'm about 50% of peak pay, and my wife has stopped working completely. But, I have a 3 mile commute and I can have breakfast and bedtime with my girls every day!

We're pretty much skint at the end of the month (maybe even eating into savings a bit), compared with about £30k pa of disposable cash when we had two incomes, a smaller house and no kids, but it's temporary (I hope) and I could not live with forcing my wife to go back to work when she loves being a mum, paying through the nose for nursery, or looking back in years to come and realising I missed my girls grow up. My wife will go back to work when they're both at school, and having the extra income will let me push the career risks a bit. Keeping my head down for now.

Chateauneufdupape

390 posts

100 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
quotequote all
Touching on the self employment comments, A friend of mine left his job last year, not mega bucks but a good 50k per year, and set up doing window cleaning and other domestic cleaning jobs like guttering etc.

Only been doing it a year and already earning the same as he was when he was employed. You might have thought the market for things like that is saturated but I suppose it's about pricing and quality of work.

He's never been happier, working to live not living to work. Okay so it's not interesting, but it's better than sat at a desk all day.

My hairdresser recently left her salon and started doing mobile work, she works half as much for the same money and says she's really happy with how it's worked out.

My sister does cleaning, charges £15 per hour and she could be busy enough to do it full time if she wanted, I'd sooner be doing something like that than working a standard dull job.

A local BBQ takeaway to us has opened a new branch. They've just got two little industrial units fitted out with a kitchen and a counter out the front. They do great quality food and deliver locally. It's not the cheapest but certainly the best. Another simple business model that's booming and clearly making plenty of profit or at least growing well.

Think outside the box if you're bored, there's plenty of money to be made out in the world on your own, and even if it's not the coolest job ever chances are you'll love earning your own money this way and never go back.


HannsG

3,031 posts

133 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
Not to enter a pissing contest as there are a lot of powerfully built directors on here.

I'm 35 and earn around 80k + benefits in Birmingham. A lot of my time is taken up with man management and ensuring delivery. Countless meetings....

There are times when I think was it worth it...

But then I think about the nursery costs, mortgage and other associated costs.

rosbif77

233 posts

96 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.
I'd love to create my own job. I would also love to have been able to progress in my career, but i decided to emigrate and put all my time/energy/money into giving my children the best possible upbringing/education.
I also did 2 other part time jobs to put away for my kids future!

A lot of you prioritised your careers first and fortunately your in a financial position now to spend quality time with your families.
I had the quality time with my kids but not the finances for days out/holidays etc. All the budget went on making sure my children never went without, they went on foreign school trips etc. Off course it didn't help that the Euro lowered our standard of living, or that teaching doesn't pay the bills if your family situation changes!



Edited by rosbif77 on Wednesday 27th April 13:13


Edited by rosbif77 on Wednesday 27th April 13:19

Monkeylegend

26,227 posts

230 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
rosbif77 said:
Monkeylegend said:
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.
I'd love to create my own job. I'd also love to be able to have had a few toys, but i decided to emigrate and put all my time/energy/money into giving my children the best possible upbringing/education.

A lot of you prioritised your careers first and fortunately your in a financial position now to spend quality time with your families.
I had the quality time with my kids but not the finances for days out/holidays etc. All the budget went on making sure my kids never went without, they went on foreign school trips etc. Off course it didn't help that the Euro lowered our standard of living, or that teaching doesn't pay the bills if your single!

When I made my decision to opt out I wasn't financially stable, I still had a mortgage and two young children and a wife to support. I just felt I needed to do it for the sake of my own health and sanity and reasoned that although the company I worked for employed 2000 people on my site, there were another 29 million employed in the big outside world in the UK so the chances of getting another job were good.

I would guarantee that anybody putting an advert in their local parish magazine offering services for say gardening, plumbing, general DIY, technical support etc, or anything that people might need, would soon be working and earning money for themselves.




Edited by rosbif77 on Wednesday 27th April 13:13

Farmer Geddon

212 posts

105 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
That's all well and good but you do need to be capable/competent in an area that's in demand to make it work self employed

And when you need a minumum income to cover your costs it's not as easy as just creating a job for yourself

I only know two people who made it work like that, one learned plumbing in the evenings at a local college and set up on his own, was incompetent with a bad reputation for a long time, until he got a job for a proper firm, learned it properly and then went back out on his own

And another self taught web design when off work with a broken leg, she's doing well.

But unless you have a good idea, invention, etc it's not always so easy. I admire your positivity though!

BoRED S2upid

19,644 posts

239 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
Yup. Left and went to Uni. I now work part time and don't commute two to three hours per day. I have more time to spend with my family.

Ask yourself, what will your child remember when they grow up - the time you spent playing with them or the toy you bought them?
I think this is very important I see kids at little BS2's nursery they are there 8-6 noses pressed against the window when I pick him up at 4:30 absolutely gutted it's not their dad. But I'm sure their parents are earning a lot more than me. I'd easily choose money over family life, getting the balance right is key.

tankplanker

2,479 posts

278 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
I looked at moving into teaching, at the time my field would have meant a decent wage after a few years and I already have my PGCE so it would have been an easy switch. Salary was about half what I was making at the time. I started to discount it when I compared when I could retire with a decent wedge, 55 in my current job and as near as damn it 65 as a teacher. Then I thought about actually teaching teenagers and that was the final nail in the coffin.

Would I like to do something else? Hell yes, but it must be better than what I do now.

Shnozz

27,423 posts

270 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
rosbif77 said:
Monkeylegend said:
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.
I'd love to create my own job. I would also love to have been able to progress in my career, but i decided to emigrate and put all my time/energy/money into giving my children the best possible upbringing/education.
I also did 2 other part time jobs to put away for my kids future!

A lot of you prioritised your careers first and fortunately your in a financial position now to spend quality time with your families.
I had the quality time with my kids but not the finances for days out/holidays etc. All the budget went on making sure my children never went without, they went on foreign school trips etc. Off course it didn't help that the Euro lowered our standard of living, or that teaching doesn't pay the bills if your family situation changes!



Edited by rosbif77 on Wednesday 27th April 13:13


Edited by rosbif77 on Wednesday 27th April 13:19
I'd highly recommend Screw Work Lets Play by an author called John Williams to get you thinking.

I'd read loads of these SH books in the past and this was the only one that truly got me mapping things out to break away.

Monkeylegend

26,227 posts

230 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
rosbif77 said:
Monkeylegend said:
You need to sometimes "create" your own job so to speak. If you think along the lines of having nothing different to offer and always working for somebody else, you will remain on the same old treadmill.

Everybody has skills to offer, so try to identify what those are, linked to what you would like to do and you can make it happen.

Positive thinking is required.

Negative thinkers say they can't afford to leave their current job, positive thinkers say they can't afford to stay, so will be more inclined to do something about it.

Also don't worry about what other people will think, just do it for you.

There are always ways to make money if you get desperate.
I'd love to create my own job. I'd also love to be able to have had a few toys, but i decided to emigrate and put all my time/energy/money into giving my children the best possible upbringing/education.

A lot of you prioritised your careers first and fortunately your in a financial position now to spend quality time with your families.
I had the quality time with my kids but not the finances for days out/holidays etc. All the budget went on making sure my kids never went without, they went on foreign school trips etc. Off course it didn't help that the Euro lowered our standard of living, or that teaching doesn't pay the bills if your single!

When I made my decision to opt out I wasn't financially stable, I still had a mortgage and two young children and a wife to support. I just felt I needed to do it for the sake of my own health and sanity and reasoned that although the company I worked for employed 2000 people on my site, there were another 29 million employed in the big outside world in the UK so the chances of getting another job were good.

I would guarantee that anybody putting an advert in their local parish magazine offering services for say gardening, plumbing, general DIY, technical support etc, or anything that people might need, would soon be working and earning money for themselves.




Edited by rosbif77 on Wednesday 27th April 13:13
Got my quoting a bit wrong there wink

Testaburger

3,674 posts

197 months

Thursday 28th April 2016
quotequote all
I see sinilarities with this topic in my line of work. I am a pilot in Hong Kong, and my peers and I generally make good money and have a nice lifestyle. It can be a bit superficial out here, as with many expat hubs, but it's a lot of fun and offers many advantages one wouldn't find back in the UK or US or Aus etc. .

That being said, now that the job market in many of our home countries has opened up a little, I've witnessed a steady trickle of my colleagues move back to start at the bottom of a list for their home airlines. It's a hell of a pay cut, but ultimately, they're doing what will make them happy in the long run. If you want a nice cottage in a village, and that kind of family atmosphere, you're just not going to find it here, and as long as he money is 'enough', then it's a no-brainer to these guys.

I appreciate that this is a bit different to the OP, because it's still doing the same job, but I guess my point is that if you see an increase in happiness for you & your family, then you can justify the pay cut - as long as you're not putting them at significant risk...

rosbif77

233 posts

96 months

Thursday 28th April 2016
quotequote all
Testaburger said:
I see sinilarities with this topic in my line of work. I am a pilot in Hong Kong, and my peers and I generally make good money and have a nice lifestyle. It can be a bit superficial out here, as with many expat hubs, but it's a lot of fun and offers many advantages one wouldn't find back in the UK or US or Aus etc. .

That being said, now that the job market in many of our home countries has opened up a little, I've witnessed a steady trickle of my colleagues move back to start at the bottom of a list for their home airlines. It's a hell of a pay cut, but ultimately, they're doing what will make them happy in the long run. If you want a nice cottage in a village, and that kind of family atmosphere, you're just not going to find it here, and as long as he money is 'enough', then it's a no-brainer to these guys.

I appreciate that this is a bit different to the OP, because it's still doing the same job, but I guess my point is that if you see an increase in happiness for you & your family, then you can justify the pay cut - as long as you're not putting them at significant risk...
Downsizing from a well paid but stressful job to one with a smaller pay cheque and less stress is fine if you've got cash in the bank or a lot of equity/mortgage paid off.
However, not everyones in that position so we just try to keep our heads above the water, or in my case work two jobs and still not have enough to last each month!

Chateauneufdupape

390 posts

100 months

Thursday 28th April 2016
quotequote all
Farmer Geddon said:
That's all well and good but you do need to be capable/competent in an area that's in demand to make it work self employed

And when you need a minumum income to cover your costs it's not as easy as just creating a job for yourself

I only know two people who made it work like that, one learned plumbing in the evenings at a local college and set up on his own, was incompetent with a bad reputation for a long time, until he got a job for a proper firm, learned it properly and then went back out on his own

And another self taught web design when off work with a broken leg, she's doing well.

But unless you have a good idea, invention, etc it's not always so easy. I admire your positivity though!
How hard can it be?

CaptainSlow

Original Poster:

13,179 posts

211 months

Thursday 28th April 2016
quotequote all
rosbif77 said:
Downsizing from a well paid but stressful job to one with a smaller pay cheque and less stress is fine if you've got cash in the bank or a lot of equity/mortgage paid off.
However, not everyones in that position so we just try to keep our heads above the water, or in my case work two jobs and still not have enough to last each month!
Looking at your life story post, you haven't chased the money..you've gone with your vocation. Plus some bad luck on the marital side.

rosbif77

233 posts

96 months

Thursday 28th April 2016
quotequote all
CaptainSlow said:
rosbif77 said:
Downsizing from a well paid but stressful job to one with a smaller pay cheque and less stress is fine if you've got cash in the bank or a lot of equity/mortgage paid off.
However, not everyones in that position so we just try to keep our heads above the water, or in my case work two jobs and still not have enough to last each month!
Looking at your life story post, you haven't chased the money..you've gone with your vocation. Plus some bad luck on the marital side.
Agreed. I went from earning a very comfortable salary in the private sector to following my passion.
However,it would be nice to follow one's vocation in life and still live comfortably.
On the other hand you never know what's round the corner!