Work harder, get a better car, bigger house blah blah blah

[Animal]

Jasandjules said:

Work to the extent you need to have a lifestyle that makes you happy. It took me a while to work this out, before then I was working all the hours in an investment bank. Lovely bank account, but never spent the money because I was always in the office...

Because of that earlier effort do you not now have financial freedom (or at least a nice house and some toys)?

Over the past year or two I've allowed my work/life balance to slip and have worked like a dog! The upside is that I'm now being rewarded and can now take a view as to whether or not I've progressed as far as I want to or if, in fact, I want to move further up the ladder (or further along, depending on your point of view).

[ILoveMondeo]

I work my tits off, 70-80 hour weeks.

I want a better house, better car, but above all I want SECURITY for me and my family. When the st hits the fan I want to be able to easily absorb the financial hit that will probably come with it, loss of employment, boiler needs replacing, sickness prevents work, sons university fees, roof caves in, whatever really.

We could live quite happily on lower paid jobs (the GF works very hard too) with less hours, and stress. But who will pick up the pieces when one of us cannot work? or we want to retire? or we need care in our old age?

I do get a bit irked when people are happy with their little lifestyle jobs, but expect the state to pick up the pieces when something goes wrong, or wipe their arse for them in their old age and provide them housing for life, etc. That's supposed to be there for people who CANNOT earn / do more, not those that can't be arsed.

The hours I work are an extreme, I wouldn't expect many to do that, or to work "smarter" and produce more in less hours, but I regularly come across true nine-to-fivers, 5:01pm the chair is spinning and the door swinging as they leg it to the car park. Bare minimum is all that's needed.

Not doing your best, working your hardest, maximising your potential, being everything you can be, is just lazy and an affront to the many many hard workers out there you will foot the bill for your old age, illness, kids schooling, etc.

[misterme]

ILoveMondeo said:

I work my tits off, 70-80 hour weeks.

i'm just saying, no offence intended, but maybe working 70-80 hour weeks could make you ill (quite possibly?), lower your life expectancy etc then was it all worth it?
do you have time to sleep?

[decadent]

Doesn't really work in real life the way the title states. We have friends with lower income jobs but in much nicer houses however they've received big hand outs from their parents (one couple received £200k as early inheritance!).

So they are not there from hard work. Of course some earn it and that's great.

Probably best to not focus on it, focus on what makes you happy

[Moonhawk]

Troubleatmill said:

Move jobs.

You get what you negotiate - not what you deserve.

This has a lot of truth to it. Just as businesses give the best deals to "brand new customers" - many also treat employees in a similar manner, seemingly preferring to take on new people than promoting from within.

[Willy Nilly]

ILoveMondeo said:

I work my tits off, 70-80 hour weeks.

I have to work those hours for a 4 month period of the year in the summer and a few weeks in the spring. When I say work, I mean they are the hours I'm paid for and don't get paid for breaks and there is no pissing about when we are that busy, get to work and get on with it, no standing jawing, just work. If you can work like that all year, you are a better man than me.

The practicalities of working like that are it is very difficult to eat properly, do grocery shopping, do any sort of house work, going to work in a clean set of clothes takes planning and there is zero socialising. It is normally get up, go to work, go home, go to bed.

I earn good money when working that hard, but there is no mount of money that could persuade me to work like that all year.

[GetCarter]

I left school with no qualifications and went into a paid job (van driving), but decided as per the O/P post suggests, that there was little chance of advancement. I went back to college, developed some skills, and became self employed.

IMHO It's the most likely way of getting the better car, bigger house blah, blah. Though it's not just the work you have to figure in, it's the stress. No safety nets out here!

[ILoveMondeo]

Willy Nilly said:

I have to work those hours for a 4 month period of the year in the summer and a few weeks in the spring. When I say work, I mean they are the hours I'm paid for and don't get paid for breaks and there is no pissing about when we are that busy, get to work and get on with it, no standing jawing, just work. If you can work like that all year, you are a better man than me.

The practicalities of working like that are it is very difficult to eat properly, do grocery shopping, do any sort of house work, going to work in a clean set of clothes takes planning and there is zero socialising. It is normally get up, go to work, go home, go to bed.

I earn good money when working that hard, but there is no mount of money that could persuade me to work like that all year.

Agree on all your points, Monday to Friday is work eat sleep, we make a real effort to eat properly and we generally do, likewise were having a little gym installed later this year so we can exercise more.

I really should have added I don't plan on doing it till I'm 65!

I think of like this, at 45 I can get a job that requires a 50 hour week and it'll seem like retirement!

It does get tiring, but right now I think it's worth it.

[sjabrown]

It's a tricky thing finding the work/life balance. I've worked hard until now (now aged 30), and missed out on a few things that my peers did e.g gap year, travelling, posh flashy car. But I now have a nice house with affordable mortgage, a couple of cars as toys and some savings. All funded by a career that pays reasonably. The days of me doing 100+ hour weeks are gone, and I'm steadily reducing hours to avoid burnout.

[rouge59]

I retired from the corporate world just after my 40th birthday 6 years ago & took a couple of years out to recharge my batteries.

Fortunately I was able to do this as my wife's business supported us, but since then we've grown the business together to a point where neither of us work in it, just manage our managers.

We could make more money doing it ourselves, but we have a great relatively stress free life, with plenty of time for our children and most importantly each other.

Each to their own, but when I see how career driven and 'cash rich, time poor' some of my friends are, I truly wonder whether they've got their priorities completely wrong.

[Chris Type R]

Spare tyre said:

Once you stop worrying about being rich and worry about being happy, you'll be happier, maybe.

I'm working harder now at the cost of my health, happiness & spending time with my 3 year old.

This is so that we can move to a catchment area for a better school & so that we can have a separate play room / rooms that are not shared use and dominated by TVs. So I'm sacrificing short-term for long term happiness of myself and others. It's not all about trying to be "richer".

I'm self employed, so it's a little easier to "ramp up" for a couple of years and achieve realistic goals.

[Wacky Racer]

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Like most things in life, all things in moderation.

All these people who say "I work 7 days 90 hours a week you know".....I just think "Well mate, you are a mug"



(Unless of course they really genuinely love their job, then fair enough)

[Muzzer79]

This bit I understand

Chris Type R said:

I'm working harder now at the cost of my health, happiness & spending time with my 3 year old.

This is so that we can move to a catchment area for a better school

This bit, not so much.

Chris Type R said:

I'm working harder now at the cost of my health, happiness & spending time with my 3 year old.

This is so that we can have a separate play room / rooms that are not shared use and dominated by TVs. .

You're sacrificing time spent with your family and your health so you can have a separate playroom for your child?

Does he not have a bedroom?




I could really stick my neck out in my career and work even harder to buy a bigger house. But what for? Our house fits us, it's in a good location, with good amenities.
A bigger one would just mean I had more space.

Sure, it'd be nice to have a double garage and a bigger garden and a family room, but is it worth it? At the moment, no - we can manage as we are.

[ILoveMondeo]

Wacky Racer said:

All these people who say "I work 7 days 90 hours a week you know".....I just think "Well mate, you are a mug"

And I think those that don't are a bit lazy. (OK not 90 hours a week, that's nuts)

Goes round in circles really, doesn't make either of us right (other than in our own heads)

I wouldn't say I love my job, it's pretty stressful at times, but then I don't hate it or dislike it either. Lets say I kinda-like it!

Working hard gives me a sense of achievement and satisfaction , that bit I love. Feeling like I'm providing security for my family.(and a fking great bonus at the end of the year helps with that a bit too)

Just out of curiosity (and I'm not be facetious here, honest), if you do go for the "work life balance" do you lead a frugal existence so that you can swallow the bitter financial pills that life has a habit of throwing your way, or do you just worry about them if and when they arrive?

I'm not arguing here, each to their own, just curious to discuss others thoughts. see if you can persuade me I'm doing it all wrong... there's a beach hut somewhere with my name on it I'm sure!


ETA maybe I'm going off topic anyway, as I'm not on about the bigger house/better car anyway... More pay off mortgage, have plenty of savings, have damn good pension, educate child, give child head start in life, leave legacy for child.

Edited by ILoveMondeo on Thursday 29th January 18:53

[anonymous-user]

ILoveMondeo said:

I work my tits off, 70-80 hour weeks.

I want a better house, better car, but above all I want SECURITY for me and my family. When the st hits the fan I want to be able to easily absorb the financial hit that will probably come with it, loss of employment, boiler needs replacing, sickness prevents work, sons university fees, roof caves in, whatever really.

Is it really best for your family that you work 70-80 hours a week? The worlds full of people that end up divorced who work all hours apparently for their family or to just buy more stuff.

Maybe they would prefer you to be around more and have a worse car or smaller house etc.

Still, everyone is different. If it works for your family and you don't end up divorced and manage to have a good relationship with your children then go for it.

[Chris Type R]

Muzzer79 said:

You're sacrificing time spent with your family and your health so you can have a separate playroom for your child?

Does he not have a bedroom?

I could really stick my neck out in my career and work even harder to buy a bigger house. But what for? Our house fits us, it's in a good location, with good amenities.
A bigger one would just mean I had more space.

Sure, it'd be nice to have a double garage and a bigger garden and a family room, but is it worth it? At the moment, no - we can manage as we are.

She does have a bedroom, but very small. It's not just one small thing, it's many. Trivial things like wanting to have space for a drawing board, a piano, etc. Not being near to a busy road, near a good school (which is very important).

It's short term sacrifice for long-term gain. i.e. the motivation is not as superficial as simply wanting bigger & better things for the sake of it.

[L555BAT]

For an employee, working hard beyond a certain point has diminishing returns. So there isn't anything to gain beyond a certain level of hard. People will send work the way of others who are willing to do it.

I tend to work quite hard, as it's often not possible to know at the time how hard was needed. Same at school/uni. If you do as hard as you can, and it wasn't enough - well you tried your best. If you slack and it wasn't enough, then you only have yourself to blame.

I also find that amongst friends and colleagues, there are people who don't work hard and still have a better car, bigger houses etc. To date at 27 I've spent around £35k on rent, others bought houses with deposit gifts that size (and bigger) from parents and now have the gift plus the £35k not spent on rent (ok there are running costs, but the point remains the same) as equity in their house. It annoys me a bit to see that person at the other end of the office. Worked less hard, £70k+ better off. But the world has always been like this, it's how it is.

Actually working hard is an expensive way of appearing to work hard. Many achieve that appearance by faking it, talking the talk etc. and that can work as good as and sometimes better than actually working hard.

[Du1point8]

Work smarter and you see the benefits massively...

Thats what I do and in the past 12 months have been rewarded with 25% payrise and I have only been with the company 18 months.

I get myself noticed and kick up a fuss when its needed, rather than just keep my head down like other 'factory style' workers, hence head of HR knows me by name as do most of the global heads (for good reasons), its about positioning yourself for moving up the food chain, I do that as networking rather than just do my work.

If I do something well, they all know about it now, they know what I have to do in my current consulting job to keep the client happy, to be honest as Im from a contracting background it comes easy to deal with office politics, but as management don't know that I find it easy, it makes me stand out as an exceptional employee.

The consultancy usually only deal with ex permies, so when a cut throat ex contractor comes along, they don't really know what has hit them in a good way for me... several other ex contractors are finding the same as me, treat it like its a contracting position and head management soon notice.

Once in high enough management I can do the role of delegator whilst posting on PH all the time

[Pommygranite]

Foliage said:

to people like me look at you and think your unintelligent and unable to manage your work load correctly.

Its you're not your

You're presuming those of us who work this way care what you think. When you become my wife I will care what you think but as a random stranger - I don't.

What job do you? It appears you get paid by the hour or have no commercial input into the success, or the reward from, your employers business.

[Corpulent Tosser]

Work harder to get bigger car etc ? - possibly, working harder/better/smarter, making yourself a better prospect whether it be skills, flexibility certainly can give an advantage over others, a good reputation can open doors to better earnings potential.

Work to live or live to work ?

Sometimes I wonder which applies to me. I work 84hrs/week, sometimes more, for four weeks overseas to then have four weeks off. I am self employed and earn what I think most would regard as a healthy income, as I approach retirement I am mindful and more careful about investments, but still spend money on enjoying my time off.
What is the point of having the time if you don't do something with it.

This year I am going to Thailand and Majorca for holidays, Spa for F1, Assen for Motogp and will have many days away in UK during my time off, I think I have it about right (at least for me)

Those who work long hours all the time may have money saved and have a safety net for future uncertainties, which is good and responsible, but they are not giving themselves time to enjoy what they have now and someday it will be too late.

Those who do the minimum they need to survive may be happy now, which is good but can they do the things they want and they may be reliant on the state later.

I think what I am trying to say is there should be balance.