OT: Quitting the Rat Race

[farrellcollie]

Does anyone have any specifics as to how they managed to live (happily) on less income?

.

I suggest a book called "The Tightwad Gazette" (1998) by Amy Dacyczyn - in several parts of the book there are letters from readers (she had a newletter) who, using her strategies, went from two incomes to one (she and her husband have a bunch of children and she talks about a lot of stuff with children - not interesting to me - no children - but useful for those who do). The success stories are quite inspirational and she has a huge amount of information on how to live happily on less income. The book is rather old now (she and her husband made so much money on her Tightwad Gazette newsletter that she quit writing it) and the tips aren't always easy to do - but they make sense.

[Livin the Dream]

I've enjoyed reading through this thread. I appreciate all of the insight people have shared. Here are my thoughts, for what they're worth....

I've had a FT job since I graduated from High School; I spent 10 years as a single Mom and earned a BA and an MA while working full time. Most of my working life has been spent in the corporate world; several years ago I was feeling VERY burned out and was exploring options everywhere from owning my own business (which I decided against for many of the reasons Susan so eloquently pointed out) to talking DH into selling everything and moving somewhere where we could live on basically nothing. God heard my cries of frustration, because I was given the opportunity to work for an academic institution, from home, for a few years. The job itself wasn't a "keeper", and working from home isn't for me, but it gave me the opportunity to step back from the corporate world and regain some sense of balance. I recently went back to work for a company I worked for several years ago and I've returned with a much better perspective, attitude, and a strong sense of what is important to me to keep my life in balance. For me, balance is the key. Not many of us have the stomach for risk or the means to just quit the "rat race" and start completely new. But, I believe we all have the ability to make small changes that will allow us to move our life back into balance and get our life to a place where we spend some time working (SAHM, work at home, or work outside the home), some time playing and recharging, and some time doing things for others.

My next challenge is facing DH's retirement. We'll see if I can maintain my newly-found perspectives! I've been remarried for a number of years; DH is older (He's 61, I'm 44) and will retire next year. My goal (and my employer is supposedly on board with this), is to transition to some type of less-than-40 hrs/week and/or flexible schedule to allow DH and I to travel and spend time together. (After he gets all the housework done!) This is important to me because the reality is, if we wait until I'm old enough to retire in the traditional sense, we'll miss the opportunity to travel, ride bikes together, etc. due to his age. So, for us, this will mean taking a hard look at what we can live without and what "spends" are important to us. This may mean that grandkids may not get as many gifts, etc. It will require making some hard choices, but I'm hopeful that we can carve out a life that makes us both happy!

[Trekhawk]

Another book you might consider is Your Money Or Your Life. I have not read this book but I have heard really good things about it. Joe Dominguez (former Stockbroker) and Vicki Robin (former Actress) taught others how to get out of debt and save money by frugality and simple living.

[betagirl]

A little over a year ago I quit my well-paying job in corporate IT to go back to school to get my doctorate in clinical psychology. While today I find myself more busy than I was at my old job, my stress level is 75% lower. Why? Little, if any, politics. Plus I actually love what I'm doing. I think that's key, and if you can find it and actually do it for a living then you're truly lucky. I do still consult on the side so I'm not a poor grad student persay. Plus my I live with my boyfriend, so he pays more of the bills now. I can say I do NOT miss the corporate world and am so happy to have escaped it.

[li10up]

I took the suggestion I saw here and borrowed the book, Your Money or Your Life, from the library. This is a VERY good book. It still doesn't answer my questions though. Even though there is a chapter on How Much Is Enough it takes a lot of record keeping to come to that conclusion. I'm looking for answers - now. That's probably my problem. Plus no answer fits everyone, of course.

So let me revise my original question. How can I quite the rat race for just one year? I really don't want to stay in the I.T. field even though the money is good. I just don't enjoy it. So, I'd like to take a year off. I want to spend 6 months of it thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and the other 6 months just riding my bike, decompressing and "finding myself." I still don't know what I want to do with my life. Anyone else out there in their 40s and still not know what they want to do for a living? It's embarrassing and frustrating!

[Trekhawk]

I took the suggestion I saw here and borrowed the book, Your Money or Your Life, from the library. This is a VERY good book. It still doesn't answer my questions though. Even though there is a chapter on How Much Is Enough it takes a lot of record keeping to come to that conclusion. I'm looking for answers - now. That's probably my problem. Plus no answer fits everyone, of course.

So let me revise my original question. How can I quite the rat race for just one year? I really don't want to stay in the I.T. field even though the money is good. I just don't enjoy it. So, I'd like to take a year off. I want to spend 6 months of it thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and the other 6 months just riding my bike, decompressing and "finding myself." I still don't know what I want to do with my life. Anyone else out there in their 40s and still not know what they want to do for a living? It's embarrassing and frustrating!

Its not embarrassing at all. Plenty of people make career changes or life changes later in life you have nothing to feel embarrassed about - frustrated yes embarrassed no. Do Americans get Long Service Leave??
If so is this an option you could use??

[mimitabby]

I must echo everyone else. I have just read some very inspiring stories here, including Susan; of TE.
I have been working full time (with 3 months off for each of two sons) since i was 20 years old (i did spend some time trying to finish college, but didn't do THAT until this year)

I make an embarrassingly good salary for a woman without a degree (until June) and while my job is not personally very satisfying or interesting, I work with good people and we do good stuff (they design quieter airplanes).

So at least i can feel good about what we do here. but it is not MY purpose. It pays my bills and keeps me in a warm little house with good food all year round.

I used to talk about retiring at age 55 (I will be 55 in late november) but I don't talk about that anymore. If I retired, I would really need something else to do
and quite frankly; i am not sure i am ready for the drop in income.

The question is; how do you drop out for a year? Set some money aside. If you can't do that; you are going to be in worse shape than you are now at the end of a year. Moneylenders are there to make a fortune off you; and if you go into debt, it can be something you never climb out of.
If you don't like your job; try to get another one; or relocate so you don't have such a long commute.

After my kids grew up i expressed to my younger (andmore needy son) my regrets that i was not a stay at home mom and that he had to stay in day care. he said; mom, don't worry about it; you made us more self reliant.
Good luck
mimi a lab rat.

[yellow]

So let me revise my original question. How can I quite the rat race for just one year? I really don't want to stay in the I.T. field even though the money is good. I just don't enjoy it. So, I'd like to take a year off. I want to spend 6 months of it thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and the other 6 months just riding my bike, decompressing and "finding myself." I still don't know what I want to do with my life. Anyone else out there in their 40s and still not know what they want to do for a living? It's embarrassing and frustrating!

li10up, you can do it, but it will be hard. No doubt about it. It depends upon how far you are willing to step over that line out of your comfort zone.

I spent about 10 months skiing and riding and generally doing whatever I felt like doing expecting to have some kind of ephiphany. Surely "what I should do with myself when I go up" would come to me, right? I enjoyed the time and skied some wicked powder, but the ephiphany never came. I had this vision of being on the chairlift and having a giant "ah ha!" moment.

We had saved money in anticipation of me taking time off (approximately 25% of my annual salary), so while things were very tight, we learned to adjust. It helps that we were already a little unconventional: no TV, no expensive cars, small house with no storage, no kids, and no desire to be one of the Joneses, so to speak. Giving things up was really pretty easy. That's not to say that we didn't make some mistakes. It takes a while to adjust to the new lifestyle, that is for sure.

When I realized the "ah ha" moment wasn't going to come I actually had to apply some logical thought. How much was I willling to work and how much was I willing to sacrifice? How would it affect my spouse? What would he be comfortable with? How would it affect our lives 10-20-30 years from now?

So I started looking again for a "real" job (I was working a PT extremely low paying job at the time that had a great schedule but hated being treated like an idiot and it just wasn't working out). I ended up in a job similar to my old one but I was able to negotiate a part time schedule and the ability to take leave without pay without hassle. When I tell my new coworkers that I only work 4 days a week they get that "why didn't I think of that?" look on their faces. I may stay there a year or 10. I don't know. But I think that's OK. My life is still centered around my family and what I do outside of work. I never plan to work full time again.

Review your finances, decide what you can live without (it's a lot more than you think), how you can make changes, and go for it. Don't expect the ephiphany, but if it comes, great! Make sure you have a "back up" plan as well; it may be drastic (such as drawing on your retirement funds), but it helps to know that it's there. I never came close to needing my back up plan.

Better to do it now than to spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened had you done it.

Good luck. What killer shape you will be in!

[tprevost]

I took the suggestion I saw here and borrowed the book, Your Money or Your Life, from the library. This is a VERY good book. It still doesn't answer my questions though. Even though there is a chapter on How Much Is Enough it takes a lot of record keeping to come to that conclusion. I'm looking for answers - now. That's probably my problem. Plus no answer fits everyone, of course.

So let me revise my original question. How can I quite the rat race for just one year? I really don't want to stay in the I.T. field even though the money is good. I just don't enjoy it. So, I'd like to take a year off. I want to spend 6 months of it thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and the other 6 months just riding my bike, decompressing and "finding myself." I still don't know what I want to do with my life. Anyone else out there in their 40s and still not know what they want to do for a living? It's embarrassing and frustrating!

Check out www.cheapskatemonthly.com there is a fee to join (minimal) but they have great discussion forums and lots of people and advise and great stories about many different financial situations etc.

[Livin the Dream]

I must echo everyone else. I have just read some very inspiring stories here, including Susan; of TE.
I have been working full time (with 3 months off for each of two sons) since i was 20 years old (i did spend some time trying to finish college, but didn't do THAT until this year)

I make an embarrassingly good salary for a woman without a degree (until June) and while my job is not personally very satisfying or interesting, I work with good people and we do good stuff (they design quieter airplanes).

So at least i can feel good about what we do here. but it is not MY purpose. It pays my bills and keeps me in a warm little house with good food all year round.

I used to talk about retiring at age 55 (I will be 55 in late november) but I don't talk about that anymore. If I retired, I would really need something else to do
and quite frankly; i am not sure i am ready for the drop in income.

The question is; how do you drop out for a year? Set some money aside. If you can't do that; you are going to be in worse shape than you are now at the end of a year. Moneylenders are there to make a fortune off you; and if you go into debt, it can be something you never climb out of.
If you don't like your job; try to get another one; or relocate so you don't have such a long commute.

After my kids grew up i expressed to my younger (andmore needy son) my regrets that i was not a stay at home mom and that he had to stay in day care. he said; mom, don't worry about it; you made us more self reliant.
Good luck
mimi a lab rat.

Mimitabby, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that your method of making a living is not your purpose. Rather, it supports the rest of your life, like bikes and accessories! And working with good people is a gift in an of itself..

Your comment touches on what led me back to satisfaction in the corporate world. In the few years I stepped out of corporate life to work in academia, I finally made peace with the fact that, at least at this point in my life, the best place for me to work was not in a field I am passionate about (education). The skills you use in your everyday job and the interests that are near and dear to your heart are not always one and the same. It's amazing what some soul-searching and a shift in attitude can do. Life is a trade-off.

BTW, congratulations on finishing your degree! That is a great accomplishment.

[li10up]

Yellow - what you did sounds like what I'd like to do. 25%? Sounds like an obtainable goal. A little disheartening to hear you didn't come to any revelations. Sounds like you worked it out though.

Mimitabby - I've never been a person to live in debt. So that isn't an issue for me.

I don't need a lot. Don't have any vices like clothes or shoes. Don't need night clubs. Enjoy eating out but can change that. I do like to buy sports equipment though. But I have a mtn bike, road bike, kayak, racquetball and climbing equipment. So I don't think there's much else I'd want. House should be paid for by the end of the year so that just leaves the car. No credit card debt! I will be vested at work in two years so there is no way I'm leaving before then. Guaranteed something at age 60 that way. I'm saving about 15% of my income for "the day" I can quit. Had a nice little nest egg goin' until we had to replace our heat pump. $5000 bucks down the tubes! Going to tell DH that this money is NOT for for short term needs. Biggest concern is health insurance. DH is a cancer patient and is insured through me by work. Don't know how I'm going to get around that one.

You all are giving me some things to think about. Just don't know how to figure out how much $ I'll need to quit work for a year without ending up in the poor house.

[Trekhawk]

Ok Im assuming Americans dont have Long Service Leave?? That is a shame In Australia after you work for a company for 10 years you are entitled to 3 months paid leave. For every year after 10 you receive another week of paid leave. My husband has worked with his present employer for 20 years so could take 6 months leave on full pay or opt to take a year on half pay.

We hope down the track to use this leave so my husband can relax and enjoy a non scheduled life and perhaps we can travel a little. We would also like to investigate less populated parts of Australia with the idea of maybe living there down the track.

I hope you manage to find a solution that works for you. As Yellow said you have to try.

[spokewench]

In 1996, my husband and I moved from the Bay Area to Flagstaff Arizona (small town) to get away from the rat race (no long commutes anymore, less money, still pretty expensive housing, but we had a little extra put away so we are okay that way.)

So, when we first moved here, I worked full time at at least 1/2 of my Bay Area Salary, my husband worked part time at a little less salary than he made before. we managed, we did fine and still started saving money.

Then, I went to 4 days a week (I'm a paralegal) about 2 years ago. A little less money coming in but not bad - I like my job and I have a lot of time off.

Then, about a year ago, my husband quit his full time job (xray tech) and did not work for about 8 months and then has worked part time (he does ont work as much as I do right now) and we are still doing okay! I even went to the Colorado Bike tour last year, went on a 3 day cruise and went surfing for a week in LaJolla last week! Lots of riding and small trips as well.

So, yes, we are out of the rat race although we still work some and it is wonderful! You just have to plan, and execute and don't go out to dinner as often, eat your lunch at home, don't commute as far or do it on your bike, etc. It really is not that hard once you make up your mind to do it!

Life is GOOD!

[mimitabby]

Ok Im assuming Americans dont have Long Service Leave?? That is a shame In Australia after you work for a company for 10 years you are entitled to 3 months paid leave. For every year after 10 you receive another week of paid leave. My husband has worked with his present employer for 20 years so could take 6 months leave on full pay or opt to take a year on half pay.

We hope down the track to use this leave so my husband can relax and enjoy a non scheduled life and perhaps we can travel a little. We would also like to investigate less populated parts of Australia with the idea of maybe living there down the track.

I hope you manage to find a solution that works for you. As Yellow said you have to try.

No, we don't have anything like that. Most of us work for companies, that if they give you vacation (normally not more than 1 month a year) they take it away if you don't use it in the next 2 years, so you can't even save it up!

[wabisabi]

It may be a long shot, but worth a try: what about applying for a sabbatical? There may not be a formal program, but it might be something to explore. You never know. You could save up some $ and see if you can get a year off; maybe something like Trekhawk is talking about. There are some companies that offer this, or are open to it. If it is just the time, it might be worth it to the company. It's a way to keep good workers from getting burned out. You might start a trend!

I didn't mean to suggest that working for oneself is a piece of cake, by any means. I have just noticed over time (and there is some research to support this) that women are less willing to put up with the vagaries of the corporate world (which I think is a good thing). For example, I have a sister who lives in a rural area and does editing for a couple of publishers. The work can be variable, and she does a lot of other money-making things. There are also a number of local voluntary simplicity groups in many areas that can serve as a support group; I think the website associated with the Dominguez book lists some. Duane Elgin's book is also good, and has support groups.