Doing what you love? page 3

[JBailey]

My union is pretty toothless, but they've been helpful here & there. I'd rather be union than not. Any bit of help keeping a decent wage and working conditions is fine with me. I haven't really experienced any of the crap the righties go on about, but I know union brass are fond of being union brass. I don't care, as long as I can get back up when my employer crosses the line.

[econ]

Has anyone out there given up their full-time office job to find a higher-passion, albeit lower-income, kind of work? There are so many things I'd rather be doing, but the salary and benefits I've got now make it so hard to walk away. How did you do it?

All I know for sure is that sitting in my little cube for 9 hours a day staring at a computer screen is making me crazy. I am designed for play, for sunshine and the outdoors, and for so many other things that are the exact opposite of what I'm doing with the majority of my time.

I totally know how you feel. I'm honestly thinking about working for another two years, and then moving to Asia to teach English. If I wind up sitting in a cubicle staring at a computer screen for the next 10-20 years, I'll feel like I wasted my life.

[RitaRose]

I'm still waiting for the guillotine to drop - I was told back in November that I'd be laid off, but they wouldn't say when. Either right away, sometime in the next year or anywhere in between. So not exactly the same situation, but it does have me trying to figure out what I'm going to do next.

Pretty much nothing I'm qualified for will pay as well as what I'm doing now, but I'm trying to figure out what aspects I love and want to keep, and what things I know I wouldn't do for twice the pay. I don't really want a desk job anymore and I love dogs, so that's a possbility. But those jobs are hard to come by and I've got a little time still, so I can keep looking. But it really comes down to figuring out what will make me happy with the only financial consideration being "just enough to pay the bills".

My advice? Keep the job you have until you figure out exactly what you want to do, then get some skills so you can actually do it. Use the time at your current job to live off of what you think you might be making, saving the rest someplace safe. That way you know exactly how much you need to make, and you also have a backup in case things don't go quite as planned.

[Uncephalized]

I'm currently learning about "Extreme Early Retirement", which is basically about being as frugal as possible and cutting your expenses to the bare minimum, while saving and investing 70-80% of your income, to become financially independent within less than a decade. You don't have to go full-bore like the author of the book did, but the less you spend and the more you save the sooner your passive income will supply all of your needs. After that point any further investment you do just increases your passive income, so if you want to keep working so your "retirement" income will be a bit higher you can. But you won't ever have to work if you want to keep your lifestyle at the same level or grow it very slowly (by reinvesting your passive income). It's totally obvious that you can do this once you think about it for a little while, but it requires totally throwing all out all of your assumptions about what a "good life" is and how much you actually need to buy or own to achieve it.

So right now my personal brain project is studying my life to see where I spend money thoughtlessly or needlessly. The tally of things that I could start or stop doing to save money, without making my life any harder or less satisying, keeps growing.

I'm also beginning to see a glimmer of hope that my wife and I could actually simplify our lifestyle to the point where we could live comfortably on a fraction of my current income, allowing us the kind of freedom you can't even really dream of when you spend approximately 100% of every paycheck you get because even though you once made do with less, your lifestyle has expanded to the point where you now feel constrained while actually consuming much more. We're downsizing our stuff and talking about buying a parcel of land and putting a yurt or other semipermanent structure on it to live in within a few years.

Being able to provide for all your basic needs without working also gives you the breathing room and security that makes doing something like starting a business, or writing a novel, much easier. And because it doesn't need to support you right away you're more likely to be successful and can reinvest more of your initial income into growing the business.

[jammies]

I'm currently learning about "Extreme Early Retirement", which is basically about being as frugal as possible and cutting your expenses to the bare minimum, while saving and investing 70-80% of your income, to become financially independent within less than a decade. You don't have to go full-bore like the author of the book did, but the less you spend and the more you save the sooner your passive income will supply all of your needs. After that point any further investment you do just increases your passive income, so if you want to keep working so your "retirement" income will be a bit higher you can. But you won't ever have to work if you want to keep your lifestyle at the same level or grow it very slowly (by reinvesting your passive income). It's totally obvious that you can do this once you think about it for a little while, but it requires totally throwing all out all of your assumptions about what a "good life" is and how much you actually need to buy or own to achieve it.

So right now my personal brain project is studying my life to see where I spend money thoughtlessly or needlessly. The tally of things that I could start or stop doing to save money, without making my life any harder or less satisying, keeps growing.

I'm also beginning to see a glimmer of hope that my wife and I could actually simplify our lifestyle to the point where we could live comfortably on a fraction of my current income, allowing us the kind of freedom you can't even really dream of when you spend approximately 100% of every paycheck you get because even though you once made do with less, your lifestyle has expanded to the point where you now feel constrained while actually consuming much more. We're downsizing our stuff and talking about buying a parcel of land and putting a yurt or other semipermanent structure on it to live in within a few years.

Being able to provide for all your basic needs without working also gives you the breathing room and security that makes doing something like starting a business, or writing a novel, much easier. And because it doesn't need to support you right away you're more likely to be successful and can reinvest more of your initial income into growing the business.

Do you plan to cut back on the quality of your food? One of my major expenses is good quality food. I just don't think I am willing to get rid of that. But I love the idea otherwise!

[Uncephalized]

Well the way I'm eating right now is much less focused on meat which is the most expensive food to get in good quality. I'm actually not eating Primally so I don't mind doing more rice and beans as a staple and just supplement with denser nutritious foods like sardines/other whole fish, liver, shellfish, eggs to try and keep up the nutrient density. But yeah I still expect food to be one of my major expenses. I've been reintroducing foods like sourdough bread regularly into my diet, and even good bread is pretty damn cheap. I'm thinking about starting to make big batches of fixings for things like burritos that I can just eat for a week, adding in fruits or other foods as supplements to my mainstays. I also want to learn how to roll sushi since it's one of my very favorite foods, is very nutritious, but is expensive to get out. This is more how I prefer to eat naturally anyway, basically the same foods most days with variety in the details.

[jmday]

I work in a big 4. I used to be on the ladder. Had an opportunity to work its one of our smaller market offices to bring it back to health (via remote which is a boon). With a year, the 2008 crash hit. My best friend got cut. Since then I look at every six months as my new renewable contract. I also glad I did the lower work otherwise I would be without a job. I love the partners I work with now. But, I have no loyalty any more. It is a paycheck that pays for everything and retirement. I have no problem with that.

[econ]

I'm currently learning about "Extreme Early Retirement", which is basically about being as frugal as possible and cutting your expenses to the bare minimum, while saving and investing 70-80% of your income, to become financially independent within less than a decade.

I read some posts on a blog where a guy exactly did that (can't remember the name, but maybe that's where you go the idea). It's definitely an interesting concept, and can surely work. Personally, I'm just hoping I can find a way to work 20-30 hours a week and make like $30K+ working for myself, doing something that I enjoy. I honestly think I could live that way forever.

[halfbunny]

I know the website of extreme early retirement and there are some interesting tips and views on it, but its not my way to go. I honestly don't see the need of going so frugal, though I live in Europe and the author would probably find me to live under frugal conditions: not owning a car but able and used to ride over 30 miles per day on my 20 dollar bicycle for work and studies.

I now try to save at least 20 % of my income + invest 15 % of it in
a) tools that keep their value and/or could help me or my SO with hobbies, art or furniture making etc.
b) good food
c) share in sustainable energy projects.

I will soon be losing my best paid job and won't be able to save money, but don't feel stressed about it. I have some savings, competences and tools and creativity!
I do agree that a low expectation/ life standard is good to keep stress low, but I don't want to compromise on social life, life long learning and health.

On the other hand, I admire people who go 100 % for their passion! Like many others, my passion is currently not focused in one way, so i keep learning, creative, networks and tools so i feel happy and safe.

[Mud Flinger]

I have found that living well below your means to be one of the keys to happiness. The media will have you believing that you are nothing if you don't have the latest crap to show off. I have found that being debt free is priceless. I started saving into my 401K at my first job out of college for the free matching $$ the company offered. Most everyone else I worked with wanted that $$ for new cars and fancy vacations. I always paid for the current big purchase before making another one. Not making payments on all that stuff for years allowed for even more flexibilty. When we had kids, I left my carear behind to raise them and pursue my own stuff - this move cut almost 2/3 of our income, but we worked through it all because we did not have a bunch of debt to begin with. Learn to pay as you go and save and these "risky" choices become possible.