[Closed] Anyone packed in the big bucks rat race for a simpler existence?

we are no further forward financially

wouldn't argue with that, same as people slaving over huge mortgage for large house. It becomes all consuming for what? Makes you happier? Doubt it. You certainly miss out on quality stuff.

Anyone packed in the big bucks rat race for a simpler existence?

Never entered the race to start with.

Perfectly happy, finish work by 5 every day, never work weekends. Love it.

(And I love my job too)

and there I was thinking about doing the opposite and going for the big bucks...to ideally save enough to be able to give the kids a house deposit, pay for uni if they want to go, etc. Happy in the house we've got and saving a decent amount as it is, and more than comfortable given we don't have a big mortgage, but the increase potentially available is life changing... but it would probably mean no mid week night rides and more hectic working weeks...more stress, etc.

i have always lived a simple life..steered as far away from following the jonses as possible.
never taken a job unless i could cycle to work, never worked any form of overtime, never wanted to own a flash expensive house or car.

work to live rather than the alternative......it is a easy thing to do, just remember you dont have to own the best of everything.

I've moved away from London but never managed to earn big money while I was there, so not quite the same but I will say that if you move out from London the major saving has only been in housing cost, and if you bought in London 10+ years ago you might not have too big a mortgage. If you only downsize in house and not in lifestyle the drop in wadges from London to not London will not be compensated for by a cheaper house. I.e you will need to change your entire life, not just your house.

Yes.

I'm hardly on subsistence income though, and still go to London once a fortnight, and couldn't have as cushy a life if Mrs stoner didn't have a good career as well, but she too has downsized from a v high stress high paid London city job.

We don't do new cars or expensive foreign holidays but we have nice bikes and a little cupboard in the alps.

But most of all I get to spend all the time my boys are not in school with them and not resenting the stolen hours lost in an office.

New a guy years ago who packed in big IT job in London. Moved to Edinburgh to do bike tours of the city with tourists for six months of the year. Minimal overheads and earned enough to **** of skiing for the winter months each year. Did it for a few years before getting married then returned to IT.

I do find it staggering that a search for part time Senior IT dev jobs reveals nothing. The 'work to live' mentality still seems to raise eyebrows. Shame, that more options to get the balance right in the professional sector still do not exist.

The 'work to live' mentality still seems to raise eyebrows

raising eyebrows is something that has never bothered me.....being happy is far more important.

I think the trouble with part time it (depending on the area of it) is that it can be hard to split some tasks to share or if the task is not shared in takes too long in the time line. This is a least try in my experience from a development POV.

I always think about downsizing, but then I think 'whilst I'm earning a good wage, I may as well save as much as possible for a rainy day'....

When I was younger I did the usual back packer route of s/e Asia, met a guy from Manchester who had grafter for 10 years 7 days a week to buy and do up and rent cheap 2 bed houses, he ended up with 6 houses with tiny Morgages and at 35 lived 20 feet from the beach with his Thai mrs and kids and planned to never work again and could live a simple life off the rental income alone...

Sort of.....

Had a very successful 1990s in my twenties. Did well career wise, didn't have a really extravagant lifestyle but had a good enough house down south, decent holidays, company car.

Got made redundant after a takeover in 2000. Pursuing my career would have meant a 2 hour each way commute into London, and we wanted to start a family and afford for one of us to stay at home. So we moved to the Midlands.

I've drifted through a variety of jobs, turned down opportunities to climb the greasy pole. MrsMC has worked part time around kids and put her career on hold. Still managed to pay off the small mortgage we had, have basic but decent cars, basic holidays, but have had a great work/life balance.

That said, I am now rather trapped in a job I hate with no real prospects of getting out and getting anything better. MrsMC has gone full time while I have gone part time, but we are still on £20k less than we were 16 years ago, with two extra mouths to feed and clothe.

Several mates have recently made good career moves and doing well for themselves, and part of me envies their ability to buy nice stuff for themselves. But they envy me our lifestyle, so it works both ways.

The trick is not to increase your expenditure if your income increases. BUT no-one does, you spend what you earn unless you're very wealthy. You might think Ohhh I'd like a bigger house and if you can afford to you do but if you can't you make do in the smaller one. Why would you make do in the smaller one if you can afford a bigger one??

The trick is not to increase your expenditure if your income increases. BUT no-one does, you spend what you earn unless you're very wealthy.

I lasted 8 months in the corporate rat race, quit my career ladder graduate job because I just came to the realisation that I didn't want to play that game.

That was about 18 years ago, and never regretted it - we don't have much money, but we have enough.

[quote=jekkyl ]The trick is not to increase your expenditure if your income increases. BUT no-one does, you spend what you earn unless you're very wealthy. You might think Ohhh I'd like a bigger house and if you can afford to you do but if you can't you make do in the smaller one. Why would you make do in the smaller one if you can afford a bigger one??That. I just didn't get drawn into the bigger house thing, didn't have expensive new cars every year and didn't splash on big holidays. That put me in a position to retire early and just carry on working for pocket money and fun. There [i]was[/i] a couple of times in my 30's and 40's that I could have taken on a different, better paid, role at work but it always meant more stress and travelling. I think there's a point where you need to just look for a better balance.

I just change my partners depending on what sort of lifestyle i want to lead!

[I]A guy I regular see at the beach windsurfing works for himself fitting kitchens and tells me he scrapes by and as long as he has money for diesel, can pay the rent then that's all that matters to him. He reckons he works about 7 months of the year.[/I]

I reckon he hasn't kids like you, different world.

Money buys you choices. I've had friends enviously talk about my work life balance but i have to point out to them that we didn't have a family holiday last year because our boiler broke. Or that I don't drive a nice car because i will never afford one. Or that my kids won't ever learn to ski. And I'm probably not any happier than you!

But saying that, my brother chose a different career path and has a Porsche and kids in private school and I wouldn't swap for his salary.

You'll regret not doing something more than doing it. Good luck.

I've gone from working as an editor in London and constantly overtiming to earing half as much working for a local authority out in the sticks. I build and maintain trails + public rights of way and so im oitside all the time. The work is fairly grafty 70% of the time, with some office wotk thrown in. Super flexible working hours mean i get to do the good stuff ehrn i want to. I'm only 27 so I was never earning mega dollar in the city, but I'm now about a year away from buying a house, on half the wage I was on in London ad compared to... ummm... never.

Like others I spend less money on 'stuff' now. There's definitely mileage in the idea of 'have less appreciate more'

Likewise the confucian proverb 'choose a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life'

Never been happier. Quit your job, sell your kids and move to the hills.

House... sell your house.

I packed in IT to open a bike shop, big mistake, now doing IT again and loving it and still got the shop, so now got twice the stress lol

I've been in a really low stress job for ten years. Pay was o.k. but I finally got too bored. I'm moving into a longer hours more stress and more money role. I now have a one year old daughter, my motivation is to provide for her. I am going to try really hard not to get caught up in lifestyle inflation.

It's all about balance as far as I am concerned . I work hard but make sure I do most of the things I want to do....but then running your own business allows you to make choices.

Just handed in my notice after teaching 15-odd years. We have always been pretty careful with money but my salary will be dropping quite a lot for the new job...

Ill keep you posted as to whether it's a good move or not 😯

We had decent salaries but never spent much. Having no kids makes that pretty easy. Jobs were good fun, hard work at times but we enjoyed it for quite a while. Finally got sick of it, walked out. Not sure if early retirement really counts though!

I settled for being skint from the start and carrying on like that.

I reckon he hasn't kids like you, different world.

One of my customers said that it must be great working for myself as I can choose when I work. I could only reply that yes it was, if I was happy choosing when I could afford to eat and pay the bills.

I was forced into escaping the rat race a couple of years ago due to redundancy although by the time the axe fell I was pretty sick of it all anyway. Being my own boss is satisfying and it is nice to step off the treadmill of career advancement; it allows you to focus on doing a good job and trying to get real satisfaction from your work, not just trying to hit somebody elses targets all the time.

Living a simpler life quite often means earning less money(although not always). If you are happy to do so and just get by then go for it. However,the grass is always greener and all that...

Packed in a 60 grand job working in TV to go back to college and bag myself a 22 grand a year job as a physiotherapist. I don't think I've ever been at a happier place in my life

On the flipside, what do all these free living types do about pensions?

It's easy to have a simple life until it isn't.

It's easy to have a simple life until it isn't.

On really through choice but left a solid job in the UK, I'm now part time, living in a shared house and earning a lot less but in the last 12 months I've seen and done more than in the last 5 or 10. It's not all awesome and after 3 quiet months the appeal of a regular pay cheque and job security is very appealing but then again busy Feb coming up, work are paying for a chunck of the travel fory next race as it lines up with a job, today I'm having a slow day so I set some stuff going and now I'm enjoying a pint by the harbour in the sun.

I do wonder if I could ever do full time again.

It can be done...but having kids makes it much more difficult.

Not sure it's possible with a partner and kids as the saying goes "money's not important until there is none"

Corporate and personal pension contributions during those early well-paid years gave the pension fund a kick start, starting aged 20. Too many people don't get going on their pension till far to late.

As a self employed worker, I still take my retirement planning seriously and invest as much as I can afford of what I earn in good years, not into locked away pensions but accessible assets we can call on in times of need, lean years or during retirement.

Not that Mrs stoner and I really intend to completely stop earning income until our 70s+.

I wouldn´t say that it was big bucks I gave up but definitely a good job with my career going somewhere. Now I have a good lifestyle and am a lot happier. I have far fewer material things, (other than the toys directly connected to my job) but maybe because I´m happier I don´t feel the need for things. It´s definitely true about kids though, we have a 2 year old and I have found myself thinking more about the fact that I will never have much money to buy her things and whether it is fair to impose my "lifestyle choice" on her. On the other hand she has a father who is happy in life and can wheelie her all the way to school. She also has the best bike in the neighbourhood. If our daughter was on the scene when we made the decision to change our lives the decision would have been a lot, lot harder. It´s especially true because with the industry I worked in all my knowledge is now 8 years out of date and really there´s no going back.

Corporate and personal pension contributions during those early well-paid years gave the pension fund a kick start, starting aged 20. Too many people don't get going on their pension till far to late.

The need to have an exit-route as it were has been a major reason as to why I've not had kids.

Starting the check-out, currently... Looking at:
[img] [/img]

The pension has me trapped in my current job, however in reality it's not enough to stop working when I'm anything less than 70. My dream (the current one of many) is to train as a pilates instructor and run evening classes, freeing up day times to look after my daughter a few days a week, get a dog, ride / run / walk more with it and I'd happily do that into my 70's.

My pessimistic view is that I'm saving for an increasingly short period of my life. Ill be working 'til older and if family history is anything to go by, cancer will get me before I've had a few years from it. Should be living for now, to turn that into a positive.

EDIT: i most envy Doug (basque mtb) here. If I was your daughter I'd think you were an awesome Dad 🙂

Hey Jimmy, thanks! It won´t be that when she wants a horse or the newest trainers though will it. 🙂 If you have a dream then go for it, there´s nothing worse than what if´s.

Not that Mrs stoner and I really intend to completely stop earning income until our 70s+.

Hmmm ... you may not have the choice, if one of you gets ill 🙁 My Dad retired at 55, had a few years of nice holidays and low key working and was looking forward to a long and relaxed retirement. Now he has Alzheimers and all those plans are in the bin.

yep, after quite a few years of very mobile city consultancy working and then ditto self employment (1 week hol per year + 8 BH)I took a dead end fixed location job. 35 hour week (about half what I used to do), works for me. Only irritation is that they plan to make me redundant and I was hoping it would have happened by now so sort of living in hope of a pre retirement bonus.

My 'change reasons' were that as I aged I noticed I was getting less tolerant of the commute (and being nice/helpful to rsoles), got serious with the lady (so no longer wanted to live away from home) and also saw what happened to my parents (*ie retirement can be fun but it can also involve health issues etc etc) and you're here once.

Had it lined up, old farmhouse with land going to do a holiday let with e camping pods to pay the mortgage, get tinkytonk jobs for food and bills. Job jobbed, even had the buiders lined up for quotes etc then the mrs got ntice of redundancy so we couldn't get the mortgage. Was 2 years (and a lot of hard of hard work) from living the dream. Ball bags.

I earn twice as much as Dr North. But my pension is poor - I chose income over saving while I supported her. I woke up this morning thinking that, on the cusp of 40, I really do need to sort it out.

Today is a day I want to give up the slog, the politics and all that comes with corporate life. But it will need a major mindset shift at home to cut our expenditure to manage this. And I have a status problem - I need to feel I'm higher up the foodchain than others. A long unresolved highly competitive streak drives that. Doesn't help that I get bored very easily.

So, attractive though getting off the bus sounds, in reality I'm destined to continue to drive myself into the ground over the next 20 years....

Our friends are absolutely minted. He works hard and earns his money.
We were out for dinner just before the big euro millions draw. He was saying that he'd bought 10 tickets and what he would do if he won.
He feels hard done by as they have to rent a villa and staff in Mustique for their 3 week holiday.
Owning the villa is the true sign of success.
I guess you are never happy.

There are a number of factors at play, but children and retirement have a big impact

For children there are two bigs things - having enough to be comfortable as a family and provide them with what you'd like, and then being able to set them up for the future e.g. a deposit for a house

I'd sort of be interested to understand what people consider to be a good job/good salary, and then how it compares to now (if you've made a conscious lifestyle choice)

There's no question that you live within your means, and as your earning goes up so do your tastes

[I also like buying new toys]

I guess you are never happy.

"We could go anywhere. All the problems would remain."

I guess you are never happy.

You could be a multi millionaire and have the biggest yacht in the harbour and feel king of the world. But when an even bigger yacht pulls up next to you, you're still a millionaire but you feel completely inadequate.

I'd sort of be interested to understand what people consider to be a good job/good salary

I think this depends on where in the country you are and if you have baught house how long ago. I live in the south earn about £30k, which is technicaly above average (but I bet still within 1 or 2 S.D so still within a average range) live frugally but have little spare cash due to cost of living.

I've never been materialistic, just wanted enough to get by on.

I used to chase the money, usually working in some shithole for 2-3 months, away from home, missing the mrs and kids, now realise life is far too short, the clock doesn't stop, when its gone, its gone, family life is far too precious IMO.

I live 30 minutes from the open ocean, five minutes from a beach, and ten minutes ride from the brewery. sweet.

Upon the birth of our Daughter 10 years ago I decided to stop pursuing promotion at work and avoid the 6 months a year away from home this would have entailed. As others have said, my kids won't ski, our cars are utilitarian and our house is quite small.
On the other hand, I see my kids every day of the week, we love the holidays we have and I have enough time to train properly for 12 hour solo 'racing'.
No one ever regrets having not spent enough time in the office.

You could be a multi millionaire and have the biggest yacht in the harbour and feel king of the world. But when an even bigger yacht pulls up next to you, you're still a millionaire but you feel completely inadequate.

But that is your choice to feel inadequate or otherwise, surely.

I have a varied experience. I used to earn quite well and was on the up, got divorced, packed in the stressful job but ultimately lost the money I had poured into a big house and mortgage. So starting again I have a more modest house an old car and a boring but easy job. I don't covet other's success and attainment I just enjoy what I have and plan carefully. You really don't need all that stuff.

"We could go anywhere. All the problems would remain."

I'm amazed at certain surveys, where around 70percent of the population say they are "happy" or "very happy".

Where are these people, as I think I've only met two of them my entire life.

I was brought up in the 80s, and the teachers and parents would bang on about fulfilment, being happy etc. This was a nice bubble while it lasted but it's not true, really.

It took a period of adjustment, to accepting the fact that life is above all tough, for many it is suffering, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune etc etc, until I found a little peace with the world.

[i]and a boring but easy job.[/i]

Seriously - how do you find one of these??

And I have a status problem - I need to feel I'm higher up the foodchain than others.

I have to confess I suffer from this. I don't like it at all, but it's there.

DrJ, I "semi-retired" aged 30.
Since then I've worked on average 15hrs a week.

It's not such a chore as to make me think working in my 70s will be anything other than an interesting diversion, something to keep my mind ticking over and something social.

In theory, if Mrs stoner and I were to down tools now, liquidate all assets, tell the kids they're funding their own higher education and moved to a cottage in France we could do so at age 40ish and not have to worked again.

But I saw what that did to my dad's mental health 10yrs ago and I'd rather keep my hand in something.

BTW I've met a few high net worth individuals through my work and to a man and woman I wouldn't call them happy, and most of them have no cash at the bank despite being worth 10s or 100s of £m

But that is your choice to feel inadequate or otherwise, surely.

On the whole, I think it is a choice. But for so many people it seems pretty central to their idea of who they are: the proverbial keeping up with the Joneses.

We might all laugh, but there are very few like you or Stoner, and plenty more like me and footflaps. At least he and I have the wherewithal to recognise it for what it is..!

That said, self employment is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition: I suspect I could earn as well (if not better) and just deal with doiong the job (though in fact, the "job" bit is the thing I like the least about work).

Used to work with someone that left a mid-level IT job to start a Christian mission somewhere in Africa. I sort of admired the conviction in his (and his wife's presumably) faith but on the other hand he had 4 kids so can't really say it's fair on them (especially as I'm, at best, agnostic).

Interesting thread.

Like many others I did the London, build career, earn a lot thing while I was young. Pretty much stumbled into doing well as I enjoyed most of the work and was offered better roles, promotion and money. Saved a lot of it which has been helpful recently.

Then decided to stop climbing the ladder with a young daughter and stop doing stupid hours. Walking her to school and being there to pick her up 2 or 3 days a week was one of the best decisions I've made.

Now in a job that I really don't enjoy but I work with nice people, am good at what I do and earn a stupid amount. Would be nice to quit and have a simpler life but having no money worries makes it really difficult.

I had this sort of choice in front of me about 10 years ago. Go south and take up a job offer on the corporate ladder climb to high wages and eventual high pension, or stay put in a rural part of Scotland..
I'm still in the same modest house, with an outside fire facing a magnificent view of 50 miles of mountains. The modestly paid job means I'll be paying the mortgage for a while yet but I have trails from the door and can afford food, bills and occasional trips away. I can commute to work over the hills or by reasonable roads and I've an amazing network of pals in the outdoor industry. Happy? Yes, very; most of the time too. I'm unlikely to be able to afford a new FS 650b any time soon but trust me, that really doesn't matter.

It's interesting, my experience has been that I value time and saving more now than I have ever done. While I am very comfortable I also critically assess any spend now in terms of how many years I could live off it or live of it being invested. As a result we've restructured a few things and decided to change our spending habits. We're not on budget beans but we aren't extravagant (bikes are an exception !) Time with my daughter is gold, 2 funerals in the last 2 weeks of people sub 50 told me all I need to know - one, total workaholic - sparse attendance, not special, other one massive attendance, lots of smiling friends lamenting a lost light one line in an hour about his work, the rest on family, friends and how we loved and lived. It was quite stark to me. Nobody rewards an office slave, your family deserve better - easy to say, hard to do.

Given the choice between happy parents and wealthy parents I think that happy parents win every time

There is a happy medium though. If work is fun then that's important for your own wellbeing, and if it pays well to allow you to have the things you like and support your family, without making you work 12 hours a day everyday, then that's pretty good no?

Did anyone mention mrmoneymoustache yet as an alternative method......

Personally i think its a touch extreme but its a different outlook on living.

There is no one size fits all answer. My plan was to have everything paid off by the time I was 55 but that did not work out. I will be 60 in April and I guess I have earned decent money since I was 25 and very good money from my early 30s . Our house is neither huge or small but its almost paid off. I have never driven flash cars(not interested in them. My jobs have taken me all over the world, a small amount of the travel has been great, most of its been average at best. My hours are often very long with plenty of hassle and as you go up the slippy ladder you meet more people you would rather not be around and a growing number of budding despots.
By way of contrast my wife has always opted for a low paid local jobs working with kids, she enjoys school holidays, her colleagues are pleasant and there’s minimal stress. I don’t think she is happier than me right now although I think she was happier when she was at home with the kids.
FWIW we don't have a second house or holiday home and we don't take expensive holidays, in fact we have not had a decent holiday in a long time and yet I don't have enough to retire. So where’s the money gone ? Good question.
I have three daughters and they have had some of it, I’ve no idea how much, I have paid for decent second hand cars, car insurance, house deposits for them but etc plus me and my sister help our parents out whenever there's a need to do so.
So how does that link in to being happy and I am more or less happy than my biking mates and the honest answer is yes and no. There is always someone who outwardly seems happier and those who don't. One of my mates has some decent bikes, has numerous budget skiing holidays each year and has a decent paid job that’s stress free but and there is nearly always a but -- he is missing other aspects of a good life that some of us take for granted. I have other mates who earn buttons who appear happy and some who don't.
For me it starts with having the right partner, if you and partner are on the same wavelength and you are confident that work, kids and sickness and the other big challenges in life won’t impact on your “wavelength harmony” then you have the basis of a happy life. Next up is health, physical and mental, tick that off and that’s another big step towards being happy. Then there’s work, find something you are good at, if you are good at it, chances are you will enjoy it. Finally the all-important aspiration balance, ie are your aspirations realistic and shared by your partner.There’s no point lusting over a Porsche if you’re never going to own one or your partner thinks it’s a complete and utter waste of money, ditto a huge house, private education, the list is as long as your imagination.
Its been said a million or more times but money on its own won’t make you happy, nor will having bags of free time if you’re not doing something with that free time that you both feel is worthwhile. And its also the case that lots of free time and very little money is not a good mix either. Use your head whilst following your heart and if you’re going to make big decisions do them before your 35 because you will still have plenty of time to bounce back should you need to. Onward and upward fellow Single Trackers.

well said pb2!

Make sure you've got a buffer before you downshift. I downshifted straight out of uni. With fairly significant debts.

Trying to upshift again in my 30's was tricky with a slightly spotty employment history.
But all good now. Pension, mortgage, company car. Never going to be rich, comfortable at best, but should be able to retire before 60. Or maybe 65. Possibly 70. Or 75. 😕