Working Sucks - How to work less

[tabbycat31]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

that sounds like it was written by a very good friend of mine. She actually invited me to live in a situation like that, but I am a very private person, and I could not live in a group. I need my privacy.

And I do eat vegetarian a few days a week, but not every day. I don't like many protein sources, so I have to eat meat.

[jodi]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Wow, interesting article. I chose to work PT, even though my family would be in better financial shape if I worked FT (Dh is a student right now). Why did I make this choice? Because I don't need to work FT to have food on the table, clothing and housing, and medical care all of us. My time is more valuable than money, as is spending time with my DH and children. So I was nodding my head in agreement when I started to read this article...
UNTIL...
vegetarianism (just not for me, I respect that choice for others)
no kids
no college
no working at all???

No thanks, too extreme. Too bad the good message gets lost with all the other nonsense. It would be a good article if he just stopped writing a lot earlier

[Bookie]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Shoplifting Food???

Win - Win situation.

Get away with stealing = free food

Get caught and jailed = free food.

[Great to be Debt Free]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

I have virtually no attention span right now, so I skimmed most of this. But I will tell you that I MISS having a job and working. I have involved myself in volunteering and other activities, but I miss WORKING. And I think it is a big factor in my recent depression. Yes, many, work too much and don't even enjoy it, but it doesn't have to be that way. I loved my career -- but we moved and my company was absorbed and my position was eliminated, basically. So anyway, I'm rambling and don't even remember my other points. Sorry...

[tabbycat31]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Great, I agree with you. I'm out of work now, and it's almost like I don't want to get up. I like going to work, and I like the satisfaction of a job well done.

[LuxLiving]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

"I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the
fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived.
Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever
reason, turn his back on life." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

[cschin4]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

I thought there were alot of good points. But, "shoplifting food" is a crime. And, scrounging around in dumpsters sounds a lot like "work" to me. I do think Americans work too much. I think families and marriages often fall apart because nobody is home and there is no time to enjoy life. People like to talk in terms of how they "love their job". Do they really "love" their job so much that they want to spend 50+ hours a week doing only that? I agree that life would be richer and more fulfilling if we had time to garden, play musical instruments, etc. And, most of us could get by with alot less "stuff" if we chose to.
But, on the other hand, I really don't want to live in a tribe. Most people are annoying to be around and I would rather have my own small tent than a large tent with alot of other people (of course, I am not talking of my spouse or kids -but they get annoying too!).
And, I LIKE MEAT. Meat is not that expensive. And, you can eat smaller portions and enjoy it to cut costs.
So, the purpose of ultimately not working is what? To just get by until the grave calls? Working people are contributing to society by doing their jobs. We still need nurses, fireman, etc. And, if you have no money yourself, then you have nothing to help others as well. So, I really don't see the end purpose of such a life.

[Duchesse]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Use what you can from the article and throw the rest in the dumpster.

[The Budget Man]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Went to a friend's funeral today. He was 73.

The interesting thing was that even though Peter left school early and worked in a dairy before working as a shop assistant all his life, the church was packed with hundreds of people whose life had been touched.

When his daughter spoke she talked about the family times and the travelling together in the country.

Peter had worked hard and in monetry terms he probably hadn't done as well as some others. Thing is, he always had a smile and a laugh, even when things were tough.

As a young man I used to enjoy talking to him at the shop. He knew everyone and went out of his way to be helpful.

Work didn't hurt Peter. He used his time at work to benefit others.

Enjoy Your Money
The Budget Man

https://www.PersonalityBudgeting.com

Living happily with the money you earn

[LuxLiving]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Budget Man, I so admire these people who can get up and speak / sing at their loved one's funeral - I just don't think I could do it.

Sounds like your friend truly was a friend to many! So sorry to hear about the community's loss and your own.

~LuxLivingFrugalis, Saver for Tomorrow

[tinapbeana]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Like the Eagles (I think) said:

You can spend all your time making money
Or spend your money making time.

The bulk of America choses the first option. I chose the second: money is a means to an end, not the end itself. Money is a tool, and by saving it now I'm hoping to spend my money making time in the future.

I work at a job I enjoy (most of the time!) which earns me money. I take that money and turn around and buy food, shelter, electricity, and entertainment. As a result, I don't spend hours every day gardening, tending chickens, churning butter, spinning thread, making candles, etc. Not that I'm saying any of the above activities are bad, but they do take time and they are work.

This is how the Amish can raise huge families at or below the poverty level: they work more and harder than almost anyone else. It may not be paid hourly wage work, but working to live is the same whether your end result is a paycheck or a roost full of laying hens and a barn full of dairy cows. If you look at hours spent at 'work' (i.e. activities that somehome bring in food and shelter), the average American probably puts in 8-10 hours a day, whereas the average Amish is probably working all daylight hours, and then some.

My salary job allows me to work 8-9 hours per day, 5 days per week, and 'buys' me leisure time (weekends, vacation, holidays, and before/after work). How much liesure time do the Amish have? Do you think they take vacations, slow down on weekends?

BTW, Please don't take this to mean I think the Amish are behind or foolish or any such adjectives. They have made their lifestyle choice and I respect that, just as I would ask they respoect mine.

[katwoman]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

While the extremes this person advicates so that he doesn't have to work are not for me, I do think he has a good point in saying most Americans work too much. And the reason most people work is to pay for things: not because their jobs are exciting or fulfilling.

I would say a large number of Americans work either because of debt from things they have already bought or things they want to buy in the future. If that's their choice, great. I'm all for that. But it is a kind of slavery when you are only working to pay bills or living expenses or because you believe you aren't worth anything without the great car, house, clothes etc.

Personally I don't want to work. I've never wanted to work. Because that's the way I feel for the last twenty years I've been saving a large percentage of my salary with the goal of retiring early so I don't have to work.

In order to meet my goal I've had to keep my standard of living way below what the marketing people tell me I should be living at given my salary. But it's my choice to spend less and consume less with the goal of not working. As long as I don't do anything unethical or harmful to another person to achieve my goal then it's an alternative that should be supported.

But people who don't want to work full time till they are 65 are often treated as un-American, slackers, not doing their fair share for the economy. I find that attitude to be just as extreme as the one stated in the article.

Beautifully said!

A friend I used to work with collects disability AND gets paid, in cash, for the work she does. All told she pulls down >50K/yr. Tax FREE! When she complains about the abuse at work and how it taxes her mentally, I advise her to cut back or just quit. Afterall, even half of her income would allow her to live just fine. Then again, that would mean her yearly trips to farflung parts of the world would be cut out as would cable and all the crap she likes to buy.

Get the picture?

[The Budget Man]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

A good challenge and a solid day's work never hurt anyone. It's the stress of our expectations and the pressures of the job that cause the problem.

I'm all for work... but all against stressing out and being under unrealistic pressures.

Heard of a friend who recently threw in his highly paid job and took a lower paid position with a competing company. The story was that no matter how hard he worked and how well his sales team performed, it was not good enough. The senior management simply increased the targets for the next month.

Money can be a cause of stress too. At least we can do something about it.

Enjoy Your Money
The Budget Man

Budget the way you think...

https://www.PersonalityBudgeting.com

[normanleonard]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

Working is for the poor, Instead of making someone else wealthy work for yourself and become wealthy

[BCHGRL]

Re: Working Sucks - How to work less

I complain about work and dream of retirement with the best of 'em. I agree that Americans in general should work less and spend more time with family and friends.

However, when I have plenty of time off, my money goes much more quickly than when I am at work. I rarely spend more than $1/day at work. yes, it cost me to maintain a work attire and provide reliable transportation, but it gives me something productive to do all day and gets me out of the house without having to spend money.

Also, very early on in my career I worked with some folks who have since retired. Every one of the retirees I have seen afterwards have some regrets about retiring too early. Many feel a loss of identity. PLus, I see the retirees in my neighborhood. They are gossips that need something to do.

Lastly, my coworkers are my second family. As much as I tire of them during the week, I tire just as much of my family on long weekends.