# Is there a way to live without working? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110 "2002-05-14T23:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![logos476](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@logos476](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/logos476)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/123 "2021-05-09T06:58:23Z")
What I wanted out of life when I posted the OP… due to being a shy, timid kid, and a contemplative dreamer, I had developed the idea sometime in adolescence that the meaning of life was to be found in thinking like a traditionalistic Christian British literary intellectual, along the lines of J.R.R. Tolkein, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis. What I would have liked if I had not had to work was sort of to establish my own little world where I drank in the Great Books of Western Civilization, and where nothing in life ever changed. (Think of Tolkein’s Hobbits: they lived happily in the Shire, basically just hanging out, tending their gardens, and smoking pipes.) I now realize that wouldn’t have been possible. That was exactly my plan lol. I could have written that word for word. Years and years and years ago I read this quote. “The supreme test of intelligence is to be able to live how you want to live without having to work” I’ve been falling this test all my life! I’ve managed to save $50,000. What are some good ideas for how long can I live on this before I have to find another job. I hope someone still reads this post. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/124 "2021-05-09T08:54:01Z")
It’s good I stumbled on to this OP as it’s time for me to get my CV out there and I’m experiencing the same sense of dread as I often do. However, on reading the OP I realize my situation is a little different as it’s not that I don’t want to work: In my own time I do a lot of volunteer work, and I write software tools that I share for free. But the corporate environment is different. _This_ company trying to get some competitive advantage over _that_ company (and so make more money) is not a goal I can get invested in. And whereas in everyday life, being involved in organizing / decision making is something desirable but not necessary every time, in an office environment that’s a desirable position. You have to fight to get a position where you have input on direction, and once you have that position, that’s what to must always be responsible for. Anyway, I guess I don’t have a point. Just a rant. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/125 "2021-05-09T12:26:14Z")
Replying directly after reading your OP, thus not knowing what has already been suggested, I would like to start saying that I like your attitude. I wish you luck! As you seem to live in the USA I am not the right person to give you advice, I do not know your country’s laws. But if you could make it to one of the more affluent European countries and manage to obtain a permanent residence permit you could live modestly on welfare. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/126 "2021-05-09T12:30:07Z")
> [@Kalashnikov](#): > > Or how about buying stuff and selling it on ebay, there are certainly people who do all right at that. Its gotta be better than selling the same crap at flea markets. All the people I’ve known who have done well at that have actually worked at that - treated it like an actual job and hustled. Frankly, other than someone acquiring a vast amount of wealth (not likely) I don’t see how the OP is going to accomplish his goal. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/127 "2021-05-09T13:30:46Z")
Yo - @Arcite! [Check this out!](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/08/business/get-paid-for-napping-eachnight/index.html) A job where you get paid to nap! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/128 "2021-05-09T19:11:52Z")
> [@logos476](#): > > **What I wanted out of life when I posted the OP…** due to being a shy, timid kid, and a contemplative dreamer, I had developed the idea sometime in adolescence that the meaning of life was to be found in thinking like a traditionalistic Christian British literary intellectual, along the lines of J.R.R. Tolkein, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis. What I would have liked if I had not had to work was sort of to establish my own little world where I drank in the Great Books of Western Civilization, and where nothing in life ever changed. (Think of Tolkein’s Hobbits: they lived happily in the Shire, basically just hanging out, tending their gardens, and smoking pipes.) I now realize that wouldn’t have been possible. > That was exactly my plan lol. I could have written that word for word. Years and years and years ago I read this quote. “The supreme test of intelligence is to be able to live how you want to live without having to work” I’ve been falling this test all my life! > I’ve managed to save $50,000. What are some good ideas for how long can I live on this before I have to find another job. I hope someone still reads this post. From the first line in the post, I suspect that you are **arcite** and the fact that you are now **Logos476** suggests that you have lost the ability to log in as **Arcite** (that’s the most charitable interpretation). If this is correct, I suggest you contact @engineer_comp_geek, and request that he deploy his magic to merge the two accounts. You wouldn’t be the first Doper to have to do this since the switch to Discourse, so there’s no need to be shy about it. Good luck on the quest mentioned in the OP, and if you’ve changed your mind about trying the lottery, keep in mind that you’ll need to get in line. I already called dibs. Also, _Welcome Back_! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/129 "2021-05-09T19:25:19Z")
Not so much. Welfare was ended in 1996. There is still food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (five year max) and there is add’l aid for Mothers with small kids. Various churches and social programs will hand out free food. I did a experiment years ago in San Jose to see if I could eat off what i would get on food stamps, and other aid, and I was surprised how much food there was. We have Section 8 housing but it is really hard to get in. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/130 "2021-05-09T19:30:56Z")
This is not as crazy as you think. In the Navy or Air Force, the ‘work’ is pretty easy after the first year. Mind you, there are many exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/131 "2021-05-09T19:31:28Z")
> [@logos476](#): > > I’ve managed to save $50,000. What are some good ideas for how long can I live on this before I have to find another job. I hope someone still reads this post. It starts by thinking about what standard of living you want to maintain. If the same as current, then it’s easy: divide 50k by however much money you spend per year now, less expenses related to work that you are not reimbursed for independent of salary. If it were me, for instance, I could live for two years on 50k, doing all the things I’ve been doing apart from work. Closer to 3 if I didn’t go anywhere out of town and just got around on a bicycle (as I often do anyway). And obviously a great many people get by longer on less (again, depending on their circumstances and standard of living). Some might suggest you could stretch that by investing, and they’d be right. But for a rough estimate, with a sum unlikely to yield interest exceeding living expenses (at least by my standards), I’d say the rough math should do just fine. I personally got to a point where I could stop working at 35, due to an early retirement from the Navy, among other things. So I’ll warn you that you, as I, might find that “not working” isn’t quite all it’s cracked up to be, in which case you should also consider (as a sort of “escape plan”) how you might re-enter the work force after a year or two or however long employment gap. This should actually be true whether or not your will to work returns before you run out of cash. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/132 "2021-05-09T19:34:12Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Is it still possible to pack it all up and find an uninhabited island in the Pacific somewhere? Although this may be closer to “self-employed” than non-working; no one is going to feed you, so you’d have to spend time fishing, cracking coconuts, building a hut, etc. to stay alive. But it definitely beats being homeless in Minnesota in the winter. Pretty much every island with a reliable source of fresh water is either inhabited or a bird, etc refuge. The island from _Six Days, Seven Nights_ is a fantasy. The one from _Castaway_ is more like it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/133 "2021-05-09T19:41:18Z")
So you went from trying to not work, to just about the toughest job around. Nice! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/134 "2021-05-09T19:43:44Z")
A FOAF does this. His sister bought him a used RV and a KOA or something membership, so he stays there until they ask him to leave (the rules have some sort of requirement), he gets food stamps and eats at churches etc. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/135 "2021-05-09T21:07:14Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > From the first line in the post, I suspect that you are **arcite** and the fact that you are now **Logos476** suggests that you have lost the ability to log in as **Arcite** (that’s the most charitable interpretation). If this is correct, I suggest you contact @engineer_comp_geek, and request that he deploy his magic to merge the two accounts. You wouldn’t be the first Doper to have to do this since the switch to Discourse, so there’s no need to be shy about it. > > Good luck on the quest mentioned in the OP, and if you’ve changed your mind about trying the lottery, keep in mind that you’ll need to get in line. I already called dibs. > > Also, _Welcome Back_! 🙂 Nah, I’m still here. [logos476](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/logos476) was just quoting [post #79](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/79) by copying-and-pasting it rather than using the quote feature. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/136 "2021-05-09T21:28:27Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Nah, I’m still here. [logos476](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/logos476) was just quoting [post #79](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/79) by copying-and-pasting it rather than using the quote feature. Copy that. Thanks for the clarification, Doc. Also, congratulations on your new career. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/137 "2021-05-09T21:33:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Also, congratulations on your new career. 🙂 Shouldn’t that be _condolences_, given the OP? ---
**Author:** ![logos476](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@logos476](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/logos476)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/138 "2021-05-09T22:25:30Z")
I,m capable of living at a very low level, so thats no problem. I agree with you about not working would be quite a problem if you did,t have anything to do. Probably it would be best put that I would like to be able to work just to get out of the house and for social reasons. ---
**Author:** ![logos476](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@logos476](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/logos476)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/139 "2021-05-09T22:33:06Z")
I,m definitely not arcite, I,m just one of many who have enjoyed reading this post and are hoping some genius will crack this problem of needing work. Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110/140 "2021-05-11T05:39:43Z")
Live a couple years as cheap as you can, save nearly all your earnings. Use that to form a partnership, fronting the start-up. Your skilled partner runs the shop, while you live in Central America on half the take. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-live-without-working/109110.md?page=6)