Would you accept a cheaper lifestyle if it meant not working?

This is a hypothetical question I have been pondering. If you were assured a certain income, for the rest of your life, without ever having to work again, but yet that income would mean that you had to give up some of the amenities of your current lifestyle (e.g., cable TV, designer name-brand clothing, an expensive house, whatever), would you do it? Where would you draw the line? What would you absolutely not give up?

Personally speaking, I’ve actually rather enjoyed the break from minding after Whatsit Jr. that I’ve got since going back to work part-time, so I’m not sure I’d give that up even if given the opportunity. However, were caring for a toddler not part of the equation, I think I might do it. Living a life without the daily commute and without spending a bunch of time in a cubicle, would probably be worth giving up cable TV and eating at restaurants less often.

I was just curious to see what other people thought.

No way!

Can I pick myself up off the floor? We work our asses off - and barely manage to eat now

Well, maybe I should explain my position a bit more. Since having Whatsit Jr., we have cut back a lot on household expenses, so that we could afford to have me stay at home. (I went back to work part time when he was 15 months old.) Canceled the cell phone, the high-speed Internet, the cable TV, the diaper service, stopped going out to eat, started shopping the sales at the grocery store, and started shopping at consignment stores and thrift shops to buy clothes. We cut our budget by a LOT. But, I’d be willing to continue to live this way more or less indefinitely if it meant not having to deal with the daily hassle of going to work. MrWhatsit even more so than me.

So maybe I shouldn’t say a cheapER lifestyle, but perhaps just a simple and inexpensive lifestyle, period.

So long as the cut wasn’t too bad, I’d do it in a heartbeat…

10% cut? yes, no question.
20%? yes, probably, but I’d have to do some careful figuring.
30%? only if could get a part-time job to supplement my income.

I wouldn’t do it. I really like my job, and don’t have particularly expensive tastes, so it’s not like I’m slaving away in order to live some lavish life.

Absolutely no way.

I think that given a choice between living in luxury without going to work or accepting a cheaper lifestyle and going in to work every day, I’d go with work + cheaper lifestyle. I like what I do and I’d be bored out of my skull within 72 hours if I weren’t working.

::looks over shoulder to make sure no one from HR is reading this::

Oh…

If this deal also requires me to perform child care, then there’s NO WAY I would do it.

Happiness is the goal in life, as well as peacefulness and being with your loved ones. You can get these things by working and making money, because money does translate into happiness. But with work comes stress and fatigue, which lowers your overall level of happiness. So, in effect, not working, but being wise with your spending, can produce the same happiness, but without the fatigue and stress.

So, in essence, I would pay a certain percentage of my paycheck to NOT work. Now, the only question that remains for us all is: How much of your paycheck would you give up to not work? For me? I need to bring in at least 120% of my monthly bills. So, whatever that translates to.

I am all about forgoeing stress and fatigue and taking less luxury, mostly because I think I am very smart with expenses.

Well, since I work full time and still don’t have cable TV, designer name-brand clothing, an expensive house, a cell phone, high-speed internet, didn’t have a diaper service when kidlorinada was a baby, almost never go out to eat, shop the sales at the grocery store, and shop at consignment and thrift shops to buy clothes AND work full time to be able to do what I can do…I’m sorry, what was the question again? :slight_smile: But seriously, even if I only maintained my current level I would still quit in a heartbeat.

I’ve thought about this before. I think I would rather live somewhere cheaper and not work 50+ hours a week. But it’s hard to do things without the money. I don’t have a familly, so what am I going to do?

Drink water while watching broadcast television?

Ten years, five months.

That’s when I’ll be able to take a pension that will be about 60% of my current salary. I hope to work part-time and do more fun stuff. And I’ll only be 52.

So I bought a small house and will have it paid off before retiring. I buy groceries in bulk and on sale. I drive an older vehicle. I try to live beneath my means.

So yeah, I’d do it. But just not yet.

Whistlepig

You know, I actually think I would do it. It would mean some serious cuts and lifestyle changes, but I think living a more stress free, carefree life would have a far bigger pay off than money ever could. I’m always told, “You can’t take it with you when you’re gone.”

Um, let me just apologize to everyone reading this thread who I have apparently managed to annoy by mentioning my jetset-quality lifestyle. If you could see our tatty apartment, I’m sure you’d think differently. I was just trying to set up the hypothetical, is all.

Yes. I’m actually working on structuring my life to do this right now. It may or may not be a permanent decision.

I’ve spent the last 5 years working too hard to keep a struggling business going (and a lot of years in the corporate world before that), and I’m completely burned out and NOT ready to return to the corporate world full time, so I’ve been trying to set things up so I can take some time and figure out what I want to do next.

Basically I’ll be living on the TIME side of the time/money trade-off for a while, instead of the other place where I’ve lived for years.

To achieve this, I:

  1. Cut expenses.
    Cable TV: gone (well, I have antenna service: $14/month.
    Magazine subscriptions - a lot of them have lapsed. I can go to the library/bookstore if I really want to read them.
    I never really did have a lot of other monthly expenses - I’m a pretty low maintenance girl. Get a haircut at SuperCuts every few months, don’t get my nails done, hair colored, legs waxed or anything like that. My gym costs less than $200/year so that’s not a biggie.

  2. Spend much less money.
    Can’t remember the last time I went shopping for “designer clothes.” (also can’t believe I wore a fancy suit every day for years.) Clothes shopping is now a few basic things at Target every few months. Helps that I have closets full of stuff from the yuppie days.
    Cook for myself instead of prepared food. Even eating steak is less costly than frozen entrees, and better for me. Easier now 'cause I have the time. Also helps that my best guy friend takes me out a lot and always refuses to let me pay for anything ever, so I never feel deprived. (I do time-intensive things for him, so it works out pretty well.)
    Will be traveling around by car this summer to visit/catch up with a lot of friends, so less expensive AND great to have the time to reconnect.

  3. Sold a bunch of stuff. Now I’m not as cluttered AND don’t have to pay for extra storage space.

I was able to buy a small, modest house last year and pay cash for it, so I have no mortgage (only Property TAXES!). It’s in town so I can walk to a lot of things, even though I do have a car, so I only buy gas every 2 weeks or so. Didn’t put AC in my house, but got a used room AC. We’ll see if I survive the summer.

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been able to take my “nest egg” and invest in a couple rental properties that should generate enough income to pay for the basics (property tax, insurance, food) and I plan to work enough on a project or part-time basis to pay for any “extras” I want: trips, new computer, etc. I also have everything I need for my house (furniture wise, etc.) thanks to all those years (20+) of working and living fairly modestly.

I do have some projects going now (some loose ends from my business, a small house I’m re-habbing, etc.) so I’m not just sitting around the house.

Basically I’m working to design my life as “simple” - for the mental relief as much as the $ savings - but it doesn’t feel deprived. So far it feels pretty good. Now I’ve got to learn what I want to do with the new free time (already doing some volunteer work, etc.). My sense is that after a while I’ll go back to being a bit more “mainstream” (in the work sense) but probably never back to where I was, because it’s just not worth it to me any more. The best possible situation that I could eventually design would be to do some kind of project work that would pay well but I could have time off between projects. May be consulting, may be more of the house rehabbing or something seasonal (summers, Christmas). Time will tell. Already I’m feeling much more realxed about things, like I’m getting back to my old self again and not that stressed out harpy that I felt I was too many days.

What would be hard for me to give up?
Probably the car, given that I’m in the US. And mobility is so tough otherwise.

What would I do to cut expenses further?
Give up my cable internet connection if needed.
Start making gifts for friends and family instead of buying them. Or, more of what I’ve started doing, which is finding things at flea markets and antique shows, etc. that are unique and individual but inexpensive. Again, a benefit of not having to work all the time is that I can search around for stuff like this.
Give up the gym and just walk/run more.
Take in a roommate in my house (being very selective, of course).
OR, move into the small apt. I now rent and rent out my house instead. Nice option to have, I know.

Other big discoveries:
There are a lot of resources out there that cost nothing or next to it to take advantage of.
For example, the library is great. Can read magazines, books, borrow tapes and videos, get on the internet.
I’ve missed my friends that I’ve drifted away from because I was too busy and have been trying to reconnect with, and they’ve been delighted to hear from me. (Or at least that’s what they say! :slight_smile: )

This is long and rambling, and perhaps not a fair example because it hasn’t really involved much sacrifice (or felt like it), but that may be just because I’m enjoying my simpler life so much more. Anyway, this is one woman’s example/experience.

Yes, I would, and I did. I went from a high-paying (mind-numbing, stressful) job to a (enjoyable, less stressful) job where I made about a third of my former salary. It was the best thing I could have done for myself. I had to move to a cheaper place, but that didn’t bother me too much. As long as I can afford to feed myself and my animals, I can be happy.

I actually was working the same amount of hours (but a lot more flexible for time off, and not such a rigid schedule), but the environment was 100% better for my mental health. In that time, I learned that having a lot of money is not the most important thing, the goal people should chase is not the almighty dollar…personal well-being, peace, and true happiness is where it’s at.

I know this isn’t exactly what you mean, since I still had a full time job, but quitting my “good” job wasn’t the life-wrecking event most people make it out to be.

Life is way too short to work all the time at a job you hate. You can look at all the things you have now and think you can’t live without them, but you’d be surprised at what you can get rid of without too much pain.

I don’t have kids and I’m sure things would have been different if I did. But for me, I know I did the right thing.

Definitely.

Of the main reasons is because I won’t have the feeling that I’m obligated to get up at X o clock AM and go to _____ for X hours. When I’m tired/cranky its a lot harder to get through the day with the knowlege that I’m going to be here and there and everywhere for the next 10 hours. If I am off work but know I have to come in the next morning, I can’t enjoy myself that evening. I usually want to be home and do virtually nothing, for fear I’ll get sidetracked, lose track of time, not get enough sleep, etc.

If I didn’t have to work, I could enjoy my time much more. I too enjoy going to the Library and reading. I also like taking walks and making stuff (models and such) which doesn’t cost that much money. My friend and I are into tabletop games which, after a moderate investment, contribute to countless hours of entertainment. I’d have more time to indulge in my geekery and embrace the nerd culture.

I’d be willing to give up my lear jet, lay off half the staff at my mansion, give up my daily sessions with Yvette, cut the cruising time on my yacht down to 4 months out of the year, and only send out 1000 invitations to my monthly caviar tasting parties…but I am not giving up the 30,000 gallon Evian cistern that feeds the mansion’s plumbing! A man’s got to have some standards!

Seriously, though, I recently went from living in California with a wage that was pretty damn good to having zero income and living in a third world country. Clearly, this shows I’m willing to live simply. And given I’ve never really enjoyed any job I’ve worked, I’d love to not have to worry about it.

Still, I miss being able to write a check to a charity without worrying about my bank balance.

Yes. Probably only because I have many outside interest (to keep me busy w/o working), make too much money and don’t spend a lot (I am a pretty simple person, no flashy clothes or other possessions).

I’m almost there. However, I don’t see it as a “have to give up stuff to quite working” deal. I’m working on methods of income generation that do not require me to be somewhere 40-50 hours a week. By investing in income property, I can stop “working” and still have the same income/lifestyle as I do now, but with the free time to enjoy it. A few choice properties with good managers and all you ever do is watch the value/bank account increase. (Ah, someday!)

Plus, the wife raises expensive critters and as they start to sell more, there will be even more money (but that is really a black-hole of expense, so we won’t even consider it realisticly. Forget I said anything about them.)