Upon further reflection, if we shit-canned all the damn animals, I could quit right now! 
That’s it! Me and the wife are talkin’ when I get home! 
Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.
See, that’s where you have gone wrong. There are infinite things to do without a load of cash. Go hiking or biking, volunteer at a hospital, visit your family, help build a house, be on the home owners association board, real estate investing (start small and make money that way without working hours and hours), get active on the local church, ect…
This is living. Working is NOT living, it’s a distraction from everything that matters. For the most part. I am assuming an office job or city worker. If you are a doctor or fireman ect. then you actually are living your life while working. THat’s the goal here in this life, and that’s why I am now studying to be a fireman while running a big lawn service on the side instead of using my new Finance degree to sit in a cubicle and stress about how my report didn’t show the right years’ numbers in the correct column, or how my ear hurts because I have been on the phone all day long. I will be out in the sun crafting nice people’s lawns into works of art, making them happy. I will be running out of burning buildings with babies and women on my back and saving old people from heart attacks. Soon I will head up a division and make a huge difference in my fellow american’s lives.
Call me crazy for giving up a 6 figure salary in 5 or 10 years, but can you say I woke up and smelled the coffee?
Yep. Did it.
Yep!
I did it.
I cannot every imagine every going back into the work world.
Never before have I done so much with so little (and) never before have I done so little for such a long time.
I am my best boss.
In five years I’m eligible for retirement, which is essentially what the OP is all about; I’ll be guaranteed a lifetime income which is IIRC roughly 60% of my present salary without overtime. In anticipation of this, I’m starting to cut my daily expenses and simplifying my life. I’m also considering relocating to someplace with a lower cost of living. The whole process is complicated by the uncertainty of my wife’s health, but on the other hand not having to go to the office every day will simplify the home care situation.
I’ve heard all the stories about people going nuts when they no longer have a job to go to, but I’m sure I could find ways to occupy my time.
Yep.
I was working full time in a job I detested. Mr Goo and I decided things couldn’t go on with me being so unhappy, and that since we weren’t starving, they didn’t have to go on this way. I quit work and went back to uni full time, so my whole income disappeared. We struggled at first, trying to adjust, but life is much better. We’re both happier, less stressed and we both enjoy our time more, while DH is working and while he’s not. It worked out well for us. I supported DH for over a year, so there’s no ‘inequality’ or ‘inbalance’ of power with my not earning an income, it’s just what we’re both doing to ensure both of us are as happy as possible.
I intend to start working again, after I have my degree. Mr Goo is doing what he loves, he’s one of the lucky ones who actively enjoys going to work (office politics aside). Life is too short to spend it all slaving away. Life is for enjoying IMO.
I hate this thread.
Last October, I got laid off. I went on unemployment, jumped through a bunch of paperwork hoops, and got into a retraining program which gives me access to all sorts of online resources on programming.
So, for six months now, I’ve been staying at home, cramming my brain full of exciting knowledge, learning a skill that’s fun and that provides me with tons of stimulation. I volunteer at the local gay and lesbian community center, designing them a database that they’re amazingly pleased with. My guitar playing is getting better. I’ve been reading, painting, designing a game, and have been happy as hell. Meanwhile, I’m living on a pittance compared to my old salary, and it’s no big deal.
I’ve been cooking a lot, using cheap ingredients and adding in careful preparation to make good meals. It’s harder than eating in restaurants or microwaving stuff, but it’s also a lot of fun. I’ve fallen in love with my bread machine. I don’t spend much, but life is better than it’s ever been.
I’m dreading the day that unemployment runs out, and I finish the last of my courses, and I’m out looking for a job again. Life is so much better when you don’t spend a third of it doing stupid crap for someone else.
Ayup, same situation here. Not much room to cut back from our current budget.
I wouldn’t necessarily want to not work at all, because it can feel good to work. I just feel the hours I work are too long. Ideally, I’d love to work for about four hours a day. You know, something that passes the time in the afternoon, but leaves plenty of time for spending time with family and friends, and getting household chores done.
Yup. I’m 29 y.o. and I had enough of that fast-paced lifestyle. Too stressful. I guess, I’m taking a sabbatical from the workforce and really can’t say that I’m retired.
Me Before:
- Mover and Shaker in corporate business.
- Traveled by plane twice a month.
- Fought traffic 10 times a week and got really good at the fight.
- Always ate out and smoked and drank too much.
- Threw dinner parties or partied at clubs.
- Slept the weekend away.
- Spent too much on shoes.
Me After:
- Am a mover and shaker when I hike with my dog.
- Using my airline miles to travel, have more roadtrips and stay with friends instead of hotels.
- Don’t have any drama to fight with anyone and don’t have to speed thru traffic.
- Quit smoking and am eating more healthy with home-cooked meals.
- Go to dinner parties and get my exercise from the gym.
- Never worry about sleep anymore.
- Spent money only on new running shoes.
I did cut down on my cable and get the limited basic package and I do rely on a dial-up connection. I’m even contemplating on renting out my much-too-big-for-me townhome and getting a small condo for myself.
But, I will never skimp out on the luxuries I give my dog and my terribly expensive, snowboarding hobby. I’m able to pay the utilities and mortgage because I have an awesome financial portfolio. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this if I had children of my own.
Someday, I’ll work again. It’s nice to have the choice not to. I don’t want to have to work again, so I can retire. I just want to never have to retire from my work.
There’d have to be more to the deal than that. Such as, what would I be doing instead of working?
I like doing what I do for a living. The income is above what I need, for the present (ignoring retirement plans).
So, I could easily live the same life on less money, but, but…, I couldn’t do any more exploration?
DH is a self employed master carpenter. He used to be a “business”, complete with crews of workers, etc. Then we had a pricey job go belly up and leave us hanging with alot of debt (in order to do the honorable thing and pay the subs - just because we were screwed didn’t mean they had to be).
We shut down his business, sold our custom home in the country, took the equity, paid off all debts and settled into a smaller home in a marginal neighborhood in the city.
Life has never been better.
DH is still self employed, swinging a hammer again, making wages, and loving it. The kids like to go to work with him as often as their school schedule allows. I returned to work outside the home at a family friendly company where I’m able to make my own work schedule, bring my kids with me if the need arises, come and go as my family needs me, and love what I do for the company. My wages are average but I love what I do so the trade off is more than acceptable.
We shop the thrift stores, buy marked down meat at the grocery, frequent the fruit and vegetable stands and live a very simple lifestyle.
You couldn’t pay us to go back to the old way of life.
If I worked less, I’d have more time to spend money. It simply wouldn’t work for me.
Two years ago I suddenly had an opportunity to sell my business. I was worried about not having anything to do, but found there is plenty to do.
I just recently did this. I was working part-time while going to school, but just recently quit. Now, we have to budget a little more and not spend as freely, but is it worth it to have some time to relax and do what I want? Hells yea.
I work hard, have lived for 15 years in the same 2 room apt, buy most everything at the neighborhood thrift store (books and clothes) and spend what little money I have left on musical theatre CDS. I don’t have cable TV, a home computer, or even a home phone. The only thing I could cut is the CDS, and I AM NOT GONNA!
If I could find a way to still live like this and not work, I would in a NYC second.
I’d do it in a heartbeat. I despise work. I would be happy not doing a goddamned thing even remotely resembling work for the rest of my life.
My wife likes to work, but she’s not employed because of our small children. Once they’re both in school, I get to get a B.S. job and semi-retire. At least that’s what she’s telling me NOW…
Nope.
We could live our current lifestyle off my husbands income. I still work.
I like what I do, I like the stimulation. I spent a number of years as an IT consultant, getting paid to spend a lot of hours at home waiting for a client - hated it.
I also like the security of knowing that if he would get laid off, I could support us - or if I get laid off - he can support us.
We’re in the process as well.
Four years ago we purchased 19 acres with a dinky little shoe box house.
We’ve added 600 sq. feet and are remodeling as cash and time become available.
We’ve never been big on electronic toys and the only major expense we have is our mortage which isn’t terribly high.
We’re also starting to develop some alternative methods of making money and we’re growing more and more of our own food.
My favorite person in the entire world is Mr. Zania and we’re both happiest when when working together on a project or just hanging out.
I’d much rather live on less and be with him than work an extreme schedule so that we can make lots of money to buy toys to distract ourselves from the fact that we’re not happy because we have no time with each other.
The reason I probably wouldn’t do it has nothing to do with a “need” to work. I think Fuel said it best: There are infinite things I could do! However, I also like to do things that cost money.
#1? Eating out.
I think I could give up cable, or even television, could give up travel, could give up book/magazine purchases, I don’t like new cars anyway (if I were Bill Gates I’d have a 1973 Lincoln Mark IV with white leather interior), and though I do like groovy clothes, I’m often happier with a rare consignment store find than something off the rack.
But just the idea of never being able to eat out again makes me sad. I just love eating out. I love the soft murmur (punctuated by the occasional shattering of glass or baby cry) of a bustling restaurant, I love the moment when the food arrives, and I even love the sound of forks clinking on plates (I’m a total Pavlov dog when I hear fork-plate clinking on television–I immediately feel like eating).
Admittedly, now that I live in a place where there just aren’t very many good places to eat, I’m not as gung-ho about it (and am really enjoying cooking), but let me tell you, there was a time in my life when if I had plans to eat breakfast (my favorite meal) out the next morning, I would get so excited that I couldn’t sleep.
So yeah. Can I at least make enough to:
a) never have to worry about paying my bills (because I’ve been there, and never intend to go there again if I can help it), and
b) eat out at least three times a month?
If so, my answer is YES. 
I wouldn’t. My husband and I have it pretty easy - commute is 20 minutes on a bad day. He has all kinds of flexibility and me, well here I am on SDMB right? I was thinking we didn’t have much in the way of luxury, but reading here, I realize we do and I like it so much I think it’s stuff I need. Plus, I am NOT the kind of person who could do full-time child care.