Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Trade Time for Money

If you choose to live frugally, it is possible to get out of the rat race sooner than later. I always had to be careful because of my health. Never being physically strong enough to do eight hours a day and the commute I could work a ten hour day and take the next two days off. I arranged my life and supported myself under those circumstances. I played the cards dealt and never had to beg anyone for money. I kept a roof over my head and food on the table. It was a hard thing to do but was possible. The trick is to know what is truly important and really necessary. I know that I need a bed, a table and chair, a place to cook and a workable bathroom. Everything else is superfluous. I have lived with as little as that and with so much more. More isn't always better. Time is more important to me. I like to have the time to be a human being, just hanging out not doing much of anything. Life is for living not just for working and commuting. It is a delicate balance. How much is enough? Don't wait until you have enough, start having fun now and enjoy the ride. Use your sick time and vacation days. Take a mental health day. Start by taking a mini vacation in a 3.5 stars hotel with a spa tub will work wonders, even if it is only an overnight.
For me the definition of having enough is having a cheap, clean place to live with plenty of good food on the table with a half a glass of red wine. Once I can pay for that, I don't care about anything else. I traded time for money and got my life back. You could too!

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Do you acknowledge that there are people who actually love what they do? What about people who are artists and musicians. A lot of them love what they are doing. There are people who work in research who love what they are doing. Work doesn't have to be drudgery. To me that's a great life; to do work that you enjoy doing and be around people who care about you.

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  3. Of course if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. That's true but it's also true that many artists and actors have day jobs to pay the bills. I loved my job but the commute was just to much for me. Those of us who have chosen that sort of life don't need this blog and might be able to teach me a thing or two. But there a lot of people who are working bad jobs or have been downsized and might want a different perspective on living well with less. Or from my perspective having more. More time, more life, etc.

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  4. Even if you work a job to pay the bills doesn't mean that you have to hate every aspect of it. Sometimes a job in mundane but you enjoy the people you work with, you build lasting friendships there. My point is that wherever you go, there you are and if you wait for circumstances to change to make you happy, you will be waiting a long time to be happy, and you have no guarantee that you will be happy when and if you get what you want.

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