mmuuzzyy

Anybody else wish they could swop their highly taxed, very little free time for kids/family and fun, work work work lives for something just .... more simple ?

The uk is a great place to be if you want to make decent money, but i'd say this is only possible if you are in with the right crowds, live in the right area's or fall lucky.... i cant see myself ever being anything other than mr average.

Im your average joe. I work 5 days a week (& 2 saturdays a month), mortgage, 2 kids, 2 cars and a perfectly average house.
Me and partner have a combined income of 50k and mortagage is less than 100k

Granted life isnt ****e... its good, but sometimes wonder what the hell is the point of it all and what am i doing it for ?.... all im doing is spending time working watching my life pass by,my kids grow up really quickly, with very short bits of fun inbetween (summer holidays,weekends away), paying out vast amounts of money to government in tax's, lots of money just to keep my house/kids/wife/me warm, lots of money just so i can get to work (car) so i can pay my house bills,income tax and all the other tax's that are out their on everything we buy.

Anyone else feels like this ?

What i want to do is work a max of 3 days.... not botherd what
(i'd pick fruit,stack shelves,sweep the roads etc)
& most importantly Live my life, see my kids grow up and have more free time than work time.

My future plan would be.... Learn the lingo in some european country (warm one)/maybe further afield, buy a small house/farm (mortgage free) work 2/3 days a week to pay for food and transport and live a simple non hectic life.
(Like all these little villages you see up in the greek/portuguese/spanish mountains.... what the hell do the people do for money food etc ?)


Where in europe/the world do you think it would be possible to move to where you can live a simple normal life ?

Does anyone know of any cost of living stats for different countrys ?

no silly suggestions like ethiopia, iran etc

ta

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Its simple.. quit your job, sell your house.. move onto an estate, pop out some more kids and spend your days walking your *Insert breed* type dog and living off the state !

davegtt

Problem is, alot of people feel like they need money to be able to do some of the simple life. Everyone wants an easy life and an easy life can be free, its when people want luxuries that they feel they need to be working constantly to pay for them. To hell with it all, if you have no real responsibilities just head of and do some travelling. Only the initial flight thats going to cost money, work in a bar, live in hostels. Bum around and enjoy what time you got.

I really want to be doing this when I have a couple of issues ironed out over here with court cases and selling my cars

StickyMicky

i used to employ a lad that gave up his well paid job to come and work for me part time

just thought "**** it" declared himself bankrupt, gave up his 2 cars, had everything wiped clean and is now just enjoying time with his kids.

The Chief

All the time mate, thing is i work my ***** off and have bugger all, i ask myself is it worth it.

Its no wonder loads of blokes just sell up and live a nice cheap existance in Thailand

SJ_Skyline

I would love to be able to afford to give it all up and live a more simple, outdoor life and get to spend more time watching my kids grow up. As it stands, I can't see me taking my foot off the work pedal just yet whilst there are bills to pay and mouths to feed.

mmuuzzyy

im not a materialistic type of person...stuff like that doesnt bother me in the slightest.

i'd far prefer to live out in the sticks and spend my time outdoors / with family than sitting indoors because the weathers poo watching tv on the latest plasma whilst my kids are playing their xbox 360's.

there's far more to life than having the latest car/electric gizmo/big house... it doesnt make your life any better.

thats why you see sad/miserable rich people.... money doesnt bring you happiness

David_Dickson

I guess it would be a lot harder now that you have a wife and kids.
Im 30 and single, and a few years ago I went bankrupt. It was the ideal time for a fresh start, so I gave up my job as a workshop foreman, gave up my flat (it was rented anyway) and flogged off or gave away pretty much everything I had left.
A couple of suitcases worth of stuff and all my tools, which i kept, were packed into a cheap banger I bought from a car auction and I headed to the south of France.
My attitude changed towards a lot of things, mainly the consumerist life I had lead. I have a laptop, a tomtom in the car and thats about it gadget-wise. No mobile phone, no telly etc, although I did keep my hifi as I need my music. (I have ripped my cd collection to a spare hard drive and gave away all the original discs)
Two years on and Im still really happy here. I work 60 hours a month as a caretaker/janitor/handyman type of thing, and although it doesnt pay well, provides me with free accomodation. My income is only a few hundred pounds a month.
Ive got a garden where I grow veg, keep rabbits and chickens for meat and eggs....im nowhere near self-sufficient, but its enough to make a significant difference to my shopping bill.
Whenever I need a bit of extra cash, I do odd jobs as a casual labourer, mechanic, decorating, whatever is going really - there is always work to be found.
The 60 hours I do have to work can be done as and when I like during the month, so the majority of my time is free to do as I please.
Im a bit of a loner and enjoy the solitude, but Im slowly integrating into the local village and have been making friends here.
It was the best thing I ever did to be hinest. I found (and still do whenever I pop back for visits) the UK to be depressingly money-driven and if you dont have the latest electronic box of tricks or the fashionable clothes labels you are seen as some kind of failure or outcast. If you dont have a 2-bed semi and car less than 3 years old (regardless of the debts these incur) you are seen as some kind of loser. Attitudes here in France are very different. Yes, the cities are and always will be trendy and fashionable, and consumerism and credit is expanding rapidly here, but in rural areas like where I am, I fit in nicely.

mike2.5subaru

I think thre are many people who have a simular lifestyle to you that would agree with you MMUUZZYY who would benefit from doing what you suggest but are too afraid of commiting to it. (just like me)

mmuuzzyy

round of applause needed. well done that man!

your lifestyle is exactly what im after.

David Lock

Anyone else feels like this ?

Most people do at some point in their lives.

And the way UK is going it's not surprising. I have this nagging feeling that I would like to go and settle in the Seychelles. I have been there a couple of times and it is a stunning place with nice people. Climate is nigh on perfect. I would get a small villa with a couple of small flats which I would do up and rent out as holiday lets and provide a package for say UK families to include car, trips etc. This would be a far cheaper option than a hotel based holiday and there is no close season. I would also look to other revenue earning income and one idea is to set up a music centre which my guitar playing son could organise if he wanted.

But I would go out and live there for 2 - 3 weeks and investigate, especially the property market which is difficult to do on Google. Also feed back from locals and restrictions about working.

Maybe just a dream but you never know........ dl

David_Dickson

Aye, it takes a LOT of research, I didnt just go spur-of-the-moment, I have family who have moved here years back, and prior to me moving permanantly, I spent over 10 weeks a year on "holiday" here, finding out all I needed to know before committing fully.

spireite

i lived in guyana in 87 that is really layed back easy life

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

I know how you feel, my jobs hit a dead end, only four years left until the end of my current contract but I need to stick it out, the pay out at the end will set up my new life down under, move the whole family and start again with no bills, a small but adequate pension and a lump sum to start my new life.

I'll be able to take on a low pressure job, probably tinkering with cars or something similar just for that added quality of life.

ScoTTyB

I've thought about this many a time. A few hundred years ago people lived more rural lives, but work was very hard. With todays modern food prices one can live a basic life with very, very little money and enjoy the benefits of a closer family that it brings.

I thought this when in Thailand watching 'poor' people and I thought to myself, yes they don't have the plasmas and the scoobys, but then they don't have to commute for 2 hours a day to a stressfull job, pay bills e.t.c e.t.c

And the question is, are they just as happy as me, happier,....and the big one, is their ignorance of our way of life bliss?

daddyscoob

I do know the feeling. I lived just north of Birmingham worked as a transport manager - lots of pressure and stress. My wife worked full time and we sent our young son to nursey full time. He then went to school and the class of 52 was split in two for some lessons but were taught as a group at other times.

I hated my job and dreaded going to work each day. My wife and I both are of Irish parents hers from both North and South. A couple of years ago on holiday in NI I spotted a field for sale with outline planning permisson on the same country lane as my sister in law - out in the sticks.

Bottom line is we borrowed the money bought the land and sold up to move here.
Been here just over a year and it's fantastic. I work for a cousin, two of us out in a van repairing windows and doors at homes, schools, shops and hotels. Every day is different the company motto is - never go hungry, never get wet and never work too hard. My salary only 3K less than before.

My wife just works 3 1/2 hrs a day. We are surrounded by family and friends. People here talk to each other - last house we hardly knew most of our neighbours after 6 years.

Work starts shortly on our much much bigger home lots of land around it 3/4 acre. Its approx 50 yrds from our lads country school. His class has only 14 in
it.

Best of all we've lost the BIG mortgage will only owe approx 30k when built which we will pay off in approx 8 / 10 years.


And I'm going to look at a 04 STI with PPP at the weekend fully documented service history PFF7's etc p/x my 02 WRX and not go into debt

There is hope out there and it might not be as far away as you think.

phil_wrx

iTrader: (2)

i work 4 on 4 off so see loads of my kids now, when im working its 4 days of graft and sleep but the 4 days off are heaven. we have a very small mortage on a 3 bed house and dont have any credit. everything that we buy is saved up for. got a plasma, home cinema, xbox elite, wii just bought a new sofa, dinner table, sideboard and decorating 2 rooms all done without in curring any debt plus me and the wife dont have a large income either.

i think people need to be better with there money and they would have a better life, the whole credit problem and trying to keep up with the jones is what the real problem is.

when the bubble burst ill be fine but there will be a few smug little *******s on my street with the smiles wiped off there faces.

motto is u dont have to leave the country u just have to live your own life and **** what others think.

although i hate the taxes

Klaatu

That's not a silly suggestion, that's where I'm going to retire with my wife. It's a beautiful country.

Janspeed

iTrader: (1)

In Portugal there are 2 million (out of 10 million) people who live at or below the poverty line, and it has been getting worse as the years pass (thank you EU! ).
Minimum salary is about 300 euros, the cost of living is getting so bad, the immigrants are leaving, including pensioners and younger Brits who thought living in the Algarve was good and cheap.......right.

Taxes are ridiculous and if you want a piece of land anywhere remotely nice get ready to pay 500,000 euros and then pay the cost of building the house!

Anyway the weather is ok, and most people go through hell to buy their food, so it is not so good over this way...............

sti-04!!

davyboy

This is bullsh1t.

People who do well for themselves takes risks, and work hard. I don't think you find many successful/wealthy business men that say they were lucky.

ScoTTyB

I think you'd find ALOT that said they were lucky.

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

well i flogged my guts out untill 18 months ago as a general manager

66 hours a week and stress and salery to match

then a spell in A&E on the slab (due to stress) told me it was time to stop my busy lifestyle

I give 12 months notice and then my company went bust 6 months later

got a nice redundancy and now have a great life

No morgage etc so took a easy part time job selling furniture with a 10am start and no hassel ,the hardest job i do now is blowing up 40 stupid balloons every day in the shop !!

i do loads of volentary work now ,council ,fairtrade ,charity, church and various groups and have never been happier now in my new role


The stress ,hassel isn't worth it as there is no point in not having time to enjoy your money

Guess Im lucky but I will never go back to the rat race

I get more pleasure out of growing vegetables and collecting by chickens eggs every day then looking at P&L accounts

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Needs are few, wants are endless.

finalzero

Know the feeling mate.

I gave up the rat race but not entirely, I work in an office but in comparison to where I was last year I have a relaxed job - no pressure, deadlines of sorts or wanting to compete with everyone or worrying who is trying to step over me to get somewhere.

Hours are long so it's not perfect but I plan to do this for a few years and then probably do contracting/consultancy again where I can dictate my own hours meaning more time for me, my family and things I want to do.

With the way this country is going though it's pretty hard to see a future, "death and taxes" comes to mind and we are not far off. I am seriously considering moving abroad and starting a new life while my kids are still young but it's not an easy decision when you have grown up in this country and it's the only place you call home.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, sometimes taking a risk or two is worth it in life.

ScoobyWon't

I moved 2000 miles away at the age of 20 with only £70 in my pocket in 1999. I loved every minute of it. If I had the chance to do it again, I'd snap it up!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I have posted along these lines before but it was more that there are too many distractions and life was perhaps better when we had less but made more of it.

We cant all move into the sticks and live off the land, nice idea but I think i would get bored and miss the buzz of a bit of pressure, pressure is ok if you control it and dont let it wind you up, my job has responsible but if something doesnt get done nobody dies, if the Call Logging System doesnt get upgraded big deal you just include as much concern as your salary and home life will allow, if you dont meet the deadline, admit it, take the bollocking and move on or just walk away if it gets too much, life wont end instantaneously but its better to walk away than go mad with stress.

I can identify with the materialism comments but I think it keeps a lot of going, wanting stuff gets you up in the morning, its all crap but its an interest, not worth going into debt for though.

Janspeed

iTrader: (1)

IMHO Europe is feudal again, except now you think you have some say.......
There is no more quality in life except if you are massively loaded....then you are a tosser, so........