Comments on: Weekday Misery, Weekend Pleasure

By: Kodiak

Kodiak — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:52:09 +0000

This is an interesting article and I have enjoyed all of the comments. It is important to note that this is general advice and is presented as such. Many people have questioned Trent’s advice and validly so. But in this article Trent has given you the respect of believing you can think for yourself and apply the “general” advice as you find it applicable to your life. So picking his comments apart is not entirely productive as there are so many individual situations this can be applied to that any comment could be proven invalid. (By the way this is my first time here and I am in no way a Trent or Simpledollar Fanboy.)

With all of that said I have flip flopped between the idea that work does not have to be fulfilling and is called work for a reason. And the idea that work shouldn’t be a daily burden and you should follow your passion/dreams/heart. To date I have chased the dollar and been relatively succesfull to that end. I made a six figure income in less than four years after college in an area where the median household income is $38k. So far it has brought me little fullfillment and happiness. It has given me some comfort since the company I worked for went out of business and I have the financial stability to not lose everything while I figure out what to do next. Although I have never lived paycheck to paycheck even living on $600/month in college, live within your means and spend/save wisely! I am currently struggling with the idea of a career change or going back to the drudgery that has provided my current financial security. Since I do not know yet what I want to be when I grow up (or what my “passion” is) I am working to change my perspective and modify some of the small things that I think will make my current career more bearable.

I think this is all about finding a balance for your particular situation. The percentage of people that do what they love and make big dollars at it is small. I also still think those people have bad days/weeks/months at work. So keep that in mind and remember your decision needs to be a balance of what is important to you and your life. Not what everyone tells you it should be. Best of luck to you all!

By: ad

ad — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:24:00 +0000

I don’t understand why Ralph needed to “upgrade.”

I work in an office of mostly middle class folks, most of who drive new cars, have cable TV, new cell phones, etc. I don’t have any of that, even though my husband and I could easily afford it.

Can’t Ralph choose for himself, instead of keeping up appearances and buying things he didn’t want before everyone else had them?

By: RB

RB — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:25:45 +0000

Setting the target date. That’s the one thing I haven’t done. I must get out….

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:19:55 +0000

I think this is a load of crap – just because someone doesn’t like their job (it’s called work for a reason) isn’t an excuse for self-destructive financial behaviour. Most of us have had low paying jobs at some point that we enjoyed probably because we were young and didn’t have many financial responsibilities and worked with other young people we could be friends with.

“Ralph” needs to stop defining his life by his work and get on with living.

By: Strick

Strick — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:09:03 +0000

Nancy – unless “retire early” means at 35 and not 58 like most folks mean, I don’t get the point of what you’re doing. Because your view of retirement is to continue working, just do it.

Lack of food, clothes, medicine, or a safe place to live is more miserable than a bad job, but thats about it, and I’d bet you can cover those things with the work you love.

By: Georgia

Georgia — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:36:42 +0000

Perhaps I look at this from a different point of view. I will be 72 tomorrow and I have worked at many, many jobs over the years. I have always loved the vast majority of them – waitress, shoe factory, 3 ins. companies, federal and state jobs, worked in and ran a Savings and Loan, home health aide, and worked for 18 years in a maximum security mental health facility for the criminally insane.

You see, I am very lazy and I do not like to feel bad. So, no matter the job, when I start it I begin looking for things to love about my job – the people, the detail work, whatever. If I do not like my job, who suffers? ME!! And I do not intend to suffer. This has been a successful ploy for me. I started working at age 14 and retired at almost 69. Went back to work for 7 months after my husband died. Am now going to school to try to finish my degree in Accounting.
Positive thinking, if it is proactive, is a very powerful weapon. Try it sometime.

By: cookie

cookie — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:33:49 +0000

As a Canadian, I am curious as to how Americans’ employer-paid health benefits fit into your decision to take or leave a particular job. I have heard stories about people needing to stay in jobs they hate because they or their family members need the coverage. Is this true?

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:58:34 +0000

Sad to say, but I am staying at my job where I make more money than my parents ever dreamed of (and without a college education), living for the weekends. BUT, I am doing this because I can afford to max out my 401(k) (with a generous company match) and my Roth IRA every year and retire earlier. Not retire and not work, but retire from this field and do something I love.

By: Nicola

Nicola — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:31:12 +0000

I do think this word ‘passion’ has become a bit of a cliche. Why not just say we enjoy
gardening/painting/yoga why do we have to be ‘passionate’ about it? Turning a ‘passion’ into a career is also (I think) a way of guaranteeing that you will start to hate the thing you once loved because once you are doing it for money a whole load of other factors come into play. Sorry to sound so negative but I’m really not sure about this advice.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:53:48 +0000

Also, I find talking to other people to be a bit overrated. From my experience, the people closest to me were the ones who gave me the worst advice. My parents were the ones who said to always take the career that paid the most and that choosing a career based on passions or interests is irresponsible. They also told me to spend all my money and forget about investing. Good thing I didn’t listen to them. My best decisions come when I trust my own counsel and shut out the voices of people who project their own beliefs, fears, and agendas on the advice they give.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:48:35 +0000

Not everyone uses spending as stress relief. Whenever I got stressed out at my last job from hell, I’d find a way to send another $100 to Vanguard. Those $100 bits added up quickly.

By: John Frainee

John Frainee — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:43:22 +0000

So right. People get stuck in a rut. Unfortunately, there are too many people out there that think that more money is better. What they don’t realize is that it is not about money, it’s about lifestyle. A person’s lifestyle needs to be considered above level of income. Thank you for providing an excellent blog on financial concepts. I think your readers also might be interested in my blog at http://www.plaincents.com. Take care.

By: Connie

Connie — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:13:36 +0000

I agree with GetAGrip on Ralph going back to his old job and things don’t seem the way they used to be. I’ve been in a work situation where folks around me would spend excess and thought I was cheap but they are the same folks that are so stressed right now with loads of debt, foreclosed homes, etc. These folks are amazed that I am so calm despite the economy and I explain to them that I save money all the time and only buy what I need with one income and spend/save the rest with spouse’s income.

By: Greg Smith

Greg Smith — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:04:42 +0000

I’ve done everything else here on the list, execpt figure out how to turn a passion into a income. That seems to be a lot easier say than to do.

By: Sean C

Sean C — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:27:14 +0000

I’m sure you mean “Quite Often” not “Quit Often” :)

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:20:42 +0000

to Michael comment #10, I’ve heard the government gives everyone who is unemployeed 5000 a year to go back to schoool for 2 years. So if you were thinking about going back, the extra money could soften the blow. And if you start networking at the school you may find on campus jobs or extra work from teachers and your new classmates to help with your debt load. It never hurts to investigate possibilities!

By: getagrip

getagrip — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:18:50 +0000

I’m wondering if “Ralph” really hates his new job so much as he both misses the people he hung out with at his old job and doesn’t really like the people he’s hanging out with at his new job. It seems to me that based on his trying to fit in, it may all be less about the actual work than it is about the social interactions.

As people we nearly always tend to look back at things with rose colored glasses. The good ol’ days often weren’t so good as people like to reminisce about (hence why he may have jumped at the chance to make more money) but that doesn’t stop us from thinking they were (his focus on the people and activities).

My point is that the people you work with can really influence your perception of the job for good or ill, and if you go forward you need to be careful of glorifying positions you left behind because of social considerations if what you have isn’t as fullfilling. Ralph may quickly find if he goes back to lower paying line of work that it isn’t as much fun as it used to be if the same work buddies aren’t still there.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:29:57 +0000

This is my first time commenting, but I find myself in exactly this situation. I have a plan to go back to school in a year and am biding my time at my current job. But even with that end date in mind, it is still hard to come in to work and deal with hating the majority of my job. It is an awful time to look for new work, but it is the perfect time to consider going to school or explore career options–by the time you’re ready to make a move the economy will have recovered somewhat.

By: Oskar

Oskar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:07:46 +0000

I am thinking about this right now, I am in a well payed job that is not really a passion but also not a pain to go to, most days are fun but some are less so. However I have been thinking of going into another line of work that I am sure would bring me more joy but also its own set of problems (grass isn’t always greener). Also this other line of work would most likely mean a pay cut of 20-40%. I have not decided what to do yet but until I do I have decided to save the ‘extra money’ that I make from my current job so that when I make the decision money doesn’t have to be the deciding factor.

By: Battra92

Battra92 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:56:12 +0000

I like my job. I don’t love it and I’m not married to it, but I like it. I don’t like going and I enjoy leaving but the time in-between is just fine.

Part of me is a bit lazy, that I openly confess. The other part of me is an artist who would much rather spend his time taking photographs, drawing or sketching.

So how do I balance it? Well since I’m not leaving the high paying job anytime soon I just enjoy my time off with vacations and such and I get out doing as much photography and artwork as possible. My one hour lunch break is time spent reading books on photography or drawing or thinking of new ideas. After work I sometimes will go out with my camera taking various shots.

Film is cheap so if I don’t get into vintage Camera collector mode (which happens from time to time) I’m not so bad off.