Does anyone else just work to live, and have no real desire to 'succeed' beyond living comfortably?

I've been thinking a lot about this recently (especially considering moving abroad for at least a year, next year)

Conclusions I've come to....

I have absolutely zero desire to have a giant mansion, loads of fast cars etc...whilst I would love all that. Do I want to go through the stress to get there? And do I need to earn all that to be happy? Nope!

What I don't like is how the general population of the UK is brainwashed into buying a house and being in debt with a mortgage for the better part of their lives. Whilst I don't disagree and say it's a great investment and you'll almost always get your money back etc...I just don't like the idea if being tied down by a mortgage.

A friend of mine for example....his mortgage is £1250 a month, plus bills, plus wife, plus kids etc...he has about £50 to himself a week after everything...to me, that isn't living.

Call me selfish, whatever you like...I'm happy though :)

I'm 26 and earn a good wage and I'm able to enjoy my hobbies and passions, I have very little holding me back from doing what I please...this makes me happy. :)
 
I'm pretty much in this situation, not initially by choice but by circumstance, 8 years ago I was made redundant due to liquidization from the most enjoyable job I ever had and in a company I was very highly regarded, this coincided with the birth of my first child, this put me in a bit of a position as there were jobs within the same career I was offered but the money was pretty low and it was daily working hours which meant paying for childcare, I ended up finding a job working evenings and weekends which meant no childcare costs and I was in the fortunate position to be a big part of my now 2 children growing up, the business and role I am currently in has no scope for promotion and in the 8 years I have not had a pay rise, the wife works during the day for a good Company and has yearly bonuses and wage rises, as a household we bring in a comfortable amount of money. I am pretty happy where I am, I could work for this company during the day and work for promotion but it would mean not seeing as much of my boys.

Although I may actually be forced to do the above due to a posibility of the wife being made redundant. Then I will only be seeking promotion for the money.
 
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Phate said:
What I don't like is how the general population of the UK is brainwashed into buying a house and being in debt with a mortgage for the better part of their lives. Whilst I don't disagree and say it's a great investment and you'll almost always get your money back etc...I just don't like the idea if being tied down by a mortgage.

A friend of mine for example....his mortgage is £1250 a month, plus bills, plus wife, plus kids etc...he has about £50 to himself a week after everything...to me, that isn't living.
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This is a very UK-specific thing that I could also never understand. People seem to think it's a race to get on the property ladder, win a mortgage, and then spend the best years of your life scrimping and saving to pay it off.

The rest of Europe rent within their means, enjoy life, save some money, and then buy when the time is right.
 
Richdog said:
This is a very UK-specific thing that I could also never understand. People seem to think it's a race to get on the property ladder, win a mortgage, and then spend the best years of your life scrimping and saving to pay it off.

The rest of Europe rent within their means, enjoy life, save some money, and then buy when the time is right.
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When I tell friends/family I have no intention of buying a house, therefore not saving for one I get a lot of puzzled looks :D
 
Phate said:
When I tell friends/family I have no intention of buying a house, therefore not saving for one I get a lot of puzzled looks :D
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Haha, yeah that would be me giving those looks. I can understand why renting is a preferred option for many though. For me it was a case of hating to see a penny wasted - I worked out Rent was gonna cost me near exactly the same as my mortgage monthly cost, yet that money was just disappearing to someone else to pay their mortgage. By buying it means at least the same money was going towards my house, and if I ever need to sell up for financial reasons I could and lose nothing - in fact, the way the market is, I would gain (unless very unlucky timing with the crash).

But the convenience of renting is definitely tempting, being able to just up and move as circumstances require is very nice!
 
asteldian said:
Haha, yeah that would be me giving those looks. I can understand why renting is a preferred option for many though. For me it was a case of hating to see a penny wasted - I worked out Rent was gonna cost me near exactly the same as my mortgage monthly cost, yet that money was just disappearing to someone else to pay their mortgage. By buying it means at least the same money was going towards my house, and if I ever need to sell up for financial reasons I could and lose nothing - in fact, the way the market is, I would gain (unless very unlucky timing with the crash).

But the convenience of renting is definitely tempting, being able to just up and move as circumstances require is very nice!
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Oh I know all the pros and cons of each, have done price comparisons etc.

For me it's not wanting to be tied down by it all. If I decide tomorrow I want to upsticks and move abroad/somewhere else the only thing I need to think about really is my cat :p :D
 
The only motivation I had to progress career wise was to get into a position where money wasn't something I had to consider.

I gain no joy from having money, but I do on the other hand experience stress if for any reason I don't have enough. The more I earn the less I need to spend any time thinking about money & the more I can just enjoy life & experience new things.

I don't like the thought of anybody having to worry about the next bill, food shop or if they can afford to enjoy a night out every so often with friends - these in my view are basics.
 
as somebody else has already said, its about finding the right balance

I work 37 hours and get 26k
wife works 35 hours and gets 24k
mortgage paid for..only major outgoing is my car, which I treat myself too
no kids

I have flexible working and work is just a necessary evil, its flexible working allows me to indulge my hobby of fishing right through the spring and summer months

I have no wish to change to a job that might have more money but would be less flexible for my lifestyle

I have friends that earn much more than me, but they never switch off, they never really get to relax, even on holiday they have to be contactable.... having no life outside of work is not worth any amount of extra money. the thought of me not being able to go out and relax, have nobody bother me would be a real problem for me personally
 
FTM said:
as somebody else has already said, its about finding the right balance

I work 37 hours and get 26k
wife works 35 hours and gets 24k
mortgage paid for..only major outgoing is my car, which I treat myself too
no kids

I have flexible working and work is just a necessary evil, its flexible working allows me to indulge my hobby of fishing right through the spring and summer months

I have no wish to change to a job that might have more money but would be less flexible for my lifestyle

I have friends that earn much more than me, but they never switch off, they never really get to relax, even on holiday they have to be contactable.... having no life outside of work is not worth any amount of extra money. the thought of me not being able to go out and relax, have nobody bother me would be a real problem for me personally
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Exactly. In my job once I leave the office that's it, I give no thought to work again until I am in the office the next day. Weekends waste no time stressing about work.

As an added bonus I don't even get Sunday blues due to work the next day. The job doesn't bother me so I don't dread another week of it.
As far as I am conerned I have 'succeeded' because my life is stress free.

Mortgage is the only big outgoing I have and that is comfortably covered. While I don't have the money to go crazy, I have enough to travel every year and indulge on small things on a whim and enjoy my hobbies (admittedly mostly gaming which is nice and cheap anyway!)

I work so I can live. If work is my life then that kinda defeats the point to me.
 
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Richdog said:
This is a very UK-specific thing that I could also never understand. People seem to think it's a race to get on the property ladder, win a mortgage, and then spend the best years of your life scrimping and saving to pay it off.

The rest of Europe rent within their means, enjoy life, save some money, and then buy when the time is right.
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It's partly due to funding retirement though, it's often much more necessary in the UK to have property to sell to pay for your care.
 
I think I am one of the lucky ones since the job I do is the type of job I always wanted to do and that is to work with computers. Only been in the job 5 months and just had my pay review 4 months early since the boss is happy with what I do. It's not massive amounts of money by any means but to myself and the other half it might as well be due to the difference it has made to us.

Stoner81.
 
I don't want to have kids, so the fact that I am already a good bit above the national average means I don't need to progress to get more money to afford having a family. I enjoy my job and could happily do it until retirement.
 
I've enjoyed reading this thread and it has put some things in to perspective for me.

I also don't intend on having kids so should save a packet there!
 
Phate said:
Oh I know all the pros and cons of each, have done price comparisons etc.

For me it's not wanting to be tied down by it all. If I decide tomorrow I want to upsticks and move abroad/somewhere else the only thing I need to think about really is my cat :p :D
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Or you could just assign a letting agency to look after it whilst it appreciates and pays for itself in the mean time :p I don't understand how owning a house ties anyone down.
 
I used to be fiercely ambitious and was always chasing promotion. Then, my son was born. This changed EVERYTHING in an instant. Now, all I care about it giving him a good life and spending as much time with his as possible.

The Mrs and I earn about £110k per year between the two of us and it's enough. Not enough to buy a new car every year or live in a mansion, but enough to be comfortable. I have no desire to move up to the next level with my career as this will mean more stress and more time spent working.

When I was 20 and I started my career, my ambition was to get to a level that when a bill came through the door, it just got paid without me having to think where the money was coming from. I achieved that. That's enough.
 
Well, I can't really comment on this subject/thread due to my age and still being in full time education with only a part-time job. But my plan to live comfortably is to earn around 30-35k, I don't think that's being greedy as life is expensive. But than again I wouldn't want to spend most of my life earning lots of money with big responsibilities, as you wouldn't really have time to spend this money anyway... So as long as I can pay for all my bills, food, hobby, holiday and be able to save some money I'll be satisfied. :)
 
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Rilot said:
I used to be fiercely ambitious and was always chasing promotion. Then, my son was born. This changed EVERYTHING in an instant. Now, all I care about it giving him a good life and spending as much time with his as possible.

The Mrs and I earn about £110k per year between the two of us and it's enough. Not enough to buy a new car every year or live in a mansion, but enough to be comfortable. I have no desire to move up to the next level with my career as this will mean more stress and more time spent working.

When I was 20 and I started my career, my ambition was to get to a level that when a bill came through the door, it just got paid without me having to think where the money was coming from. I achieved that. That's enough.
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This is me currently but without the kid yet, though it is planned for this year....

My goals as far as I can remember have always been to own a house (done), own a car (done) and have enough spare cash to do what ever I want (done).

I'm 27, graduated 5 years ago from uni and was fortunate enough to get a job in IT sales. My goal was to earn £30k in my first year which I thought was decent and above national average etc but I quadrupled this which still shocks me today.

Success is different in everyone's mind obviously, my idea of success was to "live comfortably" and be one of the highest earning people from my year group at school..... bit shallow but that's what drove me to "succeed" and still drives me.
 
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