# Working Less Playing More



## braveheart2009 (Mar 25, 2009)

Just wondered if people who are financially stable ever think or act on taking a cut in money reducing hours to spend more time with the wife/hubby and kids rather than work? 

From my experience people will put money before their other half and kids if your boss says we need you for more hours and travel more they don't ever consider their family time together.


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## Dollystanford (Mar 14, 2012)

no way, I get 33 days holiday per year plus 8 bank holidays anyway - I'm all set! :smthumbup:


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## Clark G (Sep 5, 2012)

that's actually a tough question. i'm sure we'd all love more time with our kids and spouse but do realize that we have responsibilities. it becomes a balancing act but you are right many people don't have a work life balance and work tends to win.

what's the point of working if you don't have time doing the things you enjoy outside of work (perhaps you love your job) like spending time with family, friends, traveling, etc...?? 

I love to work but I love my quality time more with my son and any significant other in my life so if I have to work more, then I make sure my time with them is very well spent.

Good question.

Joe


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## DTO (Dec 18, 2011)

braveheart2009 said:


> Just wondered if people who are financially stable ever think or act on taking a cut in money reducing hours to spend more time with the wife/hubby and kids rather than work?
> 
> From my experience people will put money before their other half and kids if your boss says we need you for more hours and travel more they don't ever consider their family time together.


Previously guilty as charged. While I would resist traveling or working weekends, I thought nothing of putting in an extra hour or two in the evening. All that stopped when my son became ill, though.

Understand, employers are expecting more and more out of their staff these days. They set objective producitivity standards that continually increase. Some (like my current one) rank their employees competitively. GE famously (or infamously) annually fires the bottom 10% of its staff.

The environment is no longer that you improve to get noticed and move up. It is much more that you improve and get more done to just keep what you have (at least in our current economy). It is ever-harder to survive by coming in and doing a great job at the office when your peers are willing to stay late, work weekends, and bring tasks home. Coming to work and grinding out a workday is just not enough.

So, I try to cut back my hours and be efficient at work, but sometimes it just can't be done.


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## Anubis (Jul 12, 2011)

From my observations, making the choice to work less is greatly influenced by the level of financial security that you have. If you have a "FU" fund or similar resources, or you are already living below your means, then you're way more likely to seriously consider it.

But the sad truth is that the majority people don't have that level of security. And with the economy since 2008 or so, it's gotten a whole lot worse for a whole lot of people. For primary earners in a family especially, there's often just too much at risk to try and cut back

Ten years ago, I had the big "FU" fund, and it made a huge difference in my attitude day in and day out. I made sure I had a lot of time for my children, and the future was always optimistic, and I wasn't going to sacrifice my work-life balance. At one point I deliberately took 6 months off between jobs and just stayed home to help with my newborn son.

Today, my situation is much difference. In addition to being a cheater, my exW was a "grasshopper" - spending all the seed corn so to speak, in addition to my 6-figure income. By the time Dday came around, the fund was depleted, and I got stuck with all the debts and bills in the D, while she got a fresh start and clean slate, and a huge amount of alimony and CS along with most of the retirement accounts. (don't get me started on family courts and crying SAHMs  ) 

Until I rebuild my reserves again and regain that security, my decision making consistently leans towards protecting my job and maximizing my income. Don't get me wrong, I would love to take more time for myself and not stress myself so much and enjoy life and my future wife, but I can't live like I am going to die tomorrow - I have to plan for and work towards a better and more secure future.


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## greenpearl (Sep 3, 2010)

I think we are different from the majority.

We believe a simple lifestyle means happiness, peace, and security. I am not interested in a high-class lifestyle. So we live way below our means. We can afford a bigger apartment, but we bought a small two-bedroom apartment which is enough for us(there are only two of us, my husband and me.) We can afford a car, but we choose not. Going to work by motorcycle and scooter is just fine. Our work is like fifteen minutes away and the weather in Taiwan is warm for riding motorcycles and scooters. We can go to expensive restaurants, but I choose to cook at home. Recently I have been researching for new recipes. When I know what I cook at home is more delicious, healthier, and much cheaper than restaurants' food, I feel great. By living our life like this, we get to save about 60% of our income every month. 

So if our hours go down a little bit, it's not a big deal for us. Right now my husband works 28 hours a week, and I work 23 hours a week. I can work more hours if I want to, but I choose not to. Having those extra hours and staying at home cooking is much more interesting. I worker 30 hours a week before. I remember I didn't like it. I didn't have energy to enjoy the money I earned. 

We enjoy our life a lot. My husband has a lot of time on his hobbies, and I have a lot of time relaxing and cooking.


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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

GreenPearl ~ We think so much like you & your husband.. my husband is a simple Man... just like the song...

For years -when we were building our family & working on paying our house & land off, he would take all the overtime offered... We worked our butts off in the beginning... striving to get to that "debt free" status... I worked off & on too around each others schedules . 

Now, even with my being a SAHM, we can live fine on his 40 hours a week since we've achieved this... He doesn't want the overtime, even took himself off the list at work. 

We'd much rather have more time together than climb any ladders of success... .so long as we have







in the bank, and can afford things when they break down - from our reserves...we're pretty happy. Content. Thankful.


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## greenpearl (Sep 3, 2010)

SimplyAmorous said:


> GreenPearl ~ We think so much like you & your husband.. my husband is a simple Man... just like the song...
> 
> For years -when we were building our family & working on paying our house & land off, he would take all the overtime offered... We worked our butts off in the beginning... striving to get to that "debt free" status... I worked off & on too around each others schedules .
> 
> ...


I agree with you. My husband is a very simple man too. As long as he has a job which provides security, good food on the table, good clothes to wear, good sex with a happy wife, and a few hobbies to keep himself occupied, he is happy!  When he was in his early twenties, he worked as an accountant, he was surrounded by rich people and he saw the ugly and stressful side of it, he decided he didn't want that. He quit his high-income job , came to Taiwan, and became an English teacher. Now he is happy and settled. He is not interested in climbing the corporate ladder. He is not interested in being an important man. He doesn't need other people's admiration to make him happy. He knows what he needs to be happy. 

I am very happy that he is this way. I know how stressful a man can be when he wants to climb the corporate ladder and he is never content with what he has. I know how much stress it can bring to me if my man is like that. I don't want to live with a man who is not content with what he has. I am very lucky to be able to find my husband, a man who is not after wealth and fame, but a man who is family oriented and puts effort into having a happy and fulfilled life in a much less stressful way. 

A lot of people work hard and become rich, but think about what they have sacrificed. In order to get rich, in order to achieve that lifestyle, they spend little time with their spouses and children. Some of them have damaged their health because of too much stress and anxiety. We don't want that. We want to have a lot of time together, and we think health is the most important thing in life. All the stress and pressure is not good for our health.


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