I have a new job!

[JamezF]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

 

[Sutty]

Good for you! Quite a step
Sounds right up your street.

 

[Paulypaul]

Well done, Jamez.
Like many others, I hate my job and would love a way out. But I've bills to pay.
I've passed opportunities to invest in friend's companies that became very successful and sniffed at bitcoin in its early days.
So, best of luck. And try not to blast all your £squillions in the winter sales.

 

[Redcap]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

Sounds exciting...some ppl live to work, others work to live. Breaking away from the daily grind and doing something completely different is empowering, and reinvigorates the soul ! Good luck !

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well done James.
Camper vans are the “thing”
Our first was a converted Toyota Proace then we upgraded to a motorhome which was a big mistake.
We are back to a camper now, a Fiat. Happy days.

 

[ericbeaumont]

hate my job and would love a way out. But I've bills to pay

From what I can tell, Paul, you've taken to beekeeping well, and it may yet lead to a path out of the grind. Even when young I had an instinctive aversion to the regular and made sure to enjoy the activity in front of me, and because of that, I became proficient: art college, fell into news & print illustration, morphed into landscape gardening, ran that alongside bees until bees took over.

During the financial ups and downs I managed to pay the mortgage but most importantly, enjoy the work; the downs of the uncertainty of self-employment are what attracts others to the shackles of the grind: job regularity and a pension; it doesn't have to be like that, but compromise and planning helps.

It is far more complex these days to enter work, and alternatives to the grind (or the old-school desire to become mega-rich) are now common, and lead to a life richer in other ways. When I talk to young people I pass on that recipe: find an enjoyable activity; get good at it; sell it.

 

[Paulypaul]

From what I can tell, Paul, you've taken to beekeeping well, and it may yet lead to a path out of the grind. Even when young I had an instinctive aversion to the regular and made sure to enjoy the activity in front of me, and because of that, I became proficient: art college, fell into news & print illustration, morphed into landscape gardening, ran that alongside bees until bees took over.

During the financial ups and downs I managed to pay the mortgage but most importantly, enjoy the work; the downs of the uncertainty of self-employment are what attracts others to the shackles of the grind: job regularity and a pension; it doesn't have to be like that, but compromise and planning helps.

It is far more complex these days to enter work, and alternatives to the grind (or the old-school desire to become mega-rich) are common now, and lead to a life richer in other ways. When I talk to young people I pass on that recipe: find an enjoyable activity; get good at it; sell it.

We may be psychic twins, Eric.
I also went to art college , studied fine art. After college went self-employed (e-commerce consultant), which allowed me to continue my artwork and freelance. Paid off my mortgage 3 years ago, but with young children had to upgrade to a house, now I'm back to a sizeable mortgage.
Changes to self-employment legislation mean I've been on perm for a few years.

I agree, I think the key to a way out, is a plan.

 

[JamezF]

I agree, I think the key to a way out, is a plan.

I heard an interview with Jimmy Carr recently, probably when he was doing publicity for his autobiography. It interested me enough to read the book so I guess it worked even though the book didn't really engage me that much. He initially worked in a marketing job for Shell, but wangled redundancy in his mid-20s and with the redundancy money set himself to be a comedian (some might argue regarding the level of his success or otherwise ).

The one thing I did take from the book though was his belief that "If you want to be happy, you really need to decide what you want. Really what you want. Money is not what you really want because ultimately money is just tokens for getting other stuff and if you don't know what the other stuff is then you have no idea whether you're even heading in the right direction."

I'd never really thought of life in those terms before. I've been writing software for money since I was about sixteen and just fell into doing it for a living because I was good at it and, let's face it, it was well paid. It's only the last few years really that I've come to realise that unless I'm writing code for things that I want, in fact I don't really enjoy it and I'm far happier making stuff in the workshop or pootling in the garden or working the bees. Slogging through five days a week of stuff I'd prefer not to do for a couple of days (like that ever happens ) of something I do want to do doesn't really seem like a very good return.

It will be a lot less financially rewarding unless the business takes off big time, but it will mean that I'm enjoying more of my time and hopefully making other people happy too. It may be that as I approach sixty I'm more aware that whilst I'm not at death's door (as long as the blood pressure pills work ), I'm definitely well into the second half of my life and this seems a far more meaningful way to spend my time.

James

 

[Ely]

Good news. Hope it goes well. I'm buying a beehive a month at the moment (empty) in the hope to expand over the years but I don't think I'll ever be able to give up my IT job. I'm trying to learn Azure and InTune at the moment in the hopes of applying for a better work from home role.

 

[Moobee]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

How fabulous! I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of the change and loads more time for beekeeping & veg gardening

 

[Moobee]

I heard an interview with Jimmy Carr recently, probably when he was doing publicity for his autobiography. It interested me enough to read the book so I guess it worked even though the book didn't really engage me that much. He initially worked in a marketing job for Shell, but wangled redundancy in his mid-20s and with the redundancy money set himself to be a comedian (some might argue regarding the level of his success or otherwise ).

The one thing I did take from the book though was his belief that "If you want to be happy, you really need to decide what you want. Really what you want. Money is not what you really want because ultimately money is just tokens for getting other stuff and if you don't know what the other stuff is then you have no idea whether you're even heading in the right direction."

I'd never really thought of life in those terms before. I've been writing software for money since I was about sixteen and just fell into doing it for a living because I was good at it and, let's face it, it was well paid. It's only the last few years really that I've come to realise that unless I'm writing code for things that I want, in fact I don't really enjoy it and I'm far happier making stuff in the workshop or pootling in the garden or working the bees. Slogging through five days a week of stuff I'd prefer not to do for a couple of days (like that ever happens ) of something I do want to do doesn't really seem like a very good return.

It will be a lot less financially rewarding unless the business takes off big time, but it will mean that I'm enjoying more of my time and hopefully making other people happy too. It may be that as I approach sixty I'm more aware that whilst I'm not at death's door (as long as the blood pressure pills work ), I'm definitely well into the second half of my life and this seems a far more meaningful way to spend my time.

James

I took early retirement at 55 having worked out that I didn't need shed loads of money to live as long as I had health and happiness. It was the best thing I ever did. I get to be with the bees, grow veg and tend the garden, take the dog out on the beach, bake bread and take an annual foreign holiday somewhere warmish. Love the change of lifestyle from high paced corporate to mooching about in shorts and flipflops and wished I could have done it even earlier.

 

[Superlativesoul]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

Congratulations James it took you a lot of courage to do that ,but from what I've seen and read on this forum that you have posted you are more than capable, I wish you and the company good fortune for the fosesable future .
John

 

[Erichalfbee]

I took early retirement at 55 having worked out that I didn't need shed loads of money

Same here but I loved the job I was doing and was my own boss but the increasing amount of admin and HMRC interference pushed me in my decision to abandon work.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

HMRC interference pushed me in my decision to abandon work.

but it was a bit awkward for them as I worked for the buggers at the time

 

[Peterjay]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

Best of luck....a brave, but sensible decison.

 

[Rory Fields]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

More power to you, congrats!

 

[The Poot]

Same here but I loved the job I was doing and was my own boss but the increasing amount of admin and HMRC interference pushed me in my decision to abandon work.

It was HMRC interference that caused me to work past my retirement age!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

It was HMRC interference that caused me to work past my retirement age!!

Ah…. You weren’t quick enough!

 

[Dibbler]

I cheated though: I bought half the company

I really couldn't face going back to IT and I can't deny that I've been kind of ignoring the whole topic of work and earning an income in the hope that something would turn up. It usually does. Or it usually has, at least for me.

Then a short while ago I found that one of the partners in a local business where my daughter is working for the Summer was leaving and wanting to sell his half. It's a bit different for me: all but one of the staff (including the remaining partner) are under forty and they're all much more into having a decent quality of life than making huge pots of money, which is probably more where I want to be too. So having done a bit of investigation and having screwed my courage to the sticking place, this morning I bought him out. On one level it's a bit scary, particularly as the only thing I've ever spent more money on is houses, but there are other positives such as being flexible enough that I can take some time out to do beekeeping stuff if required. They're also very much into supporting the local community by taking part in little projects here and there and contributing to local charities, which appeals to me.

So, as of today I am not an IT person. I am now a camper van conversion person Though actually I suspect the first few weeks will mostly be sorting out lots of admin stuff and creating a budget and business plan for the coming year.

James

What a great and brave step to take James. I wish you lots of luck although I don't think you will need it.
I hope your new work life balance is all that you want it to be. Camper vans are great

 

[Vanterrier]

Good luck