The ultimate frugal life - how much per year? Is it a good life?

Legacy_user

I now have enough saved to a buy an average type of house so the feeling that I will have no rent/mortgage for my life is a great feeling at a young age (mid 20s).

I am currently stuck in a frame of mind whether to go for a degree (was top of grades at school) and do a proper career eg pharmacy or engineering. OR just get a job in Tesco or somewhere 15 hours a week for £5k per year - the easy/lazy option I suppose.

The thing is that I think I could live on this £5000 per year.

Food - £2000, Elec and Gas £500, Council Tax £1000:mad: , Clothes £200, TV and Broadband £500 , Repairs £800 = £5000



Should I put in the hard work for a career that I am not even sure about or go for the simple easy life. I don't like the idea of studying a degree that Im not going to any of the essays or books studied in my life or career - well maybe perhaps around 10%. I also can't be bothered with the career crap that comes along eg professional exams, professional development, suits, ties, profits, managers, shareholders etc. I just don't want to deal with all that.

lostinrates

You sound like at, the live cheaply option appeals more. I am interested in what you do in your spare time ATM and with that theory.

So, I am going to play devil's advocate for a while.

1. Putting money aside for the future...can you budget that in?
2. Social life...Is it good now? If not, would you like it to be, if it is, how will you feel when your friends move on in their lives?
3. Partner....will you be able to find a life partner (or partners for fun as you get older) who finds your life similarly fulfilling?


Could you perhaps follow a middle found of not persuing professional exams or a degree you 'will not use' by just following a non graduate career?


Also, even if you do not apply the knowledge acquired in a degree, focused learning and personal development should be opening doors ipn your personal acheivemnt if you like learning. (it's a great tragedy of the modern age IMO that while making education more avilable that in previous generations we have devalued it's worth and breadth of growth it hcan offer. HOWEVER, I certainly would not go in to a degree course feeling half hearted, unexcited or lacklustre.

brownsauce

I am a pharmacist and I am dating an engineer, so I know a bit about both careers.

DONT DO PHARMACY.

its a dying profession and there are far too many graduates. Engineering is where its at. My OH gets phone calls daily from recruiters offering him jobs!

Purple_kitten

Wow congrats on the savings a lovely position to be in.

I'm not sure whereabouts you may be buying but fraid I would say the figures are a little optomistic maybe. Things like getting to and fro a workplace, travel anywhere, Insurances Life/Car/house. The council tax seems low. Mobile Phone / water etc, all maybe realatively small that add up over the year esp. when the budget is smaller.

OS_QS

I would say if you were the top of the class at school then you may get bored a few years into your 'easy' option? Intelligence isn't enough though, you need the drive/ motivation too.

I've done the university, professional exams route and it is rewarding but also needs commitment as it can be incredibly tough at times.

Saying that however, i have fond memories of times working in the supermarket whilst putting myself through university- perhaps an option offering the best of both? Then you can decide what you want to do whilst investing in a possible profession? Supermarkets have graduate schemes too.

I see the attraction of a slower and 'easier' life, but I'd personally chose that option when I fancy that lifestyle later on in life, and not just now in my mid/late 20s

Best of luck!

Honeythief

If you don't need much money then study something that interests you, not just something you think might lead to the kind of path that school career guidance teachers always seem to want. You only get one life so don't waste it studying something that doesn't even interest you!

It would be easy to combine a part-time job in a supermarket with your studies so if it was me I'd do that. It would get too boring otherwise with lots of free time but no money to do anything with it, and no interests or goals to keep me motivated.

angeltreats

OS_QS wrote: »

I would say if you were the top of the class at school then you may get bored a few years into your 'easy' option? Intelligence isn't enough though, you need the drive/ motivation too.

Absolutely agree with this. I was very academic when I was younger but for various reasons changed career in my late twenties to go into catering. After a while I found it impossible to shut off my brain at night and go to sleep, because I just wasn't being mentally challenged enough during the day.

I'm now working in financial services and spent most of last year studying for exams, with some still to go to this year, and I'm really quite happy to be doing them.

If you are naturally quite intelligent, think hard before choosing a path that won't use your brain, you will probably find yourself bored to tears.

tessasmum

Aside from the career options, I would be a little concerned about this budget projection - there are so many categories missing that I think that this needs to be considered more, especially once you become a home owner. Home insurance, water bills, travel, etc just spring to mind straight away, but there are others as well, I'm sure.
I currently have a daughter trying to decide on a career as she makes university choices, and pharmacy/engineering are options for her, so she is with you in trying to decide what to do. Good luck!

storytime

Your so young, go out and enjoy yourself! Travel the world while you still have you nerve and you may find a career or a cause. Don't go for the lazy option now you may regret it when your older. Try and fulfil your potential now when you have your health. My kids didn't listen to me and now they are regretting their decisions of an easier/ lazier life .Yes you have done very well to buy your own property but the world is your oyster now! End of lecture!

sillyinthepast

Your 'easy' life ounces very appealing but can you see yourself doing that for life?

I see that you are only mid 20s what happens if you have a family? It would be a huge struggle to support a family on those wages.

What are you doing for work now? Could you not just cut your hours down a bit? You said about having a simple life what does that mean for you? I know for me it's the allotment, more time with my family, not living a busy life. Think about where you want to be in 10 years and then start making plans to get there.

sonastin

If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to save such a large amount at such a young age? I ask because it will affect the advice. If you have been working and earning and you've sampled "the career crap that comes along" with working then you know that you don't want to be going down that route. If you haven't had that sort of lifestyle yet (if, for example, you have inherited the money), perhaps you shouldn't judge it until you try it - the reality might be different. My fiance is a hands-on blue-collar kinda guy and his perception of my office job is that I do nothing because he doesn't see the mental stimulation and intellectual challenge that comes with it. The professional development, profits, management etc are a relatively minor pain in the a$$ in comparison. But if you've been-there-done-that and the t-shirt doesn't fit you, it makes far more sense to try something else.

The other thing to bear in mind is that not all professional careers come with compulsory suits and ties. If engineering interests you, have you considered a career in construction? Project manager/ construction manager / site manager roles bring the intellectual challenge of *professional* type work but you can also spend time (literally) in the trenches with the guys on the tools. Hard hats and steel toe caps are more common than suits and ties. And a degree in engineering will help.

I'd be very wary of the "bumming around" lifestyle choice unless you are certain that it suits you. Do it for too long and it limits the access to better-paid careers eventually. If you like the challenge of making-do and getting by on as little as possible - more like the folks in the TV show "the Good Life" then it could be the right thing to do. But your description in your original post makes it sound like you fancy that option because you see it as an easy-osy. If that's the case you risk getting bored of lazing around but might find you've left it too late to follow the hard-work-pays path.

Oh, and the budget looks a bit slim. If you are going to choose that route, you need to cost out the budget in more detail - think about everything that you currently spend money on and everything you might want/need to spend money on and make sure you allocate an amount to everything. Then add some for a nest egg because that low paid job might not be around forever and in tough times, there is always a lot of competition for that sort of work. And owning a house might just count against you when it comes to govt handouts so you need to be able to take care of yourself if you find yourself out of work.