money v quality of life?

JennyRowling

Quality of life for me too. It's true you need money for that, but let's be honest - we don't live to work. And giving up your health for work is a crime against yourself. Besides, you said your kids are turning into spoiled brats, it won't do them any harm to give them a bit less material things.

Many people these days should understand that if they have food, a roof over their heads, hot water in the shower and some money to spare, they have a lot. Kids should learn it from young age as well.

VestanPance

I think you need a balance of both. It's all very well saying quality of life, but you still have bills to pay and I'd imagine like most want to stay in an area you like and that often costs.

You also need time to spend on other matters, be that family or hobbies, and not have work dictate your life. I've changed jobs for lower pay so that I had more free time, but when I did that I was still walking into job in which I could life comfortably financially.

Snakey

Ten characters.

sacha28

Another one for quality of life

My partner and I are about to embark on a relocation for (hopefully) better life. We currently work opposite shifts, he Mon-Fri, me weekends and 2 days in the week. My 2 days in the week pay the £500pm for my son's monthly nursery fees, which is a bitter pill to swallow.

Currently I only get to spend decent, quality, time with my son 2 days a week, we haven't spent any time as a threesome for the past 2 years. My OH and I haven't shared a day off in all that time, we can't even marry up our annual leave as he has to take his at specific times due to his daughter visiting (she lives 400 miles away)

My OH has decided to drop his hours, doing 26 instead of 38 per week, this will be condensed into 2 consecutive shifts. I will be continuing with FT but over 3 days. This means we will be getting 2 days as a family :j

We are moving from a drug addled seaside town to a country cottage and we cannot wait to start our new life......we have been worried about our LO growing up where we currently live as there are so many problems here and we want to protect him as much as we can.

We have managed to offset the loss in OH's earnings by the fact that we won't be needing LO to go to nursery nearly FT (he will go for a morning per week just so he continues having the structure and interaction with other children. We think it will be a bit of a shock to him to just stop going all together) and we have chosen to try and be self sufficient (have a huge garden that part has been ear-marked as a veg plot ).

If anything was to happen to either my baby or my OH (god forbid) I will forever regret not spending time with them and enjoying them just so I could try and earn a few extra quid. Sure it's nice to be able to give things to my boy but time is priceless, this I have come to realise.

And as for cleaning.......me and my LO do the cleaning together. He has his own spray bottle full of water and a sponge and cleans the doors whilst I clean other things. I have the cleanest lounge door in the country He also cooks with me too, he cuts his veg whilst I cut mine, he (tries) to butter his own bread, he loves stirring the food and takes great pride in serving his own dinner. Menial tasks take on a new light when you involve your kids (although it may take a little longer lol)

sacha28

Oh and a 3 hour total commute time to work :eek: :eek: when we were looking for our new house we came over all clammy if it was longer that 20 minutes. God we have it good on that front!

pinkparrott

Thanks for all the lovely replies, I've had it confirmed by the doc today that I have a serious deficiency in b12 and I am starting vitamin b12 injections next week, and this should help my energy levels.
I'm going to do a budget and try to live for 3months on the lower salary as others had suggested and see how we get on, as part of this I will naturally cut down on alcohol and junk food ,so this should help too.I will also look at getting a cleaner for a couple of hours a fortnight,
Unfortunately I can't commute by train as too many connections would take it over 2 hours. &cost £35 a day !

I don't want to move closer to work as. I live in a lovely spa town and the schools/local area is fab and where I work is a much cheaper but not as nice.
Thanks again well let you know how I get on

sulphate

Does your OH work? If not, would she/he consider doing part time hours? To be honest when all kids have reached school age, having a stay at home parent is a luxury.

I sometimes do those kind of hours due to having to go to the city on business, I recently came to the conclusion that there is absolutely no way I would do it all the time unless I absolutely loved my job. What's the point of earning x amount of money if you don't enjoy your lifestyle and don't have much time to spend the money on what you want?

So if my OH didn't work I would be having a conversation with him about how we could change this situation.

justme111

Btw I think alcohol contributes to B12 deficiency. Sounds like you have a plan , and a good one in tackling crisis on different fronts , good luck !

FBaby

I don't want to move closer to work as. I live in a lovely spa town and the schools/local area is fab and where I work is a much cheaper but not as nice.

And this is part of quality of life. I think 'quality of life' is not, for many people, only about time. Well it isn't for me. I would be miserable if I had plenty of time, but no money to do all the things I love doing. It's also about freedom to know I can spend on something without getting sweaty hands about the effect on my bank balance. I suppose some people enjoy things that are free, but many people enjoy things that do cost money. It doesn't have to mean materialistic things either.

I really feel for you doing all that commuting whilst suffering from Vit B12 deficiency. No kidding you are feeling run down. I think there is also a link between this deficiency and depression so that wouldn't help.

Good luck reassessing your life, but remember to consider the consequences of going the other way, it is easy to focus on what you would gain and ignore the things you would lose that you might take for granted.

good_advice

The happiest people in life are the ones who have less.
Many people have lots of money, letting them go anywhare and buy anything they want.
Unfortunately these people lack time due to the long working hours to build up this wealth.
Money is useless if you do not have time to enjoy a quality of life.
No time for family, hobbies or just walking by the sea/woodlands.
it is about choice = time v freedom.