Living the Good Life - mortgage free and living in line with our values

edinburgher

I used to work just across the road from the palace, the pay was crap but a stroll along the Mall never got old!

themadvix

edinburgher said:

I used to work just across the road from the palace, the pay was crap but a stroll along the Mall never got old!

It's a lovely part of London round there - always fancy (although also nearly always full of tourists - my favourite visit there was after we'd queued for the Queen's lying in state - at 8am the Mall is pretty empty!)

themadvix

Morning all,

Prompted by conversation on Greying's diary, I thought I should perhaps elaborate on our potential plans for the next couple of years.

As regular readers will know, Mr MV has looong been unhappy with work. Partly it's the company and their unreasonable expectations/ever-changing goalposts, but partly it's that he'd like to do something more worthwhile. He's recently started a volunteering role in the countryside arena, and during the training he mentioned his desire to transition to that area. The volunteer coordinator put him in contact with another volunteer who made a similar transition. This guy mentioned the course he did and Mr MV is keen to do this (it's at a local-ish college, so not unfeasible). To get a role in the sector, some sort of qualification/experience is going to be necessary - the skills required aren't really ones he has in a professional capacity (beyond management/budget skills), although he's pretty handy and it would be a much more practical environment. 

He will keep looking and applying for new jobs over the next year, but the likelihood is he won't be offered one in the field. He may get another job in his field, but from a comment the other day, he'd still like to change sector. So the plan is that he would go to college next September for a year (full-time course). This will leave me as the main income earner 😮 He will certainly be getting some sort of part-time role (stacking shelves - Waitrose for preference 😆) to help us along. But our income is currently around £75k and will be dropping to (in a good year, assuming I'm the only earner) approx £30k. Obviously this wouldn't be an option if we had a mortgage (or children), so we are incredibly grateful that we have already paid this off (and not moved - that's likely not to happen now - obviously depending on what job Mr MV gets when he graduates*).

So to ensure that we're as well prepared as possible for the potential income shortage from September 26 (and the general income cut that will come from a non-corporate job), this next year needs to be about saving. We are already saving for the heat pump and the additional house battery** (and a German Christmas market - it's likely to be the last for a while, I'm not giving up on it!😆). Course fees are approx £6k (certainly will investigate scholarships etc., but not expecting to find anything tbh). And then we need to ensure that our savings pots are all nicely topped up, work out the minimum income we need per month (cutting all the fluff and lifestyle creep) and ensure we have savings in place as far as possible to cover this. I'm not willing to compromise on our health or my plastic-free principles too much, so food budget will remain as it is (at £250-£300/month, I don't think this is unreasonable). We do, obviously, have some cash savings already, plus S&S ISAs, so if necessary we would dip into these. But obviously it's preferable not to do so too much.

So, just a small challenge!

* Mr MV has been front-loading his pension for a long time now (and because he's been with the company so long, they are also very generous with contributions), so his plan was always to slacken off a bit on contributions at 40, so any reduction here would be OK (and he may end up with a nice DB public sector pension, you never know!).

**heat pump tends to work out at equivalent running cost to gas boiler. Addition of a second battery will allow us to mostly run the heating off cheap overnight leccy, so hopefully this will reduce running costs.

ETA: Obviously research into the course is still at an early stage, so plans may change. The college has an open day for adult learners coming up, so Mr MV will be going to that to find out more.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, exciting! 😃 I've known a lot of people who work in countryside-y jobs over the years, including one who left a factory management job to go and plant trees in the Highlands (he might not be a good example - he got sick of the disorganisation after a few years and left to work in another factory 😂 but he still does lots of conservation volunteering). He changed careers by going on lots of working holidays, then eventually helping out, then being asked to be a leader, then applying for, and getting, a job. Lots of competition though as you say, so any experience or training is a good thing! 

Sounds like you have a good plan, althoughi can see why it might feel daunting. You have the knowledge and experience to do it, what a fantastic position to be in, well done!

themadvix

Thanks Cheery!

Working holidays would be good, but I can't see that the National Trust do them anymore. Do you know of any others? Regular volunteering isn't really feasible with the burn out Mr MV suffers with from work - and he's not a people person to want to spend all his time at weekends with others. He leapt on the volunteering he's just taken up as it doesn't involve anyone else (apart from me if I want to go with him)! By the sound of it, he'll get lots of opportunities to do side courses via the college (e.g. in chainsaws and hitching tractors - who knew there was a qualification for that?!), so that should help with getting roles too.

Re switching back - as I said to Mr MV, if that happens, it happens - we don't have to stick rigidly to 'the plan'. If he hates it, he knows he can find corporate work again, but hopefully this will make him a happier and more fulfilled person. And who knows where it will lead!

TallGirl

I think it is well worth doing this as you only have one life so why not do something you really enjoy or at least not do something you find a grind and potentially makes you ill longer term. You are mortgage free it does give you that freedom and sounds like he has a good pension. I think I would rather tighten my belt in retirement but make that change now and give it a go. Sounds like it is likely to be in the charity sector just to note previous records of volunteering always goes down well for being recommended to go for certain jobs once you are in the door so to speak. As you say there is a lot of competition for those roles but sometimes the person they know gets an insider chance. 

ladybird1106

Hi, my OH works in the conservation field he’s suggested looking at rspb working holidays. He thinks they still do them, they tend to charge. At least they used to. My cousin did one in Scotland and loved it. He suggests your OH keeps volunteering as that is one thing they really look at when employing people who don’t already work in the industry. His other advice is to look at current job adverts as they will give him some indication of what they are looking for. Good luck
love 🐞

themadvix

Definitely TallGirl - it's about enjoying life rather than living for retirement. I always feel you never know what is coming, so best to enjoy the day-to-day and the here and now. 

Thanks Ladybird - that's really helpful. Looks like there are some residential volunteering opportunities with the RSPB (and I'm more than happy to go along and work too). And there's one-off opportunities listed too - watch this space, we might go and clear some ragwort later this month! The Lodge isn't far from us, and there's always RSPB jobs around, so a good possibility for work (ironic that Mr MV can only name about 15 types of bird and yet might end up working for them 🙄 I keep threatening him with bird flash cards!).

QueenJess

Wow - it sounds very exciting.  As you say, all the frugal training you've gone through will help and you've already got yourself into a good financial position by being frugal already

Cheery_Daff

The working holidays I've been on were with Trees for Life

https://treesforlife.org.uk/support/volunteer/rewilding-weeks/

And The Conservation Volunteers

tcv.org.uk

Both charge, and when I did them at least, they were very communal - cooking/eating together and even sleeping in one big dorm in some cases, but I bet there are plenty woth different choices.

But if Mr MV isn't looking for something sociable they're probably not the thing! 

Our local national park have volunteer days too, usually building a stile or repairing a footpath etc - good, useful skills.

I do have a friend who does things like dragonfly monitoring - far more solitary, and I've previously done some mapping of ancient orchards (although it was so long ago I can't even remember who it was for)