Author Topic: No job? No problem  (Read 2511 times)

enFuego

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No job? No problem
« on: June 27, 2018, 09:10:59 AM »
Not sure if this qualifies as Badassity but it feels good and I just need to share it...

DW found out a couple weeks ago that she is getting laid off.  We knew this might be coming eventually as we expected her boss to retire/semi-retire at some point in the next couple years.  But then one day he announces he's sold off most of the business and the deal is closing in two weeks.  There's some continuing work for her part time for another month but then that's it.  In reality she's probably won't be out of a job because someone involved in the sale is asking her to come interview for a position they have and we just found out that the new owner may actually want to hire her too, although that's probably not realistic because of the commute.

But the important thing is she and I talked and I told her to take her time finding something.  If the opportunity in front of her doesn't materialize then she should just take the rest of the year off.  She's been taking some classes and she could focus on that for the fall and take a breather in life to figure out what she really wants to do next.  Even if she does get one of the positions in front of her she should tell them she's taking the rest of the summer off.  She works hard in life and deserves the time to decompress and spend time with the kids.

In the grand scheme of things its not much I suppose but it sure does feel damn good to be in a position to not have any time or financial pressure to find a job.  This is the power of the MMM mentality to me.  In the past we could have done this also, but we would have been nervous and stressed regardless because we would have lacked clarity and confidence in our financial position.  I'm more focused on FIRE than DW but it was very easy to help her see how this is no big deal - we have control over our expenses, we're saving lot's, and we have a good long-term plan.  The lack of financial pressure is very liberating!

TartanTallulah

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Re: No job? No problem
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2018, 10:06:25 AM »
Not sure if this qualifies as Badassity but it feels good and I just need to share it...

DW found out a couple weeks ago that she is getting laid off.  We knew this might be coming eventually as we expected her boss to retire/semi-retire at some point in the next couple years.  But then one day he announces he's sold off most of the business and the deal is closing in two weeks.  There's some continuing work for her part time for another month but then that's it.  In reality she's probably won't be out of a job because someone involved in the sale is asking her to come interview for a position they have and we just found out that the new owner may actually want to hire her too, although that's probably not realistic because of the commute.

But the important thing is she and I talked and I told her to take her time finding something.  If the opportunity in front of her doesn't materialize then she should just take the rest of the year off.  She's been taking some classes and she could focus on that for the fall and take a breather in life to figure out what she really wants to do next.  Even if she does get one of the positions in front of her she should tell them she's taking the rest of the summer off.  She works hard in life and deserves the time to decompress and spend time with the kids.

In the grand scheme of things its not much I suppose but it sure does feel damn good to be in a position to not have any time or financial pressure to find a job.  This is the power of the MMM mentality to me.  In the past we could have done this also, but we would have been nervous and stressed regardless because we would have lacked clarity and confidence in our financial position.  I'm more focused on FIRE than DW but it was very easy to help her see how this is no big deal - we have control over our expenses, we're saving lot's, and we have a good long-term plan.  The lack of financial pressure is very liberating!

What a great position to be in.


ThatGuy

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Re: No job? No problem
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2018, 08:06:22 PM »
Some co-workers don't understand why I'm working so hard to become FI.  I tried to explain, you don't HAVE to retire if you don't want to but if something happens you're in a better position to handle it.

enFuego

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Re: No job? No problem
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2018, 08:53:24 PM »
@TartanTallulah, @ThatGuy - I see a lot of people in my life who are not happy due to a sense of lacking control over their life situation. Often the main areas of frustration are personal finances and career limitations which they could control but don't due to poor choices, avoidance, or just blindly following the herd. But they never see the cause and effect relationship. We're not doing anything mystical here. Just owning our life choices and living and spending deliberately (and we have lots of room for improvement). And that small difference is what matters. Heck, DW hasn't fully bought into the RE part yet - she's very frugal but not fully on board with the math yet. But she's seeing the light a little with this and with how she wants to spend her time in a few years when the nest is empty.