The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Turnthepage on October 29, 2015, 09:47:16 PM
-
I have gotten to the point where working for money no longer holds any appeal to me. Luckily I have enough of a stache saved up that I no longer feel I need to do that. The kicker is that I like the structure that a job provides but I don't like a lot of what else comes along with any job I have ever had. My past jobs haven't made me feel important or weren't particularly meaningful so maybe that is part of it but right now all I want is for my next job to be fun.
So my question is if you didn't have to worry about money but you still had to have a job and the only criterion you were given was that it had to be fun, what job would you pick?
I could give you a bunch of information about me and my interests but I think it would be more instructive to have a wide variety of answers. And besides this way seems more fun!
-
I completely get that.
I'm one year from FIRE and am already thinking that after a bit of a sabbatical I might want to pick up some type of low stress, part time, fun job.
"Idle hands are the devils workshop"
-
Some people can have a structured day without paid work, do you think that you'd do this or not?
Things I've thought about:
Seasonal work over summer (tours, selling ice creams)
Ice road trucking
Teaching things that I'm enthusiastic about to people keen to learn
Bartending at my proper local pub
In my working life I've found that the company style and people make more difference to the fun level than the work itself. I've both hated and loved sitting on a reception desk. Are there companies near you that friends like working for? What about your current employer?
-
It seems like most people think this is weird, but I really love being a lifeguard. It makes me really happy. I get a little bit of medical training, I get to be by/in a pool all day, I get to work with people, I get to train new employees, and sometimes teach swim lessons. It just makes me happy.
I can't wait until I can get back to it... once I have a big enough stache to not need the money from that job.
-
I'd probably do something artsy. I like working where I work now (screen printing shop), but the pay isn't enough to live on, let alone save for FIRE. My boss said a lot of people will just open a shop with their spouse, set a goal of how much sales they need to keep the lights on and make some profit, then close for the week once they make that goal. So maybe something like that?
Another thing would maybe be doing art/design commissions. Right now, I don't think I'm diligent or skilled enough to do it, and I've seen so many artists online who try to do it full time and end up begging for work because they were living a tight budget and one single emergency screwed everything up. I'd like to do it one day, and it'd be a lot more fun if I didn't need to do it to survive.
-
I would look for a job at a golf course. One that would allow me to play for free.
-
I would record music all day.
-
I really enjoy teaching dance classes. It's not a huge time commitment but a major creative outlet for me, and good socialization.
One of our FIRE dreams is to work a series of summer jobs in the national parks and living in their employee housing. We basically just want to live like broke college students again :)
-
I've also considered working at a movie theater, just for the perks of FREE MOVIES! Or I could work a few days a year at a theme park as a seasonal worker and enjoy free tickets for my family year round. Yeah I'll probably do that.
-
This is the same thing I am thinking about since I am on a sabbatical of sorts. I was considering working at a fancy grocer down the street. Either in the bakery section, beer & wine, or produce. Pay is lowish, it's PT, and close enough to bicycle. I like food and beer, so for me this would be pretty cool. However, jobs have always been more about the people I've worked with rather than solely about the job. I'd say try to think about what you're interested in and then see how you can get a job that touches on that interest.
-
work for a custom furniture maker/woodworker. wouldnt even care if i was the shop servant.
-
Well,
I plan to teach at the local tech school for my current profession and also volunteer with Junior Achievers. From what I see, they got a good thing going and need mustachian type volunteers lol.
-
Well,
I plan to teach at the local tech school for my current profession and also volunteer with Junior Achievers. From what I see, they got a good thing going and need mustachian type volunteers lol.
That's fantastic. Two of my close friends were highly active in JA when they were young and still sing its praises. Sadly, neither of my kids are the least bit interested at present.
-
I would like to work at a library, but I also recognize that the notion is like a childhood fantasy of mine, and it might get old fast. Essentially it is like customer service/retail kind of work, when I think about it.
I am a total procrastinator and would like to do freelance accounting/bookkeeping work, but I think I might have some annoyed clients if I wasn't able to resolve some of my procrastination tendencies. This is why i like to have a job and a boss and deadlines. Otherwise I would be much less productive. There are always MMM forum posts I haven't read or responded to yet, and they call my name all day long...
Working someplace for a discount would be nice! There aren't any close enough to me, but a ski resort would be fun. Or working for Amtrak or an airline for discount travel would be nice!
This isn't working for fun, but I'd also like to use some of my time in retirement to be more creative- write poetry, learn to play an instrument, maybe even combine them and write music. For my own amusement, of course. I describe my poetry as "stuff a 3rd grader would be proud of." And I've never really shown an aptitude for music, but, ya know, if I have all that time to practice, who knows what I might be able to do?!
That's what excited me most about retiring, time to try new things that are too easy to put off because of work. I'll just have to be careful not to procrastinate too much when retired...
-
I do find my current job very satisfying, but I'd like to try some other things out at a low level, both to see what they're like and to learn. Problem is, I don't want the hassle of re-education and job applications. I'd much rather just say, "Hi, anyone want an enthusiastic learner who doesn't mind being underpaid but won't put up with any bullshit?" and get a fun offer, but that seems unlikely.
However, some things I would like to try:
- Archivist (I like filing and categorising and preserving)
- Private detective (both searching through documents for clues and staking out someone's house)
- Personal shopper/wardrobe planner
- Accountant
- Gardener at a stately home
- City planner (how DO they decide where to put cycle lanes??)
- Sage motivational speaker/presentation teacher to corporate types
- Financial planner
- Proofreader (mistakes in published books ruin them for me - I would feel like a secret superhero!)
I'd love to be able to try these things out for six months or so and then quit when I felt the effort:learning wasn't worth it.
-
CPA who specializes in financial planning and estate planning - but set my own schedule/not have to hustle for clients.
(yes this is nothing like what I do now..)
-
I would try to work at a library or bookstore, maybe. Or I would try to work at a national park. Or as a tour guide. Pick your interests and follow them!
-
I would just sit on my ass and write bad books and bad music
-
For me, it would matter more that the people I work with are fun and friendly and less about what I do each day. A laid back atmosphere full of interesting and kind people.
-
I would be a writer. Lots of freelance stuff and some paid stuff. Its fun and I like it, but on top of a job it takes up too much time to write quality stuff. Without a regular job, this would an easy and fun way to make a few hundred bucks a month, or more.
-
Doggy Daycare!
-
Teaching things that I'm enthusiastic about to people keen to learn
Great fun.
In my working life I've found that the company style and people make more difference to the fun level than the work itself.
Very true. With the right people even horrible jobs can be a blast.
Making art or jewelry for sale.
Making costumes for strippers or exotic dancers. :)
Public service volunteer jobs.
-
Doggy Daycare!
Exactly what my wife does. It can be backbreaking work with all the cleaning and what not (especially if it's a place with up to 100 dogs in a day plus the overnight boarders).... but she still loves it and it's a good workout.
-
For me fun job would be working at a small quiet boutique, a bakery/cupcake shop, financial advisor (I love finances), travel planner (love planning own trips) maybe even working at a newspaper - journalism as I like to write. Pet shop worker or something involving animals. Toy/video game or food tester would be cool to. Working at a theater selling popcorn may be good to, discount snacks and movie tickets.
I would always look at which jobs offer fun unique perks to!
-
I've also considered working at a movie theater, just for the perks of FREE MOVIES! Or I could work a few days a year at a theme park as a seasonal worker and enjoy free tickets for my family year round. Yeah I'll probably do that.
Those are exactly the 2 I thought of.
-
I'd start a small bookbindery/letterpress print shop. Maybe teach some classes, have a small gallery space. This is sort of my long range plan for FIRE activity, but that's a long enough way away that it still feels like pure fantasy at this point. Sometimes I feel bad that I don't do more work like this anyway despite my full-time job, but I find full-time work very draining. When I spend time away from it (like, a week or more) the work-noise gradually disappears and my creative ideas start coming back.
Also: dog-walker, writer of strange novels, creator of podcasts.
-
Barista.
-
I would just sit on my ass and write bad books and bad music
Love this. Me too.
-
I have a coworker who owns a doggie daycare and that's what my part time gig is going to be when I FIRE, if I want to do more than that, I'd probably work at a farmers market or 2.
-
I would do something that takes me away from the computer. Sculpture or painting, photography (maybe film photography, if I could find a darkroom?), and writing longhand.
I do some of see things now, but in a few years I hope to do some or all of these things full time.
I love solitary work, but I want to create things without a computer (my job is tech based and I am tired of computers!)