Not really FU money, like most people here think, but back when I was in college I drove a tow-truck for income. I was working 40-60 hours a week, and taking 18 credit hours during the day. I drove a $550 beater, that I paid for in cash, and had access to the tools and people who knew cars to keep it running for cheap.
Driving the tow-truck didn't pay "well," but my expenses were minimal. I was renting a room out of someone's house, and didn't have time to do anything that cost money. I was taking home $400-$500 a week, and my monthly expenses were under $600. The rest was just piling up in my checking account. I had around $8,000 when I finally reached my breaking point.
I worked a 40 hour shift one weekend, sleeping for a couple hours in a motor-home on the lot before getting back on the road. I was exhausted. It was too much. I was driving on too little sleep and it was unsafe. I was going to kill myself or someone else at the rate I was going.
I went to the owner and told him that I couldn't work like this. I was willing to continue Friday nights and Saturday nights, but 10 hours each and not the 16 hour shifts currently scheduled. And, I wasn't going to do any other evening coverage. "I can't do that. I need you on call every night and I need you working 6pm to 10am on the weekend."
"Look," I said, "You can have me for the 20 hours a week, or zero hours a week. Those are the only two options."
"You can't dictate your hours to me!"
"No, but I can quit. Here are the keys to the truck. Maybe I'll see you around." And, I just walked out and drove home. I figured that I had enough in savings to last me nearly a year, but I would also easily find another job that fit my needs and paid my minimal bills. At that moment in my life, $8,000 was FU money.
As for my boss? He called my mom and told on me! LOL, no joke. He went to the same church as my mom, and I think he thought that he could get her to tell me to go back and apologize and work for him again. I don't know exactly what my mom said, but she told me that she told him I was an adult who could make my own decisions.