Author Topic: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?  (Read 9441 times)

rob in cal

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  With all the dual income households out there in MMM land cranking out enormous amounts of income to be saved and invested, I'd like to see just how many hours people are working.
In our household I'm at about 31 per week, my wife at 6, college age daughter at about 15-20.

MrMoneySaver

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2018, 05:11:15 PM »
Probably 80 to 90 total -- myself plus wife.

TheWifeHalf

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2018, 05:22:56 PM »
Just TheHusbandHalf, probably averages 45/wk

Thegoblinchief

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2018, 05:25:34 PM »
My wife is salary, manger of a QC lab, so hours can vary quite a bit but generally I’d say 45-50/week. I’m a SAHD so no wage hours for me.

hadabeardonce

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2018, 05:26:33 PM »
His 40hrs + 25min(x2) daily commute each way
Hers 40hrs + 45min(x2) daily commute each way

He works 8:30am-5pm M-F with lots of Holidays, VAC, PL, and Sick leave.
She works a variable shedule, sometimes weekends with few holidays, but some PTO.

Neither of us are into the side hustle stuff. Our daily grinds and efforts to be self-sufficient/efficient at home are good enough. I get OT opportunities, but always turn it down. My time is worth more than their money.

inline five

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2018, 05:38:04 PM »
I prefer to look at it as days worked, because to me that is what matters. For most people they'll spend a majority of their time either at work, commuting, or getting ready for work or winding down. By the time all is said and done, they may have two or three hours a day of free time

Five days a week by 49 weeks a year is 245 days "on" for most folks with three weeks vacation.

I worked about 120 days in total last year but to be fair a good portion (maybe 30) were days where I got back home around 9-10am. So while it was a day of work, I also had the rest of the day left. Note, while I didn't work the other days, for about another 80 days a year I was on a 12 hour callout time period so I had the potential to work; this precludes me from planning long extended vacations.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 05:39:56 PM by inline five »

wordnerd

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2018, 05:42:05 PM »
80 hrs, evenly split between us. Plus too much commuting.

BlueMR2

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2018, 05:43:11 PM »
45 for me, down to just 1 full time job at this time.  20 for her, she finally scored a job again, but it's only part time.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2018, 05:48:00 PM »
About 140 between the two of us, plus about 15 hours of commute time.

big_slacker

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2018, 06:02:00 PM »
Probably 45/wk at the day job, another 5-10 on the side gig.
My wife about 30

So 80-85

aceyou

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2018, 06:16:30 PM »
About 140 between the two of us, plus about 15 hours of commute time.

I sure hope you're on an fi in five years or less plan?!!

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2018, 07:01:15 PM »
About 140 between the two of us, plus about 15 hours of commute time.

I sure hope you're on an fi in five years or less plan?!!

Two years to pay off student loans at least.  ~$91k balance.  We’re hardly true mustachians though we espouse frugality in a lot of ways. Looking to accumulate a net worth of around $10million and retire at 55-60 whilst living in a castle.


SC93

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2018, 09:42:49 PM »
She works an average of about 30 hours per week. She would work more if I didn't complain that she works too much. She works at a museum and she loves that type of thing so to her, it isn't work, she gets paid to have fun. That doesn't include the trips they send her on... but going to Paris for 4 days and working 2 hours just can't be counted as work.

I actually work 10-12 hours a week. The thing is, I work 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there a lot of times. People will come to buy a washer & dryer.... 5-10 minutes... $350-$700 later... and I am done. But days like tomorrow (Saturday) I will work 3 hours for the same pay. That is what I like about this business, it splits up my day in to several small time slots.

soccerluvof4

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2018, 03:15:59 AM »
About 140 between the two of us, plus about 15 hours of commute time.

I sure hope you're on an fi in five years or less plan?!!

Two years to pay off student loans at least.  ~$91k balance.  We’re hardly true mustachians though we espouse frugality in a lot of ways. Looking to accumulate a net worth of around $10million and retire at 55-60 whilst living in a castle.



Thats crazy! hope you guys dont burn out, keep a tab on your health and find some time to smell the roses!

Trifle

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2018, 03:59:26 AM »
Me -- 45 hours a week.
DH is SAHD.

This is working well for us right now.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2018, 04:18:38 AM »
88 hours for us DINKS.

This does not include about 10-15 hours of commute time per week between the two of us.

EmFrugal

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2018, 06:03:33 AM »
40-60 for DH depending on busy/slow periods and about 8 hours commuting via mass transit.

I am a SAHM mostly (and very frugal) but spend about 6 hours p/wk on a side business that brings in several thousand extra p/yr.

ketchup

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2018, 06:56:29 AM »
40 for me.  0-100 for GF depending on what week it is and how you measure it.

I commute about 25 minutes each way (driving).  She travels a lot for work (self-employed), usually by plane, sometimes by car.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2018, 08:06:37 AM »
About 140 between the two of us, plus about 15 hours of commute time.

I sure hope you're on an fi in five years or less plan?!!

Two years to pay off student loans at least.  ~$91k balance.  We’re hardly true mustachians though we espouse frugality in a lot of ways. Looking to accumulate a net worth of around $10million and retire at 55-60 whilst living in a castle.




Thats crazy! hope you guys dont burn out, keep a tab on your health and find some time to smell the roses!
Thanks.

It’ll drop noticeably this year because we have a baby on the way. Virtually all of the commute time is mine, and it’s more expensive because I pay high toll bridges each way to work. (Yay New York!).  I’m looking for a job that will cut my commute but I’m not interested in taking a $100k pay cut to do so.

In the spirit of smelling the roses, we took week long trips to Europe and Asia in 2017.  Previously we took no vacations at all and the total work hours were actually higher.  Once the student loan debt is slain, we’ll probably be more comfortable, and my wife’s income should double or triple by then.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2018, 08:12:35 AM by MrUpwardlyMobile »

NikiD

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2018, 11:15:10 AM »
Me - 45-50 hours/week - 10 minute commute each way.
DH - 50+ and a 40 minute commute each way.  His is harder to quantify because he co-owns/manages a trucking company so he takes calls 24/7 and works from home most mornings before dropping the kiddos off at school and driving to work.  His day just depends on how busy they are and if there are any fires to put out.

abhe8

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #20 on: January 13, 2018, 11:49:39 AM »
I work 205 days a year, avg 40 hours a week. 830 -  430 Mon to fri. It fluctuates between 35 and 50, but the 50 hr weeks are maybe 6 a year. I also have an hour lunch most days, and I use it to run errands or meet friends about 3 days a week. I think it's about the easiest "full time" schedule I could have. Dh is a sahd and homeschools the kids and keeps up with our small farm. Someday we plan for his farm work to produce income but for now, it's just eggs, fruits and veggies onto our table.

ETA: 25 min commute each way, into and out of town. But the kids activities, church, grocery, library are all < 10 mins from my job, and in-between my job and home.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2018, 11:53:41 AM by abhe8 »

Gin1984

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #21 on: January 13, 2018, 11:53:39 AM »
My wife is salary, manger of a QC lab, so hours can vary quite a bit but generally I’d say 45-50/week. I’m a SAHD so no wage hours for me.
Can I ask how she got started, and her path?  That is the job I want.

Dr. Pepper

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #22 on: January 13, 2018, 12:03:16 PM »
Me- about 60/week on avg, sometimes more depends on how frequently I get called in.
Wife -about 40/week avg over 4 weeks.

Zikoris

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #23 on: January 13, 2018, 01:00:04 PM »
We each work exactly 38 hours a week. It's an odd number, but somehow the standard at our company.

golden1

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #24 on: January 13, 2018, 02:14:21 PM »
Me and DH work about 45-50 hours a week each.   I have a 40 minute commute, his is around 10 minutes.  He works from home at night since he deals with China a lot and has to take late night calls.  My plan is to hopefully scale down to 10-20 hours a week of a lower stress job once I hit 50-55, but that depends on how my husbands business goes. 

ditheca

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #25 on: January 13, 2018, 03:33:06 PM »
40-45 hours for me, depending on if I ignore my scheduled lunch break.  No commute.

DW works 3-4 hours a week as a chemistry tutor.

We have three elementary age kids, two with special needs, and she is also making consistent progress towards a degree.  She works way harder than me, but it isn't paid employment.

Raenia

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #26 on: January 14, 2018, 09:34:51 AM »
Me - 40hrs worked + 2.5hrs unpaid lunch + 2.5hrs travel = 45hrs
Fiance - 40hrs worked (incl paid lunch) + 7.5hrs travel = 47.5hrs

That's for a combined gross income of just barely 100k.

Imma

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #27 on: January 14, 2018, 09:55:19 AM »
Together, we work about 50 hours/week for our employers, depending on how much overtime we work. Fiance also works about 10-30 hours a week in his own business. I do almost all the domestic chores, but I only work 20-25 hours outside of the home because I have a chronic illness.

kanga1622

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #28 on: January 14, 2018, 10:50:57 AM »
DH and I each have 40 hr week jobs plus DH has a side gig that takes about 5-6 hrs a month. Couple of those side gig hrs are on his lunch break from his full time job so not too taxing.

Add in another 45ish minutes a day dropping kids off to school or Daycare and the return trips to pick them up. Thank goodness we live in a relatively small town and don’t have to commute. If we start using school bus service next year, we cut down our shuttle time to about 20 minutes a day.

Linea_Norway

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #29 on: January 14, 2018, 11:40:24 AM »
37,5 for me and 40 for DH. That is full time for both of us.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2018, 02:04:17 AM by Linda_Norway »

clarkfan1979

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #30 on: January 14, 2018, 11:27:02 PM »
I work about 20 hours/week, based on a 52 week/year. However, I took 12 weeks of family leave this year, so it averages out to be about 13 hours/week.

My wife currently works about 8 hours/week.

Julard

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #31 on: January 15, 2018, 02:49:28 AM »
I'm currently working part time so 21.75 + 6 hours commute. I was working full time last year so 36.25 + 10 hours commute, which was a hard ask as a single parent.

I'm not really working enough right now (in a long term sense), but not hurrying to look for more either. Still getting my energy back.

skip207

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #32 on: January 15, 2018, 03:09:51 AM »
On average over the year its about 55 hours a week for me.
Wife on average over the year is about 30 hours per week.

I do on rare occasions hit about 90 hours a week but that's usually a once or twice a year situation.

Apples

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #33 on: January 15, 2018, 08:56:04 AM »
Me:  50 hours average
DH:  45-55 hours average, depends on time of year, plus 6 hours of commuting
Total:  95-100 hours

We have friends who both work around 40 to mayyybe 45 hours a week.  They get all these projects done around the house and always have time to clean.  I have to remind myself that we work more hours.  And that really cuts into our time to do other things.

LB4eva

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #34 on: January 15, 2018, 09:57:51 AM »
I’m surprised by the numbers I’m seeing. I guess I thought because of all the high salaried people on this forum you all would be working like 60+ hours a week or something. It’s kind of hard for me to calculate for my husband since he works 6 days on, 3 days off (12 hour shifts). He’s at about 60-72 hours/week.  I work 40, so combined we work about 100-112 hours weekly.

BFGirl

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #35 on: January 15, 2018, 10:37:36 AM »
40 hrs plus about 8 commuting for me.  It's me and my two kids going to college.

MrUpwardlyMobile

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #36 on: January 15, 2018, 02:19:19 PM »
I’m surprised by the numbers I’m seeing. I guess I thought because of all the high salaried people on this forum you all would be working like 60+ hours a week or something. It’s kind of hard for me to calculate for my husband since he works 6 days on, 3 days off (12 hour shifts). He’s at about 60-72 hours/week.  I work 40, so combined we work about 100-112 hours weekly.
yeah i’m Actually flabbergasted how little people work.

lexde

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #37 on: January 15, 2018, 06:14:52 PM »
It's hard to say because my SO travels 50% of the time, so I don't know what would count as "work" and if travel time is included in that.

Just me -- 45-60/wk
Him -- ~40 if not counting travel to/from, ~45 if so (Gov't is best boss ever.)

Total: 85-105.

aperture

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #38 on: January 15, 2018, 06:26:15 PM »
Me 40 hours +10 minute bike commute (when I don't need the car during the day)
DW 25 hours +15 minute car commute.

MM_MG

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #39 on: January 15, 2018, 09:27:46 PM »
Her:  <25 hours per week
Him: 35-80+ hours per week with the ability to work from home/on the road often

Less than 15 min commute for both.

Take about 4-5 weeks off per year.

We work hard, but play hard too.   

jim555

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #40 on: January 15, 2018, 09:31:08 PM »
0 hours.

And if your train's on time, you can get to work by nine
And start your slaving job to get your pay
If you ever get annoyed, look at me I'm self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day  --BTO

Lanthiriel

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #41 on: January 15, 2018, 10:24:25 PM »
Me: 40 to 45 hours/week
Him: 40-60 hours, probably averaging about 45

I have a negligible commute time and the husband works in the field so he usually gets paid to drive.

Zikoris

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #42 on: January 15, 2018, 10:46:16 PM »
I’m surprised by the numbers I’m seeing. I guess I thought because of all the high salaried people on this forum you all would be working like 60+ hours a week or something. It’s kind of hard for me to calculate for my husband since he works 6 days on, 3 days off (12 hour shifts). He’s at about 60-72 hours/week.  I work 40, so combined we work about 100-112 hours weekly.
yeah i’m Actually flabbergasted how little people work.

For what it's worth, there are a chunk of people here who don't make huge salaries, but focus hard on the expenses/badassity side of the equation and maintain high savings rate that way instead.

ulzxhi

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #43 on: January 16, 2018, 06:17:38 AM »
60 to 90 a week. My base is 28 hours a week but that OT is a pretty sweet deal to stash more cash. I just started a new position so we'll see if we're as chronically short as at my old one. Once I have enough to FIRE I plan on me-time forever.

Travis

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #44 on: January 16, 2018, 09:53:58 AM »
Me: 45 hours a week working plus 10 hours a week commuting (10 mins driving, 5-10 mins standing around, 30 mins on light rail)
DW: 30 hours a week working, no commute (works from home).

This is one of my lighter workload assignments.  In my last job I was up to 60 hours a week, 3.5 hours commuting, and one week a month in overseas travel.

CheapScholar

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #45 on: January 16, 2018, 10:13:31 AM »
Should this number include hours I'm physically in the office but not doing anything work related?  Makes a big difference. 

Prairie Stash

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #46 on: January 16, 2018, 10:46:58 AM »
I work about 1800 hours/year, my wife is 1050. I subtracted all vacation, holidays etc. My work week is usually 44 hours/week when I'm not on holidays, she works 24/week. At one point I use to put in 400 hours extra/year over full time, I've pared that back as my stash got larger....

Very few actually work an average of 40 hours/week, that's the median amount. Even a measly 2 weeks vacation, some statutory holidays and presto your average is down to 38.

Median - the most common amounts of hours you work in a week
Average - all the hours worked in a year/52


Slow&Steady

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #47 on: January 16, 2018, 10:50:14 AM »
Me: 40 hours a week (+45 min each way commute)
Him: 15-20 hours a week (commute can vary 15-90 min each way)

That said I get 3 weeks of vacation, 9 holidays, and 3 personal/floating holidays a year.  I am sure that makes the average hours/week decrease for the year.

FireHiker

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #48 on: January 16, 2018, 10:56:47 AM »
40 hours for each of us, so 80 total. I refuse to work OT since I'm salaried and it isn't required. We live 2 miles from work and commute together (yes, we should walk or bike...but we do errands at lunch/run home to have lunch and do chores/etc and then have the mad scramble after work with kids and such).

We get 10 holidays and 29 vacation days per year. So, that decreases our weekly average to about 34 hours each per week. And it still feels like way too many hours!

Splashncash

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Re: how many hours per week does your household work in paid employment?
« Reply #49 on: January 30, 2018, 10:51:45 PM »
Another low average here.

Me: 30 hours per week, work from home, 6.5 weeks vacation, 10 holidays so my average is lower than 30.
DH: 0, he REd in September.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!