Random Thoughts from my First day of Forced Freedom |
18 Comments |
For those who haven’t read, yesterday I was asked to resign from my day job. Today is the first day being “job free”, even if it wasn’t exactly by choice.
I’m a lot happier than I thought I’d be. In fact, I’ve never felt so free. This could fade or get old, but right now, it’s new and exciting. My wife is concerned that I’m not crying in the corner. I can’t understand how crying in a corner would be a good thing. Fill in your own life and lemonade quote here.
My wife joked that I could be a stay at home dad. I reminded her that we don’t have kids. She said we could adopt one. That doesn’t strike me as the best reason to adopt, but it was a fun exchange nonetheless.
Our kitchen has never been so clean. My wife’s coffee is already ready for tomorrow.
Tap water with ice is the new Diet Coke.
The 18 things that I wanted to do with Lazy Man and Money should be down to about 3 by the middle of the week.
Rather than fill the dishwasher up completely with a few big pots, I’ll clean them with elbow grease. That seems like a money savings - even if it’s just a couple of pennies.
If I wear these clothes for 3 days without washing them how much money do I save. I’m kidding…
We have VCR tapes in a bookcase in the living room. I haven’t hooked up the VCR since we moved here a year ago. Maybe it’s time to purge things a bit.
I deliberately have avoided Monster.com today. It’s been calling me a bit, but I feel like I need one day to decompress and get other things in my life that have been piling up done.
I’m heading to Wal-Mart in a few minutes to stock up on quite a few things.
I’m excited that I paid off my HELOC a couple of days ago. That’s interest that I don’t have to pay back each month.
This post deals with: ... and focuses on:Financial Freedom
 Stumble
 Reddit
 Digg
 Del.icio.us
 Propeller18 Responses to “Random Thoughts from my First day of Forced Freedom”
Leave a Reply
Previous: Yesterday I Resigned. Will I Ever “Work” Again?Next: Would you live in a Lazy Man designed community?
October 16th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Sorry to hear about the job loss too. My small suggestion, shell out some money and sign up for job search site like http://www.theladders.com or execunet.com, instead of using monster.com. Those are the two that I have known people that get a good job from. Just a thought.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:30 am
Okay, I’m cool with the job thing, but giving up Diet Coke? What are you, crazy?
(Deciding if I want another Diet Cherry Coke…)
October 14th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
A similar thing happened to me back in 2004 when the owner of the radio station I worked for decided my services were no longer required. Fortunately I had already made plans and was about to pull the pin anyway. His decision just made my move all the better. In fact it turned out to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. I went from being trapped in a go-nowhere job to becoming a business owner within 12 months. I increased my income by 25% within 2 weeks of leaving. Then I bought the company I went to work for (an ad agency). Now just 3 year on my income is 400% more than when I was at the radio station and my agency turnover exceeds that of the station that fired my. Best of all…I get to decide where to place the advertising and my ex-employer doesn’t get it.
One last sweet bit of justice. I sued my former employer for wrongful dismissal and used the payout he was forced to give me to buy the agency. It truly was the best thing that could have happened.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Sorry to hear about the job loss. You have a great attitude about it, though! I hope you find another soon, or blog full-time
October 12th, 2007 at 11:07 am
You may find that you like it better away from the daily drudge. Wish you the best!
October 12th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Enjoy it while you can. Some jobs just weren’t meant to be. I’m in the middle of a move myself from a team that at first looked really good, but come to find out has some serious morale, procedural, and interpersonal problems. Technically, they’re a crack team, but otherwise,…
Additionally I’m the 3rd to leave this week, and 5th this month (so far). They’re having a hard time finding qualified people, since they also don’t pay going rate.
I’m betting once you get back from your trip (hint, hint) you’ll be in a great frame of mind to pursue a new and better position, if you don’t decide to just do that whole blog-for-a-living thing.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:07 am
You make an interesting point in passing about the HELOC, and it’s really worth expanding on - you probably had no need to take care of it ahead of time, but now that decision is paying off. I had a HELOC too, but we paid it off rapidly (less than 2 years) because I said I’d rather pay it while I have the money, because who knows what might happen tomorrow. So if your biggest expense is your rent and that’s manageable you’re in good shape.
And like dong said, who knows - maybe it’s a real opportunity to do something different for a while…
October 12th, 2007 at 12:44 am
I took the decision to move on from a job (ahead of my schedule for quitting) a month ago - and for the first fortnight I went through the spectrum of emotion, from elation at the freedom and at having taken action, right through to 5am panic about whether I’d ever find employment again, despite being highly skilled and experienced.
Four weeks on, those feelings have levelled out, and I’m finding a new level of trust in myself and in the future that I’d never have discovered sitting there, day after day in the job, dreaming my dreams of progress but not actually doing anything about it.
Worrying about the situation only adds to your woes - be positive and you’ll enjoy this period more than you ever imagined - and remember that we’re all with you!