Living the dream..

[propellerhead]

My near term plan is to downsize. Basically, give up the 9-5 lifestyle and be a bartender at a resort in Mexico or refill air tanks at the dive shop. I've managed to stay out of debt so once I sell my house, cars, furniture, appliances, etc., I will have no financial obligations other than my cell phone and auto insurance. So my expenses will be very minimal. The equity in my house and after selling all the material shit I own, I'll be able to live in a simple small apartment, in a resort town, and work 3 days out of the week. The rest of the days, I'll be diving or something. My funds should easily take me to 65 or whatever the age is to start drawing off my 401k.

I've talked to other people who have done this. My gf's uncle is living in Hawaii, renting out cars to tourists. His wife is a part time realtor. They used to be software engineers in San Diego CA, both making six digits. The trick is to be willing to give up what you have now and go small. Go simple. Remember how simple life was when you were an E-3 in the Army?

You still have small kids so I don't know if this will work for you. My son is grown and on his own.

[SMKR]

I would like to be a park ranger or a game warden or something like that, preferably in the Rockies. My favorite place is in nature, although I have spent my entire adult life dealing with people for a living (sales). I would be willing to take a paycut, but I'm pretty sure I would need a 4-year degree, experience in something related, and probably some kind of connections to keep from ending up in some shitty place like Kansas. .

my aunt and uncle are head park rangers at Yosemite- they have been doing it for 28 years now and absolutely love it. They dont make alot, but get free use of a vehicle, free place to live, free food, and get to work in that environment daily.

[SEB]

I know I made a huge change in my life about 3 years ago & said to hell with working for the man. I went in to business for myself & to be honest! I love it. Im not making great money, But every year has got better from the year before.

I know I went through a bad depression for 6 months when I was at this dead end in my life. I knew I just didnt have what it took to work for a company. The companys these days work the dogshit out of you & treat you like shit. But I was broke & sitting on the couch everyday feeling sorry for myself wasnt going to change anything. Then one day while working in my gf's yard & cleaning it up & landscaping the front & back yard. I stood back & looked at the yard & felt good about myself & the work that was done. That is when my gf said. Have you ever thought about starting your own landscaping business. I said no not really. I dont have the equipment to know where to start let alone the money. She said well take my lawn mower & weedeater & lets make some business cards & go walk the neighborhood & pass them out. I had 10 customers by the end of the week. I started at 8:00 am & was off before noon with only 2 yards each day. $40 per yard & 2 yards I was making $80 a day tax free. The first year was hard though! Its not easy being in business for yourself. You are the salesmen & guy who does the yard work & maintains the equipment.

Well 3 years later I already have 3 yards that are over a acre & pay $80 each yard on top of my neighborhood yards. My goal is to get a helper & me run the Scag mower while the helper runs the self Propelled mower around the culverts & sidewalks. I hope to just do the big yards in Rockwall & Heath area's. But my Scag mower used is going to cost right at $8000 used, So im selling my daily driver & using my tax return to get more equipment. But yeah I feel like im living the American Dream now!

[0 GT 2]

I went from sales/banking to starting my own business and it's a blast. I enjoy going to work every day and when I get done I can't wait to go back and get back at it.

When I first became self employed it was odd not earning a wage for hours worked. Once I started embracing that I realized that I am not confined by a dollar amount and there is now a direct correlation between the amount of work I put in, the value I can bring to the market and in turn the income I can generate.

[Big A]

I was right where you're at Craig, and I was lucky enough to take that big leap before my not-so-great paying job was farmed off to Mexico. To be honest the first 6 months were rocky and downright depressing at times as I was in a new state, no friends or family to lean on, and I honestly didn't think I was gonna make it. Having to come home as a "failure" was a mojor concern.

Fast forward to today and I live in a beautiful city, new friends are finding their way into my life, and my future career-wise coulnd't be brighter. It's not what I'd call my dream job, but the money's good, I get to work with people, which I enjoy (sales), and I get to see a part of the country that I'd never really been able to enjoy before.

Continue to look for that opportunity and keep your mind open, you might come across something that you'd never even considered before.

[talisman]

My near term plan is to downsize. Basically, give up the 9-5 lifestyle and be a bartender at a resort in Mexico or refill air tanks at the dive shop. I've managed to stay out of debt so once I sell my house, cars, furniture, appliances, etc., I will have no financial obligations other than my cell phone and auto insurance. So my expenses will be very minimal. The equity in my house and after selling all the material shit I own, I'll be able to live in a simple small apartment, in a resort town, and work 3 days out of the week. The rest of the days, I'll be diving or something. My funds should easily take me to 65 or whatever the age is to start drawing off my 401k.

I've talked to other people who have done this. My gf's uncle is living in Hawaii, renting out cars to tourists. His wife is a part time realtor. They used to be software engineers in San Diego CA, both making six digits. The trick is to be willing to give up what you have now and go small. Go simple. Remember how simple life was when you were an E-3 in the Army?

You still have small kids so I don't know if this will work for you. My son is grown and on his own.

Awesome post. Best of luck.

[snacksnack]

I know I made a huge change in my life about 3 years ago & said to hell with working for the man. I went in to business for myself & to be honest! I love it. Im not making great money, But every year has got better from the year before.

I know I went through a bad depression for 6 months when I was at this dead end in my life. I knew I just didnt have what it took to work for a company. The companys these days work the dogshit out of you & treat you like shit. But I was broke & sitting on the couch everyday feeling sorry for myself wasnt going to change anything. Then one day while working in my gf's yard & cleaning it up & landscaping the front & back yard. I stood back & looked at the yard & felt good about myself & the work that was done. That is when my gf said. Have you ever thought about starting your own landscaping business. I said no not really. I dont have the equipment to know where to start let alone the money. She said well take my lawn mower & weedeater & lets make some business cards & go walk the neighborhood & pass them out. I had 10 customers by the end of the week. I started at 8:00 am & was off before noon with only 2 yards each day. $40 per yard & 2 yards I was making $80 a day tax free. The first year was hard though! Its not easy being in business for yourself. You are the salesmen & guy who does the yard work & maintains the equipment.

Well 3 years later I already have 3 yards that are over a acre & pay $80 each yard on top of my neighborhood yards. My goal is to get a helper & me run the Scag mower while the helper runs the self Propelled mower around the culverts & sidewalks. I hope to just do the big yards in Rockwall & Heath area's. But my Scag mower used is going to cost right at $8000 used, So im selling my daily driver & using my tax return to get more equipment. But yeah I feel like im living the American Dream now!

almost the same boat as you, this will be my 3rd year and as every year I cant wait for spring to get here! I do however work full time from 3 in the afternoon till midnight but I still get up everyday 7 and get to mowing.

I enjoy this work and hope to be have an employee or 2 full time before i make the fulltime plunge myself.

[SEB]

almost the same boat as you, this will be my 3rd year and as every year I cant wait for spring to get here! I do however work full time from 3 in the afternoon till midnight but I still get up everyday 7 and get to mowing.

I enjoy this work and hope to be have an employee or 2 full time before i make the fulltime plunge myself.

Yeah im pretty dead right now! I want to invest in a commercial Leaf Vaccum for next season so I can work all year round mowing & bagging leafs. There is good money in bagging leafs & you can charge as much if not more as you would charge to mow.

I dont think I could work a part time job during mowing season. I wish I had the energy to work a job, Cause I need the money to get more equipment. But good commercial lawn equipment is expensive & with my business being so new. Its tough to save up for the next piece of equipment for the business. But once I get my Scag Zero turn mower. I should be in the money. Going to do some volunteer work for the churchs & Helping Hands & hope that will get me some business. Then I wont have to work with the self propelled mowers & be able to sit & ride & pay a helper to run the self propelled mower.

I cant wait for spring time to get here so I can drop this 20lbs I gained over the holidays LOL

[89stangGT]

So I know a bunch of people here have been hit by the economy. Fired, laid off, company closed, etc. My question is how many of you have taken this opportunity to change their direction in life to follow your dreams?

I was laid off 2 years ago this month after 10 years with that employer. When I started out in that role I was simply working to live and support my family but more or less stumbled into my career path. Since then little thought has gone towards what I want to do vs. what I Must do to survive. So now I find myself somewhat stuck doing what I'm doing because I need a job to survive.

Lately I have been thinking more and more about getting in to something I really enjoy, the trouble is 1. Figuring out what I really would like to do and 2. stepping back once again to start down that road.

So I need some motivation. Do any of you guys have a success story to share?

I'm in about that situation, though I wasn't laid off. I went through a divorce before getting into a career in my degree field, and then this past year had some unfortunate circumstances arise and now I'm still stuck in a job that I don't want, but must keep till I can figure out what to do., and it barely pays my bills.
What sucks is I doubt I can ever find a career in my degree field now.

[MattB]

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/poker-beats-brags-variance/brag-how-degen-take-swings-like-man-948658/

$200 --> $6500 in a day ezgame

same as $2000 --> $65000 amirite? ez profit to start biz

/thread

[krazy kris]

been out of work since Sept. of 2007 due to a big injury, and now I have all the tools for the job I want I just need the experience.

pro angler

[89stangGT]

red dragons

okay dude, I have to ask.

Why did you make a screen name "jasone"? Then of course go on with the "red dragons" and such. You're not Jason Ellis. Am I the first person that caught on to this?

[jdgregory84]

no shit right.,

<----damnittsteve

Trash men don't even touch the goddamned trash in my neighborhood. The truck does all the work and some dude just lines up the arm to pick up the bin. Easy breezey.

[DoesSpeedTurnUon]

My contract ends in about 2 weeks.... I hoping something turns up before then, I do have some irons in the fire though.

I wouldn't say no to a complete career change though.

[jdgregory84]

On a more serious note, if this new DWI legislation passes on 1st time offenders being able to do deffered adjudication, I would love to pursue a career in law enforcement. Notice that I don't really ever say FTP? (I did have a disagreement with SS Junk about how a cop acted towards a German guy) I think being a cop would be cool. Minus the misdemeanors that I have, I really do have a great respect for the law and what they do on a day to day basis. I've looked in to being a cop, and unfortunately you can't have a DWI in a lot of cases within the past 10 years. I'm not sure if deferred adj. will apply in that profession, but it gives me a little hope. Even though I think that my DWI was B.S. in a way, I still don't blame the cop for doing his job. He showed me nothing but respect as I did him, and even had a few laughs with him on the way to the jail. Sadly enough, I think that experience really showed me what being an enforcer of the law was about.