This week marks a year since I left my last job. It's been a strange year, getting used to not working and earning any money, but equally it's been a relaxed one, without the stress of work. I haven't had to put up with anyone shouting at me in front of customers, micro managing me, requiring me to do stupid marketing tasks that I hate and generally dumping work onto me so they can take it easy. Seems like a fair swap when I think about it.
I have applied for the odd job, but with no success, and in all honesty, I'm not really interested in going back into the workplace, especially not one in which they don't value older workers and view/treat them as a liability.
Don't get me wrong, I miss earning money and have had to really curtail my spending in order to get by each month, but this is probably a good thing, as I think when I do have spare money, I spend it on stupid things that I don't really need. Being on a limited budget does focus your mind and help you identify what is actually necessary and important for a happy life.
I've managed okay financially in the last year, which is a good thing, but I've had to be very disciplined and organised in terms of putting money aside every month for Xmas/birthdays, my niece's wedding present in a this week and another niece's 21st the same week. This has left me with very little cash, over and above what I need for groceries, gym membership, insurance and charitable donations, etc. I've had to very much live within my means, which can be a challenge, but once you get into the swing of it, the desire to spend money does actually dissipate and you realise that much of the spending you once did was actually just habitual or out of boredom.
Going forward, a couple of small pensions should hopefully start to be paid to me in the next couple of months, plus I will be applying for a free 60+ travel card here in London, which should make it cheaper to get out and about. I won't say that I'll never work again, as who can see what the future holds, but if I do manage to get a job or find a way to earn money, I don't want to find myself in the same toxic situations that I found myself in in my last few employments.
If I'm going to continue not to work, I do need to rearrange my finances a little and create a slush fund for expenses, such as occasional one off necessary purchases, dental/optical costs, days out, etc. but this is easy enough to do using some of my savings, so that I don't have to put certain things off or not be able to enjoy doing things with LB or OH when I have the chance. I don't have any more expensive gifts to save for from here on in, so that will free up a bit of cash each month from the end of the year.
I guess, I could be described as having 'retired early' and as such, you are supposed to start spending your savings, that is the whole point of saving up for retirement. None of us know how long we've got and I want to enjoy however much time I do have. I learned early in life, when my mum passed away, two years after taking voluntary redundancy at the age of 57 and was unable to enjoy her retirement and spend her long service payment, that nothing is guaranteed. I intend to enjoy my freedom while I can, even if it just means bumbling about at home, going to the gym and gardening, as it certainly beats being subjected to other peoples rules and toxic behaviour in the workplace.
If circumstances merit me getting a job, I will, of course, try to do so, but if I can manage I will probably continue in the same vein. One good thing about having this time, is that I am slowly getting around to sorting through lots of old paperwork and destroying that which I no longer need, thus freeing up space in the house. It is also ridding my home of the toxic habits and memories from the past. I enjoyed some jobs I did, whilst they were going well, but sadly by the time I left most of them, my enjoyment of them was deteriorating.
It wasn't really my life plan to retire early, but I seem to have slipped into it, and with AI, heavier and heavier workloads and the corporate push for profit above everything, including staff welfare, I don't regret exiting the workforce a little early. In fact, it does make me realise that I wasn't really very suited to most workplaces, nor good at fitting into and conforming to workplace cultures. I didn't really ever find a job that I continued to enjoy over the long term, as I think the longest I stayed at any job was 5 years. It does make me feel like a bit of a failure in some respects, but I can live with it. At least I've have quite a bit of variety, both in terms of work and experience in my working life, which is character building stuff.
I'll keep you posted if anything changes in this regard.
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