Burn Out-Finances Longest intro in History?

[MichaelB]

Nice update! What a transformation.

[chris2008]

Thanks for the update. You have made great progress. Carry on!

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ready yesterday Hello and just a quick update. .... I have found out JUST HOW IMPORTANT my partners understand and understood all along but would not admit, that I am. I have negotiated...no..demanded more money, and have received. I now how 7 weeks vacation and a 3.5 day work week. .... I have upped the savings to between 1/4 to 1/3 of my monthly income!! There is so much more. My partners have been FORCED to pick up the slack. I have far more energy. Much less stress. .... I am not done. It has only been a few months, but I can honestly say my life, even while working has changed for so much the better.

Fantastic! Congrats!

Quote:

I think I can do this.

OK, you still have a little work to do. You meant to say "I KNOW I can do this.", right?

This calls for dragging out one of the great Rock&Roll lines of all times (there are lots of them). From the Eagle's hit "Already Gone", written by Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund:

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key...

And I'm feelin' strong
I will sing this vict'ry song, woo, hoo,hoo,woo,hoo,hoo

Already Gone The Eagles - YouTube

-ERD50

[daylatedollarshort]

Great job! We have been doing a similar analysis over our budget, work hours, money vs free time, to improve the quality of our lives. We are sorry we didn't do all that years earlier. But better late than never, right?

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ready yesterday Hello and just a quick update. Thanks to much of your advice I have grown a pair. Not easy for a lady. I have found out JUST HOW IMPORTANT my partners understand and understood all along but would not admit, that I am. I have negotiated...no..demanded more money, and have received. I now how 7 weeks vacation and a 3.5 day work week. I have cut my spending with a steak knife or more like an ax. One property has an offer in the works. I am not convinced of a sale, but at least I know there is interest. We have fired the gardener, we have curtailed BS spending. We have high deductible low cost insurance for the husband. Obama care may bring better rates next year. I have cut out facials, I have not been out shopping for clothes since April. I use Suave on my hair. I have upped the savings to between 1/4 to 1/3 of my monthly income!! There is so much more. My partners have been FORCED to pick up the slack. I have far more energy. Much less stress. I have the paperwork but the lawyer did not work out. Long story. At this rate I find it hard to make FIREcalc fail more than 21 percent of the time. That is the very worst I can do. Thank you For all of your inout. much was hard to take, much was so helpful. I am not done. It has only been a few months, but I can honestly say my life, even while working has changed for so much the better. I think I can do this.

I'm very happy for you. I'm glad to see that you decisively took charge of your own life. More power to you!

[gozer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ready yesterday Hello and just a quick update. Thanks to much of your advice I have grown a pair. Not easy for a lady. I have found out JUST HOW IMPORTANT my partners understand and understood all along but would not admit, that I am. I have negotiated...no..demanded more money, and have received. I now how 7 weeks vacation and a 3.5 day work week. I have cut my spending with a steak knife or more like an ax. One property has an offer in the works. I am not convinced of a sale, but at least I know there is interest. We have fired the gardener, we have curtailed BS spending. We have high deductible low cost insurance for the husband. Obama care may bring better rates next year. I have cut out facials, I have not been out shopping for clothes since April. I use Suave on my hair. I have upped the savings to between 1/4 to 1/3 of my monthly income!! There is so much more. My partners have been FORCED to pick up the slack. I have far more energy. Much less stress. I have the paperwork but the lawyer did not work out. Long story. At this rate I find it hard to make FIREcalc fail more than 21 percent of the time. That is the very worst I can do. Thank you For all of your inout. much was hard to take, much was so helpful. I am not done. It has only been a few months, but I can honestly say my life, even while working has changed for so much the better. I think I can do this.

So now that you are on a better trajectory towards happy town, what do you think your exit looks like? Are you going to slowly transition out over years winding down, maybe training a replacement? Walk away suddenly after all contractual obligations are met? Or, with renewed energy and conviction are you going to transform your company into a industry dominating force?

[ready yesterday]

ERD I have listened to that song my whole life it seems. Why did it never click? As for the future. It is a wait and see. At this rate I feel good enough physically and mentally to do it for years.. However the situation is so new I have no idea how it will evolve. What I know only for sure is that while our contract is in full force I now also have the ability to operate in the same fashion. What a drastic change. What a relief. Thanks again. I continue to scour the board for more help and wisdom. Hopes one day, to give back.

[Al in Ohio]

IMO you have crazy high monthly expenses. If you learned to live more frugally you could cut that WAY down. Until you prove you can do that and be adept at it (plus find pleasure in realizing you know how to purchase only good deals on every single monthly expense) then I think you need to wait. $400 for phone, internet and cable is highway robbery. I have 4 people in my household on voice/data plan and high speed internet, over the air HD TV bolstered by Hulu+ and Netflix streaming and I pay $185 for all of that and my company reimburses me for $130 of that. Of course ditch the useless land line. That can be replaced by a bluetooth gateway tied to your cell phones.

I was going to comment taht you seem to hold all the cards at your company and should leverage that to get whatever terms you want, but I see earlier posters jumped all over that and you have successfully done so (good for you!!!). That was a key item 4sure

[ready yesterday]

Al I agree with you and are we negotiating with both phone and cable companies for a better deal. Of all the expenses, I think these are the most out of hand.

However a huge part of these are write offs do to our immense and necessary bandwidth. Simple residential does not cut it. Take out one thing, the cost of another goes up. This HAS been the most infuriating part of the entire cost cutting measures.

[jclarksnakes]

Four months ago I promised to apologize for what I posted if you would stand up for yourself. I apologize for what I posted and wish you continued success and happiness.

[ready yesterday]

Thank you jclark! Hard to believe you got the abbreviate version of the story first time around, and I did stand up for myself to no avail.
It took complete THREATS. But it worked. Yeeees (pats self on back)
So if that apology is still on the table after that, I humbly accept it.

[target2019]

It sounds as if this evolution has done wonders for your soul.

I'd be cautious of changing comm and internet services. Your business internet is costly, yes. But there may be critical dependencies which are unseen.

If you have alarm system tied to landline, that is also a consideration.

[wmc1000]

ready-yesterday - although it took me a couple of days on and off to get through this thread I applaud what you have done and congratulate you on coming to the board, sifting through the good and bad - and using it to move you and your family forward to a brighter horizon! Next on to ER!!!!

[Keim]

Let me be the first to say: YOU GO GIRL!

[Larro Darro]

Congrats on the belt tightening and for your more powerful stance with your company. I'm new to this site, and this is just my second thread I have read all the way through. And after the first four or five page, when I saw that only a few days had passed, I wasn't sure I would reach the end. [the four month gap was a help]

What stood out to me in your victory post was the fired gardener. It seems like the fact you had a gardener at all would have been mentioned sooner.

I was forced at an early age to learn the difference between want and need. That has helped me more now that I have a little money than it did when I was poor. My DW and I have put off things many would call necessities so we can retire without money worries. We have lived this way for so long, we find it hard to buy what we want even now.

I'm glad you got rid of the gardener, and hope you will think of want and need whenever you are looking at every part of your life. We live pretty much stress free financial lives because of our spending habits, not from any huge income we have. So with your income, you should be wealthy in a few years.

Good luck