If you’re a regular reader of this blog I’m so, so sorry you have such low standards you may have noticed that my last few posts have been . . . uuummm . . . kinda ranty. Complainypantsish. Eyeroll inducing.
Well, Dear Reader, today that ends. Huzzah!, you say? I agree!
Anyhoo . . . more than 3.5 years into this whole post-FIRE life of mine, I realize that I’ve never written about an average day for this here layabout blogger. So, why not let’s just do that, shall we?
While I do have “average” days, they kinda sorta fall into three types. First, there’s the weekdays when I “work” at my funemployment job. Then there’s the weekdays when I don’t. And, last, there’s the weekend days. So lemme describe an average day for each type.
Is this thing working?
As I’ve mentioned before in these pages, my funemployment job isn’t one I planned to look for, much less take. But it’s been fantastic. For many reasons. No more so than that my supervisors all have been great people and really flexible.
As I’ve also written, only when I was told that I’d gotten the job did it dawn on me that I’d actually, you know, have to work. And have a set schedule for part of my workdays. That realization freaked me out for a minute. But only a minute. Cuz when I met with my supervisors before my first day on the job, they asked me (note that I didn’t say that they told me)—which shift I wanted: (1) opening (crazy early morning until either late morning or early afternoon), (2) midday, or (3) closing (late afternoon until well into the evening). I didn’t want the morning shift cuz it’d require me to wake up in the middle of the night. And I didn’t want the evening shift, cuz that’d entail me missing dinner with The Family. So, I replied that I’d happily take the midday shift. I sensed that my supervisors hoped that I’d take any shift but that one. However, they gave it to me anyway. I’ve held onto it like a small child to a piece of candy ever since.
What this means is that on my “work days,” I need not set an alarm. That said, The Missus voluntarily remains a working stiff. So, if I haven’t woken up by about 7:00 a.m. due to my own inability to sleep, The Missus’ rolling about or the alarm she set for herself rouses me around that time.
After groggily skimming the latest market indices headlines and maybe perusing some FIRE blogs/podcasts/YouTube channels, I’ll stumble outta bed and make some coffee, as well as my lunch (cuz I is a brown-bagger). Then I’ll see Thing Two (The Younger) off to school or (in the summer) to work. Then I’ll do my computering, which means any combination of the following: (1) reading/listening to/watching stuff I’d earlier skimmed and found interesting; (2) addressing any money-related to-do list items; (3) adding to or otherwise revising our calendar; (4) completing any necessary chores; (5) making headway on books I’m working my way through; and/or (6) and watching at least part of a movie or show, which is something else I loves to do. After that: hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I bike.
On returning home after my shift, I usually watch my beloved PBS News Hour and then consume more content (can you tell that I kinda sorta like to consume content?), such as that from my also beloved, The Economist. By then I’ve thought about what to make for dinner and then will settle on whatever struck my fancy and get to work cooking. I’ll finish it all up around the time The Missus gets home and we’ll have a nice family meal.
After dinner, it’s cleaning up, reading some more, maybe butchering working on a blog post, catching up on emails and texts, phone conversations, and more family time. Then it’s bedtime for Bonzo.
All in all a pretty sweet gig as far as I’m concerned.
Off and on
On the remaining weekdays I usually is as free as a bird. My routine typically is the same as on my workdays. But during the midday hours I’ll do things like running necessary errands, doing deeper house cleaning, volunteering, attending local FIRE community meetups or getting together with other friends who might be available, making more headway on books/movies/shows I’m working my way through, and biking or walking around the neighborhood or to some further destination of my choosing.
All in all a pretty sweet gig as far as I’m concerned.
Weekend worriers
I once loved weekends because they were my only days off work for the week (even if I still was thinking about (and maybe even doing) work on those days). Now I’m conflicted about them.
On the one hand they’re the days that The Family typically is free to do stuff together with. So, I can spend time with them. That might also include more involved activities like getting together with friends, hiking, date nights, and stuff like that.
On the other hand, restaurants, stores, trails, roads, and all manner of other places are more crowded. Me no likey. More often than I care to admit, I might forego activities I’d have giddily done on the weekend during my full-time working days. Reason being that I don’t want to deal with the people/crowds and have the luxury of doing these things on the far-less crowded weekdays.
So, there’s a bit of a balancing act for me. If I feel like these places will be especially crowded, I might pass on subjecting myself to them. But if not, or The Missus yells at me/makes me an offer I can’t refuse is especially interested in doing one or more of these activities, then off we go.
All in all a pretty sweet gig as far as I’m concerned.
Travel log
Among the less common—but still frequent—things I do throughout the year that aren’t included in my synopses above is travel. That might include camping excursions, visits to see Thing One (The Elder) at her college, trips to meet other family or friends, or vacations with The Missus or The (whole) Family. Since FIREing, I’ve averaged probly about 30-40 days away from home per year. In 2023, it was a lot more as Thing One and I took an overseas trip together that year. Thing Two (The Younger) and I will do the same thing next year.
There are many great things about being FIREd. But one of the best is having the ability and flexibility to travel pretty much whenever I want.
And in the end . . .
So, where does that leave me, Dear Reader? It leaves me with seven pretty great days out of seven. That’s where it leaves me. All in all a pretty sweet gig as far as I’m concerned.
Out of curiosity, how many days per week do you “work?”
My funemployment gig is a three-day-per-week commitment. Also, fwiw, each shift is less than an eight-hour day. Due to my personal schedule (travelling, personal commitments, holidays, and the like), I’ve had some weeks where I’ve worked zero, one, or two days during a week. And a few times I’ve filled a coworker’s shift and worked more than three days in a week. In all of these instances, I’ve found that the three-day-per-week schedule is my sweet spot.
Enjoyed the look at your week. Two months into being away from work I m loving it but I am also feeling a slight tug to something else as winter is around the corner.
People always ask me what I will do with all the free time. My pat answer is to say I’ll be more social. And if more social leads to a fun job that isn’t what I have done before than I would try it out. Three days, less then 8 hours would be perfect
How did you find your gig? By the way my site is now up (vaderonfire.com)
The “tug” may/will be real! I say go with your gut, but don’t forget that if you decide to take some part-time job/volunteer position/other commitment, you have the privilege/luxury of not HAVING TO work/do any of those things . . . because you hold 52 cards and two jokers.
The tug for me likely always was gonna happen but was brought forward by the fact that as soon as I FIREd, the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad market of 2022 started, wormed its way into my lizard brain, and pushed me to look for a part-time job sooner than later. As for how I found the job, I initially sought and applied for a different job with the same entity. But in doing that I saw some other positions that checked enough boxes for me that I figgered I’d apply for those, too. As it turned out, it was one of those other positions that I got (and I didn’t get an interview for the job I initially wanted). It was dumb luck. Luckier still, the job I’d sought was seasonal, whereas the one I got is year-round. So my job has continued uninterrupted and I need not worry about applying again and again.
Congrats on starting the blog and thanks for providing the URL. I’m gonna read it!