TIME OR MONEY

[ITG]

Hahaa, Art, I read it the same way as you...but I had come up with my own conclusion for Police Officer for God...I thought BB maybe worked security for a large church or something.

BB, thanks for clarifying that.

 

[Chad Sanborn]

So, for me personally, do I seek a higher managerial position with my company which will pay maybe 15 - 20 % more on a yearly basis, but requires a 25 -30 % increase in hours and days worked?

Well its a numbers game. If you consider what you are at right now to be 100%/100% Your time for the money earned. Then it doesn't make sense to take a 15-20% increase in pay for a 25-30% increase in time.
If you calculate your hourly rate now and then again after the raise, you will find that you are making less per hour!

Somthing to think about. I for one, vote for time. Its easy for me to say since I make my schedule, and pretty much pay myself. I have the best of both worlds. If I want to make more money, I do more shows and at a higher price. If I want time off, I just don't book a show. I have found a good balance that fits my lifestyle. That is the balance you have to find for yourself.

Chad

 

[ginobarracuda]

"We don't have a lot of time on this earth!
We weren't meant to spend it this way.
Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day...
filling out useless forms... and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements."
- "Office Space" 1999

 

[gcollins]

This is a great question. And I am a bit surprised at all the "time" replies. Not because I consider it wrong, of course, but it is definitely an answer of a mature economy. Where I live, I'm not sure I could meet one person who would NOT choose money. And that's becuase they have not always had money or cars or purchased homes.

It's especially interesting because I read so much about how little US families save, recently dropping down to 1-2% of income on average. Wow! And with so many people living through credit card debt and a strong culture of consumerism, is that enough? I do know my American colleagues often complain that the more they make, the more they spend. So few of them in live below their means at any given time. We on FL perhaps may be a subset of society that make enough for comfortable lives, homes, and "things." Like hats.

But my answer to the question would be, if I make more, how much more can I save? If I could take all the extra money and save it or invest it or use it for college educations or something that improves the opportunity for me to live comfortably later (and were young enough with energy to work harder)...I would go for the money. I would have assumed most Americans would also go for the money and a promotion, if they could get it. Why not?

Anyway, good responses and explanations, everyone.

 

[Cabinetman]

You know, I originally said, "Time." And I hold to that - for myself. This is a case - like everything else in life - that boils down to the individual. What is the case many times is us wanting someone to tell us what to do. It makes our decision-making easier. Most of the time, we know what the answer is and can feel it so strongly, but for some reason we don't want to be responsible (to ourselves I guess) for making the decision, however mundane or life-altering it may be. There is more "trouble", too, when you consider what is right for you at various times throughout your life ("right" for you certainly includes the whole package and how your "right" has others invloved). One day money, the next day time or vice versa. It's very hard to make a blanket statement about which is more important. How 'bout this? "I wish I had more time so I could make more money." Somebody may have said that already. I haven't been following this thread real closely. or: "I wish I made more money so I could take a little time off."

Value in anything is sooo individual and personal. And what's right for one guy is not necessarily so for another. I still choose time for me...and one day at a time at that. Remember (and I am reminding myself of this, too), today has enough troubles of its own to worry about tomorrow.

 

[gcollins]

Good reasoning and a fine point, Cabinetman.

You are right, a very personal decision...and when either is a conscious decision, it is right for one person alone. It becomes much harder when we are forced into one of those two options and have to live with it.

And of course, one's "lifecycle" has much to do with it. When I was a carefree, single guy, feeling bored in the US, I decided to come to China for adventure and very little money or career advancement at a time when American companies were pulling out (1989 Tiananmen student debacle). I wanted the time to improve my Chinese, struggle without the luxuries of modern American life, explore, go to exotic places that I was not allowed to go, experieince life in a place where people expressly have NO choices they can make themselves. Write and learn. Need time for those things, and that was my choice.

Going into the key earning years or business opportunity, one may go for the money and challenge of promotion and career challenge. There are families to consider, perhaps, and career advancement and self-esteem. All those good things.

And as the years advance, one considers, like Art, having worked for so many years and with dreams that cannot be fulfilled through working 7 days a week, that time is the only way to go. I just hope I have the courage to make that decision at some point as well.

In all, it's personal. And what a good thread to understand how peoplw view their lives and what makes them happy. Living deliberately is tough stuff.

In Buddha's love,
G

 

[Art Fawcett]

Well said gentlemen. Life cycle is SO important to this type of decision. It has to be personal AND fit each of our personalities and circumstances. I don't know how courageous it is G, but even at my age I still have a keen sense of adventure and this is how Janene and I are viewing it. Just another life adventure...and a whopper at that!! I am still in what is considered prime earnings years so that is an adjustment..perhaps the biggest I personally face. My mind goes directly from idea, to plan, to business assesment almost as if on automatic pilot. My various careers have fulfilled needs in me that remain a bit unknown so I see the physical move as the lesser of the challenges. Inner peace cannot be easy to achieve...but that is the ultamite goal.

 

[The Wingnut]

I'm late on weighing in on this subject, but I figure I'll chip in on this conversation anyway.

Nobody can ever pay me enough money for my time. They can, however, reimburse me for the work that I accomplish. In the same manner, nobody can pay me enough to compensate for my being stressed out, or to spend less time with my family - I don't get enough time with them as it is.

I've work some very high-pressure jobs, and I have no desire for more of the same. I'd much sooner want time with family or to myself than I would ever want to grind away at work, despite more money in the bank.

 

[Dismuke]

I think the trick is to find a way to get paid well for doing what one would otherwise do if one were independently wealthy. Sadly, I have met very few people who have found a way to do that.

 

[Art Fawcett]

I've been pretty fortunate in this regard Richard. I was born into the Masonry field and hated it until I was good enough to focus on the "art" instead of the drudgery. Then from a hobby of collecting old clothes to go with my old cars another business sprung up that we loved and developed for about 18 years into one of the largest in Ca. As a part of that, we started doing Vintage Clothing shows in the west and yup, I was invited into the partnership and finally took control of that company, also one that i love. Also as a part of the Vintage business I started working on old hats trying to bring them back to life and..well if you read enough posts you'll know that story also.
In short I have been able to work in areas I love and wouldn't have it any other way. I actually don't KNOW any other way as i have always been independent. Now, I'm tired. I am keeping my hat shop, but moving to Oregon to what will soon be a "ranch" to ride horse and build hats.
Can't get any better

 

[fedoralover]

I've worked for the City of Eugene for almost 29 years, when people find that out they almost all assume that I have a management job by now. Nope, not for me. I start work at 6 in the morning and get off at 2:30 in the afternoon. I live 4 minutes away from work and and am able to be home in no time. No regrets here, especially when I see the Supervisory staff staying late and getting very little thanks for their efforts. I've been able to spend alot of time with my wife and 3 daughters over the years and that is time you never get back once it's gone.

Art, by the way, I saw Janise, (she said she knew you) at a Piccadilly flea market here in Eugene. Small world isn't it.

fedoralover

 

[Art Fawcett]

Sure is Rich!! Janice was one of our first friends in the vintage field. We bought from her and learned what we could fom her WAY back when. Nice lady!! I'll be seeing her next week in LA