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Having a good spouse, a pleasant home, a working vehicle, sufficient health to enjoy athletic activities, and enough disposable income to do hobbies and travel doesn't sound particularly "mediocre" to me.
I don't want kids
I don't want debt
I don't want new cars
I don't want a job with too much responsibilities.
I don't want the Iphone 7 ( Iphone 5 will do!)
I don't want an expensive ass house
Im actually okay with used cars ( as long as it works)
Im okay with not having kids They are cute but I don't want them seems like too much stress all the time
I only want easy office jobs where you clock in do your thing go home which I have.
Im okay with living in just an apartment for now and the only long term goal I want is just to retire on a low cost of living area in a condo.
Im okay with just getting married and sharing with my wife my life thats it.
I want to enjoy life( on occasions travel around the world, visit more areas in california, play a sports together swim together, watch christmas movies for christmas, decorate our tree, go to the zoo lights once every christmas, etc) with my wife/girlfriend.
Spend money on some vacation dinner dates my personal hobbies etc
Forget the house
Are adults just generally expect to be stressed all the time and just work so damn hard all the time?
I want only a low stress mediocre simple lifestyle.
Does any one feel the same way? Or is it just me
Why do I feel this way?
You are a minimalist, as am I. Only difference appears to be that I'm married and have kids. But I'm with you on keeping life as simple as possible. A small house, not an apartment, is the way to go. A small house you will eventually pay off and have no more monthly payment. With apartment living you are always at the mercy of someone else who may decide to evict you or raise your rent or strangle you with rules. But I do think you are on the right track with things.
I think your ambitions are totally fine. Too many people are falsely "ambitious" either because they over-estimate their talents or because they are trying to meet others' expectations of them. Better to know yourself and be happy!
This is probably the biggest issue for many. For people who don't overestimate their own talents, and are in fact legitimately talented (vague as 'talented' may be), the most significant obstacle standing between the person/people in question and a life along the lines of what is described in the OP is social pressure. This pressure often lasts a lifetime, whether said person knows it or not.
I think you should do what you want, and your intended lifestyle sounds pleasant. However, I hope you realize that most people have to work hard to accomplish what you seem to be accomplishing without hard work. You are very lucky.
The logic of democratic socialism is to make this sort of life available to all. I defer to the Danish poster 'Frihed' who posted upthread, as he should be personally well-acquainted. At the risk of politicizing the thread, my fellow Bernie supporters should also (at some level) understand the desirability of such a lifestyle.
I don't want kids
I don't want debt
I don't want new cars
I don't want a job with too much responsibilities.
I don't want the Iphone 7 ( Iphone 5 will do!)
I don't want an expensive ass house
Im actually okay with used cars ( as long as it works)
Im okay with not having kids They are cute but I don't want them seems like too much stress all the time
I only want easy office jobs where you clock in do your thing go home which I have.
Im okay with living in just an apartment for now and the only long term goal I want is just to retire on a low cost of living area in a condo.
Im okay with just getting married and sharing with my wife my life thats it.
I want to enjoy life( on occasions travel around the world, visit more areas in california, play a sports together swim together, watch christmas movies for christmas, decorate our tree, go to the zoo lights once every christmas, etc) with my wife/girlfriend.
Spend money on some vacation dinner dates my personal hobbies etc
Forget the house
Are adults just generally expect to be stressed all the time and just work so damn hard all the time?
I want only a low stress mediocre simple lifestyle.
I want only a low stress mediocre simple lifestyle.
I'm not gonna read this whole thread (too many pages already) but why is this lifestyle considered a "mediocre" life? It sounds like you're making smart choices.
It seems too many people think that it's their duty to get married, to have kids, to buy a house, etc. Like it's a rite of passage or something. They must think they can't move on to the next stage of their adulthood without all that stuff. When in reality, it's NOT their duty to do any of those things. And then they complain if they get laid off from their job and are struggling to pay their mortgage and feed their kids.
That's not a mediocre life. In fact, mediocre is sort of a pejorative term used to signify substandard-ish, IMO.
It's the same life my parents and grandparents lived except the no kids part - but they each only had one child. My mother was grateful to actually BE alive after being a young child abused and neglected during the depression and her only dream was stability. She had three kids die as babies before me. So one healthy alive kid was NOT a mediocre life in her eyes.
As far as work goes, well, you need it to live and plan for your senior years. My grandfather was a German clock maker. He took the bus and the El to work in a famous department store every day of his life for 25 years. He owned a classic row house in Philly, and during the depression was one of the few people who didn't lose it or suffer anywhere as much as others. He sold it to purchase a duplex later, so they could have my parents live in the upstairs apartment.
He had a modest workshop in the basement for his clockwork.
My grandmother was not mediocre. She could do ANYTHING she put her mind to after getting married at 16. Including going and buying fencing and putting it up when she wanted a fence but he didn't LOL.
A humble man, but in demand everywhere to maintain clocks all over the region, especially as the profession died out when nobody even thought to buy classic iconic clocks like he found in convents and other quiet places. Clocks that were brought over from Europe after wars were waged. Clocks that were allegedly stolen out of castles. Clocks that were handmade and stood 7 feet tall, Clocks that were almost one of a kind that you never see today. It was his passion.
They had friends. They had card parties at home a couple times a month. They enjoyed each other's company. Their big vacation was driving to FL a few times. There was food on the table for three meals and my grandmother loved preparing it. And he appreciated every meal.
If you didn't know him, maybe you'd think he was mediocre but you'd be wrong. He suffered in silence having both legs amputated below the knee after getting xray treatment for excema younger, when they THOUGHT that was a "cure". They were married and PERFECT for each other over 40 years.
I see older married couples still walking holding hands every single night after dinner down the hallway at a Senior community I work in every day. I've NEVER seen any disagreements among any of them for all the years I've worked there. They LOVE their lives.
But as far as everything else goes, why in the world do people think debt, too-huge housing, big fancy cars etc represent "life"?
The kid thing is another topic altogether and you have probably a 60-40 chance at this point of it not working out the way everyone's stylized version is constructed. Maybe even less.I wonder why people even bother HAVING kids when the culture is to farm them out as infants to strangers so the mom can work. Then live a frazzled and disconnected life before and after work, anyway.
Do your thing. Just make sure it's SOMEthing.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 12-12-2016 at 03:07 PM..
I work hard because I want to. I own my own business. I would never work this hard for anyone else.
I also work hard because money gives you choices. It sounds to me that you've decided what your choices will be and that you don't want to work any harder than necessary to do those things.
Which is fine. I'm not knocking it.
But times change. People change. Aging often brings unexpected challenges. The person who never worked any harder than they had to to get by usually has a hard time with aging, especially if they're having to care for an aging parent at the same time.
I don't think you want an ordinary or mediocre life but you are really only thinking in terms of yourself. Again, that's fine. I'm not knocking it. But will you always feel that way? What happens if you want to help a family member but don't have the wherewithal to do it? What if the love of your life comes with a child? Instant family. If you have people in your life there will always be complications. Goodbye, simple life.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
My jobs gives me free health insurance ( kaiser)
No worries about that for now
I don't want a family or house at all thou?
Why not a condo instead
Somewhere where its a low cost of living
Heck even if low stress office job have mediocre or just decent pay
Do i want a lifestyle where im working more than 40 hours a week all the time
Hell no.
Kids? Yes they are cute but a massive headache
24/7 job
Friends well i have almost no friends
If anything as long as i have my gf/wife i could care less
I take it the OP and others are looking down on people who work hard so that they can live lavish,but as i said most people are working hard to cover basics.
Most people actually do want to live simple,except it is hard in today's world.
For example:
You only want easy,low stress office jobs,and you want no debt.
To even get a job,you need some type of college degree or vocational school.
Both costs $$$ to attend. Then you start taking out student loans.
Sometimes to make money you need money.
Most of the people I know who want a simple life never took the time to learn anything and are unemployed 40 yr olds. They never went to college because they did not want student debt. The people who did finish school with small student loans and or went to vocational school are doing better.
Debt is necessary sometimes.
How is that hard to live a simple life?
Tell me?
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