My way was to find maintenance contract where I do programming few hours a week that pays my bills and mortgage + occasionally taking some contract work (about once a year, month - three months long).
Contracts could be very stressful (as I am usually picking on some VC type of startup as they use to pay more), but I know it is going to be over soon so it is easy to just go through it.
I am doing that for more then a decade and it works, the only thing is to figure out what you are going to do with your off time: I used to start startups, side projects, travel the world, but for past few years I am just farming and spending time with my kid.
More people should really think about this alternative.
Yes, contracts can be stressful, but like you say you know the exact day when the pain will end. In most jobs the pain is never ending!
I've considered this approach myself too but more 6 months on, 6 months off. Scala in particular seems to pay extremely well (£600-£650 /day) so easy to make the money to live a comfortable lifestyle in 3 or 6 months per year. I think other dev contracts are usually around £450 in London which is still more than enough.
Id love a permanent 2-3 day a week job too for work/life balance but those seem non existent for devs unfortunately.
With regards the 9 months. I write code (Python), read (a lot), watch movies, relax, listen to music. The point for me is I have to do this. Many years ago (I'm 55 now) I got very, very depressed and considered suicide. I was totally and utterly burnt out due to never ending work.
I spend quite a lot of time in Philippines and Thailand - mostly for the diving. My partner and I are keen divers (she's a nurse - but only does contract work now too). I also like photography, hiking, camping, biking and so on. I am studying for mountain leader exams.
I read Hacker News too but rarely comment. Just today and yesterday. Probably today will be the last day!
p.s. I used to work with a guy who negotiated a four day week. He is still doing that to date as far as I know. You might be able to negotiate fewer days but it's not easy.
I'm so glad you posted. I'm a 57-year-old tech writer (UK-based) who followed a similar pattern to you for 10 years.
Then I got sick of static daily rates and now work as a permie (2 days in Birmingham, 3 days from home) for a US based tech company.
My first contract rate in 2004 was £350 a day, and now I'd probably struggle to make that again. Maybe £400, but above that, I'd need some special USPs. And from where I live, it's £50 a day to get to London, not to mention the extra 4 hour journey times!
Great to know you've found a perfect formula!
PS: Topping was also on my agenda until I reached 50.
It's hard to know what we'd all do with so much free time and I think some people would be a bit lost, but it certainly sounds like you make the most of it and live a nice lifestyle. Particularly all the outdoor activities is something id like to spend more time on myself.
Thanks for sharing!
Yes, I must admit I got absolutely sick to death of sitting in a stuffy office every day staring at a screen. No wonder I nearly topped myself!
All the best!
I’ve been doing remote consulting for the past three years - product design & development - but over the last several months I decided to bump up my work rate from the usual 2-3 days per week I had. Realizing now that I prefered the more leisurely schedule I had before.
I’ve been to the Philippines a few times and strongly considering working from there next year to avoid Canadian Winter for at least a few months of my life. Just good to hear more references about expat life there. :)
My question for you is how do you manage healthcare costs?
I live in UK so healthcare is free here. Many years ago I had some mental health problems and the NHS here literally saved my life. I am so grateful for that. I also have a private medical plan that covers myself and my partner but it only costs about £1k a year, and I only have that because it can potentially reduce waiting times. I am considering just doing without it though.
I know you pay for it in other taxes and what not, but... for comparison, we're paying more than half that per month, and it doesn't cover any expenses until we spend $10k in a year. We are in a really crazy situation here.
It doesn't cover tourists anymore in theory. They'd treat and then bill you but you could probably go home and not pay.
I don't know how easy it is to do what you describe but some people evidently do it. I imagine if you're an EU citizen you can come right in but if you're non EU you might have some more difficulty.
You might have problems getting residence
However, I still think the same rules apply. Ram down expenses as much as possible. I did this when my kids were much younger. I couldn't get away with working 3 months a year, but I often did a six and maybe a 3 and had 3 months off. Back then I'd spend the free time with my kids. These days because they do their own thing I head off to Phils or Thailand and go diving.
I haven't found a huge number of jobs near each other in the UK outside of London.
Anyway, as to the commuting. Yes - you are right - it's a total pain in the bum. Sometimes if the gig is a long way away I will stay up in cheap B&B. It depends. But - you can put up almost anything for three months right? That's the beauty of it. You know the pain will end - you know the exact day.
The commuting is soon forgotten when you are heading out to a wreck dive by boat in the Philippines. :)
Not quite. I still pay National Insurance contributions, and in fact am already entitled to a full UK state pension (at age 66). I also pay into a private pension plan and have done so for years. I also built up my tax free savings in cash and stocks and shares (low cost index tracker). I can access the private pension and private savings whenever I want.
So the plan is I will continue to do this as long as it makes sense to do so.
My partner and I are actually considering complete early retirement (I'm 55 now) to Philippines next year - but that's another story.
Sure, if you can hit on a business idea that works, and is stress free, and doesn't take much time and effort to set up, then good luck to you!
I want to emphasize something though - for me the money is not the important thing, as long as I have enough. For me the work-life balance is the priority. Had too much stress in the past to want to go back to that lifestyle again!
So what's the alternative?
Go contracting. Reduce your expenses to the bone, and limit the contracts you do. I now only take 3 month contracts and I do one a year. I make about £24K from that - I know many developers making double my rate. That £24K is more than double my expenses though. If there's a 6 month contract I really like the look of I will do it (especially if it's remote working) - but then I'll take at least a year off.
The great thing about a contract is you go in, do your thing, get out. Job done. No stress. No worry. No customers giving you grief and wanting their money back. No infrastructure going down with admin alerts at 3.00am. No hassle. I don't even have my own limited company. I use an umbrella company and while not as tax efficient I have no dealing with accountants, HMRC, tax returns and all that nonsense.
I think there are many good reasons to start a 'lifestyle' business. I'm just not convinced it's the way to go if work-life balance is what you are looking for.