classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

[jacob]

You actually get a cabin or rather a converted former railroad car. The place used to be known as the Caboose Motel. The costs aren't entirely bad except the whole 6-month/yr limit.

[7Wannabe5]

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing." - Alfred Wainwright- British hill walker

Although I am in a bit of a schlump myself, I still maintain perspective on former better practices, and my practice of many years was to walk/hike outside in nature for at least an hour at least 6 days/week no matter what the weather (in Michigan!) In my experience, the "in nature" part is critical to success. In fact, I would even recommend driving to closest park or trail head if necessary. As noted above, you definitely need to gear up with any and all necessary layers and carrying a hot beverage is also helpful/motivating.

Another suggestion I might make since you are self-defined semi-retired by choice is that you may eventually want to consider investing in your own enterprise(s.) Although I have crashed and burned a bit doing this sort of thing myself, I still think giving yourself the option to invest in your own activities as well as the enterprises of others through the stock market can be a great adventure. It will also keep you from becoming stuck in situation of possessing a good deal of time and vigor while simultaneously committed to very frugal personal spending. Just declare a new hobby or three as meant to eventually pay for themselves and then set up separate accounting for each of them. These can vary from very small potatoes on up and very quick pay-off on down. For instance:

1) Take lessons towards lifeguard certification--> get part-time job (and free pool time) at swim school
2) Buy decrepit vacant building at auction. Fix it up and convert into rental art/craft studio space.
3) Use the studio space you reserved for your own use to start throwing pottery.
4) Travel around to craft festivals selling your pottery (write off as business expense.) Allow friend to use your share of studio space while you are gone in exchange for caretaker duties.
5) Sell the building and use the profits to fund your next venture.
6) etc. etc. etc.


The fact that interest rates are so low now and I am being swamped with offers for small business loans causes me to believe that there is currently a shortage of active enterprise in the market.

[classical_Liberal]

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[Colibri]

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing." - Alfred Wainwright- British hill walker

I agree. But if you don't like the cold, you don't like it. I love it so no problems with the weather up here. The ice skating season is just starting. It is that window at the begining of the winter when it is cold enough for small body of water to be solid frozen for safely skating on, yet we didn't have enough snow for the ski season, that will come later in November. I often dream about the coming ski season in the middle of summer. The darkness is another beast.... thank god for vitamin D supplement !


"Another suggestion I might make since you are self-defined semi-retired by choice is that you may eventually want to consider investing in your own enterprise(s.) " From 7W5.

That is what I have been doing for the last year and it is starting to pay. It is so fun and you are 100% in control. Give it a try.

[classical_Liberal]

,,,

[7Wannabe5]

Well, since you don't want to devote a lot of capital to the endeavor, you might want to start by reading "The $100 Start-Up" by Chris Guillebeau.

Touching on what I mentioned previously. Although a lifestyle business is almost by definition going to be tightly "economically" interwoven with everything else you are hoping to accomplish, it is very important to keep each one "financially" separated, and not just for simple bookkeeping or tax reasons. For example, a very frugal self-employed guy in my marriage support group had a shopaholic animal-rescuing wife. They were constantly bickering because their modest home which he had built was filled up with his business inventory and her HSN buys and dogs. He kept making the argument that his "stuff" generated income while hers did quite the opposite, BUT he could not admit to himself that he was fluffing his business profits (in his own mind/ego) by storing his inventory and running his office out of his own house. It is VERY easy to make all sorts of slips of this type, one way or the other, when you are being your own accountant, even if you do run tight ship on separate books.

In retrospect, another thing I think is very important to consider right from the get-go is markets; the plural noun even before its modern verb transformation. This is the juncture or interface that is most critical for lifestyle considerations. A lemonade stand on your front lawn with a change jar on top and a sign is a market-place. The internet is not a market-place; it is only a medium until/unless there is some semblance of a specific cash register and a sign advertising your goods attached directly to your cash flow. It's sometimes easier to first define a market-place and then decide what goods you will bring rather than vice-versa. Sometimes you can create a whole business simply by moving stuff to a market-place.

Also, since you are an E-J, one aspect of the businessman vs. salaryman quadrant that will likely be critically important for you is that you can contract/manage workers for your own enterprise. IME, nothing an EJ loves more than running honcho all day on his own crew and then taking them all out for pizza and beer (written off as business expense, of course) afterward. Of course, you could also get this sort of fun by volunteering as something like coach for disadvantaged youth team, but no cash flow will attach.

[horsewoman]

I can think of a few things but I'm not sure if you want to stay put for the foreseeable future or if you want a flexible schedule for traveling?

[Colibri]

Do what you know and/or what you are passionate/ driven by.
And find a market place for it like 7W5 said.

You can start very small. Renting a table at the local craft fair to sell your homemade wooden spoon ?

[Jin+Guice]

Instead of forcing yourself to start a business if you can't quite think of one, maybe it's better to just allow yourself to be open to serendipity, your own inner-monologue, schemes that may sound somewhat ridiculous or any combination of the three.

Or you could think of a problem that really bothers you and try to solve it in a way that makes you and possibly other people money.

Or you could think of something you really like doing and then try to think of a way to make money doing that.


Two semi-ERE things I've found difficult to internalize are 1) I now have a lot of time to "waste" on any project I want and 2) I can have longer time horizons than the extremely short-term, because I not only have time now but also in three months from now.

[7Wannabe5]

@Jin+Guice:

As an eNTP, I hear you. However, you need to recall that c_L is an ENTJ and ENTJ s are way more likely to be Work Hard/Play Hard/Relax Completely (Fall over like a bear made of bricks) than Make Work Fun!/Make Play Productive!/Can't Take a Nap Because I Might Miss Something! Since, for some unknown reason, E-Js frequently attempt to date me, I have a good deal of experience witnessing the sort of problems they might experience with too much free time (inclusive of tendency towards bossing around any "happy puttering" types found within their domain.) IOW, I may be projecting*, but I am offering my very good advice out of feeling of sympathy/empathy for c_L's GF.

*Especially since I am currently in mode where I am imagining my dream partner as somebody who is gone working/fishing all day long and only comes home in time for sex** and a cuddle.

** On the plus side, ENTJs are most likely to be of the sexual variety I refer to as Sturdy Indestructible***.

***A description I borrowed from 1970s edition of "Joy of Cooking" where it was used to designate cookie recipes that could readily be rolled, cut, and frosted without crumbling apart on you.

[classical_Liberal]

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[horsewoman]

This is a little bit tough for me because I'm no good working with people which seems to be your strength. So take my suggestions with a grain of salt! It may look easy to me because I don't have to do it, and there might be concerns with insurance and liability I am not aware of!

You could offer your services for seniors that live at home, to look in on them while the main caregiver is at work. Not necessarily in a caregiving capacity, more like dropping in to make sure all is well, are the meds taken, talk a little, maybe a short walk if possible. Afterward you send a text to the working child/spouse that all is well. If you can line up a few of such appointments on 2-3 days a week in your surroundings you could ride your bike to the homes.

Another thing would be to get in touch with local youth centers if you can get together bike or hiking tours for adolescents. Perhaps during holidays? I suppose if these things are managed in cooperation with organizations there are fewer concerns with liability - even more so because you are competent with first aid.

Since you like to travel you could put together slide shows and tell about interesting spots or things for a small entrance fee - you would need to find interesting places to visit of course. Or think of some twist which makes it interesting. Actually, frugality could be your angle, you could share travel hacks. Or ERE & traveling, a short intro how you managed to almost retire at your age and then a description of how you travel on a budget.

This is what I can think of at the moment. IDK if there are feasible, but maybe it kickstarts some ideas in your mind :)

[classical_Liberal]

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[classical_Liberal]

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[7Wannabe5]

I think medical transport would be a good small business idea. Since you already have the licensing, all you would need would be an outfitted van and the necessary insurance. My mother paid her service $400 to transport her back and forth from my daughter's wedding !This a hugely growing field, because hospitals and outpatient facilities are dumping people same day or 24 hours after fairly grueling procedures and they often need to prove that they have transportation home. You could possibly use the same van to run tour bus service for seniors or disabled which might be more fun, if camping out in the parking lot of the nearest Native-American run casino and/or mega outlet mall is your idea of fun

[classical_Liberal]

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[SavingWithBabies]

So how about for that three months you have a "don't break the chain" calendar[*] on the wall with nice big spots to X out each day and a list below with what you're working for? Kind of a daily ritual of looking at it in the morning and then checking off one more day in the evening (or after work whatever time that is) to reinforce what you're working for? I'm picturing putting one up at the beginning of each work period and then when it's done, taking it down and recycling it (and if you get fancy, maybe you can rip the reasons you were working for off and put them in your wallet or in a stack for later review).

I have a similar conundrum with the contract work I'm doing. The easy path is to let the client decide when work stops and starts. But if I do that, I'm having to live around their schedule. But I can't just work for a single day either. I could definitely push back though and do things as I wish to some degree[**] although it's easiest to do that at the start of the contract. So I'm hoping for a bunch of short term contracts so I can refine my approach and figure out a balance that works for me and my family.

* I'd just whip something up and print it out -- not suggesting buying anything commercial.
** Still unsure what would work and what wouldn't but I'm thinking more about number of hours per week or days per week worked. Software projects tend to be hard to estimate and if going well, can snowball so it's hard to negotiate an end date up front. But they do seem to have milestones in place where one can leave (even if the client would rather you stay).

[mooretrees]

Are you at all concerned with maintaining your skills as a nurse with big breaks? I worry about that with my job, and I feel it might be a reason to work longer stretches. Perhaps that is not a concern for you? It seems like you've been putting this time off to good use and some shifts in thinking are either here or on the horizon. Exciting to watch from the side line!

[7Wannabe5]

I have been doing close to what SWB suggested to pay for the "extra" of my DD28's wedding. In my activity tracker, instead of assigning hours to "Substitute Teaching", I assigned them to "Fund Wedding." Mostly this is psychological, but it reinforces the path towards what I want and what I don't want in my own mind. I do not want to teach more than 2 days/week, but I do want to pay for my share of the wedding. It is moderately likely that I am going to get certified and teach full time (with summer's off ) for a few years, but I plan on continuing this practice of labeling the less than enjoyable hours I spend teaching with "Fund FITB." Of course, in my harum-scarum case, the "extras" will be stuff like "having an address, maybe...?"

[classical_Liberal]

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