How To Retire 6 Months Every Year
(Page 8 of 22)
May/June 1970
By Irv Thomas
A good idea is to settle back quietly in your present quarters and think about the things you have consciously appreciated. Make a list of these points to watch for in your search. Check the neighbors, both around and above, for you are likely to be hearing their TVs, parties and arguments. Are they the kind of people who have much of these and - if so - are they tractable? Pay particular attention to the managers, for they will have a lot to say in your life. They should be easy going, tolerant people (but not too much so, for they also rent to your neighbors.) Naturally you'll make compromises, but try to follow your real feelings, and don't make compromises where you can't emotionally afford to make them. It's a matter of knowing yourself.
RELATED CONTENT
Neighborhood, to help you drop the auto may be more important than the actual residence itself: Near your job, near good shopping and near transportation. It is also good to be close to whatever institutions have direct relevance for you: Schools, gyms, churches, parks, libraries, community gathering places, or whatever. These are general points to look for in house hunting, but they assume a greater significance in the context of saving money. You are going to be thrown hard upon your personal resources, and it is most important that the environment be as supportive as possible.
If you do find yourself committed to a certain neighborhood, there may be the temptation to take a place as expensive as you've been living in for 'just a month' while you look around the district for something more reasonable. Don't do it. You are are giving in to the addiction and only making it harder on yourself in the long run.
SINGLE, MARRIED OR MULTIPLE
Most of the information in this article is directed to the single person, for that is the nature of my own experience. For larger family units, some approaches - such as the question of shared living quarters or eating out versus eating in - may have to be changed. The general proposition of buying back your life by cutting addictions, however, is just as applicable to any size family unit.
The critical question is not how many individuals are living on how many incomes, but rather: How many unnecessary addictions are those incomes now covering? A family living on one income will - of necessity - have already slashed (or never developed) some addictions and will, therefore, have less to cut. On the other hand, a couple with two incomes may have so many 'monkeys on their backs' that they simply won't believe how much they could cut their working year.
Regardless of family size, however, the automobile is a common addiction that cuts across all income levels. It's safe to say that no matter what your family situation demands in other respects, the release of the automobile will return to you 3 months of every year, and give you the opportunity to find a new lifestyle.
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