Hey Ozstralia – thanks for reaching out and so glad to hear you have similar goals! Yep night shifts are beauties aren’t they!? Those of us who work them understand. Glad to hear you have your shift work set up going nicely for you too! And yep, as you hinted, my hourly pay is actually a bit higher now (~$10/hour) because of the reduced hours and being in a lower tax bracket.

Two electrical engineering degrees + a background in IT pretty much gives you lots of options in the world, way to go! I’m a Real Time Power Trader so that would be the best keyword to search. It’s also called a Real Time Power Marketer or a Real Time Energy Trader. All interchangeable. I work on the trade floor and buy/sell power from other companies + our own units and send cheap power to more expensive areas and keep the spread (minus the losses and transmission costs). Most people I work with have some sort of business or engineering degree. Hope that helps and enjoy your journey!

This has actually been my goal ever since I was an intern at the Control room of a 330KV power station and got to see the advantages of shift work – especially night shifts..

6+ years later and I’m typing this response while on night shift (00:10hrs), and with a shift pattern of 2 days, 2 Nights and 3 days off…

The 2 days are the standard 8 hours each while the 2 nights are 12 each….
This was the exact shift pattern at the power station all those years ago, so, Mission Accomplished… yay!!

I’m about 20% of the way to my FI Number and still have a sizeable number of years to go (circa 7 – 8 years all things being equal).

The plan is to do just 2 night shifts by then…( Which would in theory still allow me to remain at 60% gross pay cos 24/40 hours… Likely up to 70% Net pay cos, well, progressive taxes.. But I digress…)

I don’t usually comment. But seeing someone who has achieved what I’m aiming to do TO A TEE is really encouraging and I just had to let you know how much I appreciate this post ..

All the best in your future endeavors..

Regards…

P:S. You mentioned power/energy and System reliability.. Are you able to mention what job titles I can look into for your kind of Job?

I don’t see myself leaving my present kind of job in I.T… ….. but things may change in the future and I do have two Electrical engineering degrees😀

Cheers.

Hey Maria – of course, happy to share my thoughts and hope it provides some food for thought. I never thought part time would be available to me but Lady Luck was watching over and a rare opportunity presented itself. Hopefully you’re able to find that sweet spot for your fam soon too! 🥰

On the other hand, my job as a teacher has many options that we are exploring. It’s great to have options and you have definitely been able to find the best of both worlds – congrats.

Haha Jordan you’re too funny! Trying to motivate others to design a life they love. It takes some hard work combined with luck but it’s possible!

The work setup is glorious. Those 8 days off are amazing. Haha yes, this blog would not exist (at least with weekly posts) if I wasn’t in this position!

52 is A LOT and I likely will pair down to ~30 per year going forward but I’m glad I was able to do it.

I put together this post reviewing the books I read from the first half of the year along with my top picks. I’ll be doing something similar in early 2021 for the back end of 2020 books. Let me know if you end up reading any of them and what you think!

Finn is DEFINITELY a full-time job, but I’m more than ok with that!

As for the bonus, this is totally unexpected!! I’m used to an annual bonus in my field (power/energy) but it’s typically in the 20-30% range. Our team had a killer year (sadly due to all the wildfires out west this year and California struggling to ensure system reliability).

https://modernfimily.com/30-personal-development-books-from-2020/

Haha she is a character! (When no one else but us is around at least!)

I can always rely on you for a thorough comment, thank you Chrissy.

As you are aware, it is pretty amazing to watch your kids grow up firsthand.

You know I mathed it up! My brain wouldn’t allow for anything else haha. And precisely, for manageable downside there’s SO much more upside with this switch. Trying to help motivate others to work hard while also designing a life you love 🙂

Love your work set-up! Cramming 24 hours of work into 2 days, then having 8 whole uninterrupted days off sounds like a dream, even if the first day is a wipe out. Also writing posts at work is a genius use of time. Smart career choice 😀

Also so impressed by you reading 52 books in a year. Having time to do this is another one of my dreams! What have been some of your favourite books this year?

Congrats on being a proud mumma! Finn sounds adorable, and definitely like your true full-time job.

PS – how does someone get a bonus of 100-200% of their base salary? This sounds like another dream come true!

I’m so grateful that I could be there for all the moments—big and small, difficult and amazing. It’s just too bad that my husband couldn’t also join us as much as you’ve been able to with Nic and Finn. It makes me happy to read about your ‘Coast FI’ life together.

Now back to the main topic of this post—going part-time and doing shift work. I love your explanation and that you managed to math your way to a decision. (Ha ha—that’s SO you!)

I agree that it was totally the right choice. If it were me, I would happily make the same decision. The upsides are huge, and you’ve found ways to manage the downsides really nicely.

Congrats on finding such a perfect work/life balance. It’s an elusive thing for so many, but you’ve achieved it!