Posted by It’s been just over 5 years since I decided not to seek employment after being laid-off. I’ve seen many YouTube videos about people in the same situation. Most of them talking about how they manage financially or how they are coping with their loss of purpose from not being employed. Everyone has their own way of dealing with job loss. It can be especially difficult when you are in your late 50’s or have health problems. It is easy to become obsessed with the financial aspect of early retirement. I spend a lot of time trying to make sure we don’t make bad investments and stay within our budget. I started getting serious about investing long before I was laid-off. On my last job, which lasted almost 8 years, I would spend every lunch break getting educated on investing. I guess I didn’t expect that job to last as long as it did and was preparing for what eventually happened.
Morning: Now my typical day has become routine. I wake up about 7:30 am and take a shower. I then go to the kitchen to fill the cat’s food dish and make a cup of coffee and have a light breakfast. I watch the morning news, or a true crime show. By 9 am I work my way downstairs to clean the cat’s litter box. After that I go into my office and work at my computer until about 12:30 pm. If I have sold something on Ebay, I package it up and bring it to the post office. Most of my computer time is spent doing financial research, searching for Xbox game controllers that I can buy and repair, or handicapping horse races which is a hobby of mine. I can only spend 4 hours per day looking at a computer screen because my eyes are bad from years of computer work.
Afternoon: At 12:30 pm I go upstairs to make lunch. By now my girlfriend is awake and checking her phone messages or watching Days of our Lives. After lunch I usually do some house cleaning or go back downstairs to work on any Xbox controllers that I may have acquired. At 3:30 pm I usually check my phone to read the latest news and see how the stock market did that day. In the summer months I spend a few hours outside working in the yard. I get most of my exercise in the summer and less in the winter. After that I often play a game on Xbox or watch YouTube videos (if my girlfriend isn’t watching one of her shows).
Evening: At 5:30 pm we have dinner and discuss whatever is on our minds. After dinner, we try to find a movie or show that we will both enjoy. By 11 pm I am ready for bed. The older cat usually follows me upstairs for our nightly bedtime ritual. Cats love following a routine. About twice a month we go shopping for groceries, which only takes about an hour. On rare occasions, we go shopping elsewhere in town. On even rarer occasions we go to the horse track or visit the local casino. My routine isn’t very exciting, but the day seems to go by quickly. Some people would call me a loner because I don’t have any friends. Maybe that’s true or maybe I just don’t feel like spending time with other people. It surely helps me stay out of trouble.