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Original poster

Here's my situation - am I mad to drop Fridays?

107 replies

AndItDoesntSeemToMatter · 07/01/2022 23:25

I'm 37. Not particularly ambitious I want to be happy in my work but I mainly work to live. Senior admin role. No children or wish to have any, no partner but let's not pull at that thread! Small mortgage and (touch wood I don't get neighbours from hell) happy in my home for the foreseeable.

Income is £31k, taking off pension contributions and "bought" extra days which I won't be buying next year, I take home just under £1900 per month.

All bills, insurance, mortgage and a mortgage overpayment of £100 plus food and petrol comes to around £1,100. The overpayment doesn't hit my mortgage straightaway I put it into a retainer and once it builds up to £1k I'll throw the whole chunk at it if no other emergency has arisen in the meantime.

I also transfer £500 per month into my normal savings account when I can, unless it's MOT month etc. Car is bought outright and only 3 years old. My savings account has £16k in it, my nest egg. Maybe a bigger house way in the future maybe a wedding who knows.

Leaves me with £300 just to play with. I don't live an extravagant lifestyle, rarely go out other than a very occasional beer garden or treating Mum to lunch; my only indulgence is the odd leather jacket or pair of shoes and frankly I have enough of both! My UK holidays are with family a couple of times per year and not hugely expensive.

I want to move to a new role and drop to a 4 day week because to put it bluntly - I can't be fucked. I'd rather spend my Fridays cycling or hiking. I'll save less of course and my pension will no doubt be affected but I'm thinking it will be worth it for the work life balance. I'll try to arrange a 10% cut rather than straight 20% and work 32 hours over Monday to Thursday. Or maybe even just be lazy and cut the full 20% I'm not sure.

Am I missing something? Do you think I'm in a fairly reasonable position to do this at my youngish age?!

OP posts:
user1471519931 · 07/01/2022 23:29

Sounds great to me! Enjoy your life x

Yummypumpkin · 07/01/2022 23:32

Absolutely go for it.

I wish the whole world were as sensible as you...

I defy anyone to spot a problem with this!

Silverchamber · 07/01/2022 23:33

I'm 37 this year and I'm a single parent to 2 children. I work 30 hours over 4 days which works out to 32k a year before deductions. I treasure my day off in the week and can't see me ever going back full time even when the kids are older. There are actually two other teachers in my department alone who are slightly older but work 3 and 4 days with no children. If you can comfortably have the life you want on your 4 day wage then go for it. Life is too short, you're in a much better position than many others on here with two incomes and if you need the cash again you can go back to working the extra day.

Interested in this thread?

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General money
rubytubeytubes · 07/01/2022 23:37

Do it! You can always work more in the future. A day off in the week is bliss

HairyScaryMonster · 07/01/2022 23:37

A colleague of mine does 9 day fortnights and takes Wednesdays off every other week to see friends for coffee etc, so no reduction in time, just an extra 7 hours over 9 days (which she was doing in unpaid overtime anyway).

Personally if I was on my own I'd be reluctant to reduce pension prospects as you never know if you're going to be out of work or have ill heath in the future.

Original poster
AndItDoesntSeemToMatter · 07/01/2022 23:39

Ah thanks all it's nice to have some reassurance. How lovely it would be to leave work on a Thursday afternoon on a sunny day knowing I can ride my bike, go for a long walk or sit in the garden with a friend and get as pissed as I want 😀

OP posts:
converseandjeans · 07/01/2022 23:39

YANBU you will have built up pension contributions. It might just mean you can't save more than a hundred or so a month. I think full time is relentless and having the extra day a week will give you chance to recharge.

MyOtherProfile · 07/01/2022 23:42

Absolutely do it. Life is for living. My kids are old enough that they don't need me to do school run etc but I still only work 3 days. Good to get time to do the things you want to.

Stropalotopus83 · 07/01/2022 23:45

Go for it. I dropped a Wednesday and would never go back to full time now! I love that I'm only ever in for 2 days before I get a break. I do have kids and am also doing a degree with the OU so use the Wednesday to study, keep on top of housework and occasionally catch-up with friends for lunch etc. I find it gives me more spare time on the weekend too as there isn't as much washing etc. I'm so much happier as well.

AD3000 · 07/01/2022 23:59

If you can afford it, do it! You won't lose the full 20% anyway due to tax and NI calcs

LowlandLucky · 08/01/2022 00:07

Go for it and enjoy every minute.

wonderstuff · 08/01/2022 00:12

Sounds great, I would think about whether you’d be better putting the money you overpay on your mortgage into your pension, with interest rates so low your mortgage debt isn’t likely to be costing you too much whereas pension contributions are pre tax so you’re getting 20% more value and the investment pot is likely to rise in value above the cost of your mortgage because the interest rates are so low. If/when the cost of your mortgage increases you can divert the £100 back to your mortgage.

GrandmasCat · 08/01/2022 00:17

Of course you are crazy, nobody needs a long weekend on a regular basis.

Ask for Tuesdays off instead so you can have 6 x 4 day weekends a year

My favourite was having Wednesdays off, I had a break in the week before I got overwhelmed with stuff at work.

timeisnotaline · 08/01/2022 00:23

Umm you don’t seem to have done any analysis on whether your pension will feed you when you retire etc. that would be the factor for me. I am not a uk pension expert, we have super in australia. I know how much I have and I know how much more I need to contribute to have a comfortable retirement starting at 67. Id personally put all my extra funds for working the Friday into my pension until I was comfortable with my retirement plan, as there isn’t a lot you can do about it once you’re 70.

Athenajm80 · 08/01/2022 00:30

I dropped Wednesdays a while ago cause I was struggling with my "crazy" which gets worse when I'm tired. I started with every other Wednesday to see how it would be financially, but after 6 months or so I decided to apply to not work either Wednesday, but do 32 hours over 4 days. I love it.

TBH I don't do much on my day off except sleep, but like a PP said, knowing I never have to do more than 2 days in a row really helps. I'm lucky cause I got a new job recently and they agreed to keep my working pattern. I like the job loads more than my old one, but still value my Wednesday off more than the extra money.

Original poster
AndItDoesntSeemToMatter · 08/01/2022 00:30

@wonderstuff

Sounds great, I would think about whether you’d be better putting the money you overpay on your mortgage into your pension, with interest rates so low your mortgage debt isn’t likely to be costing you too much whereas pension contributions are pre tax so you’re getting 20% more value and the investment pot is likely to rise in value above the cost of your mortgage because the interest rates are so low. If/when the cost of your mortgage increases you can divert the £100 back to your mortgage.
This is interesting and I'll be researching this, thank you
OP posts:
AD3000 · 08/01/2022 00:35

Ask for Tuesdays off instead so you can have 6 x 4 day weekends a year

Wouldn't Fridays off achieve this anyway other than Easter (which would be 4 days anyway)?

sofakingcool · 08/01/2022 00:36

Absolutely if you can afford it! My children are teenager/adult and I've never increased my working hours - I do 16 hours over 3 days.

We can afford it, I love it, I get time to have a volunteering job, study for a course and extra time to do whatever I fancy that week!

I'm hoping DH will drop a day in time, but he's a workaholic so I can't see it happening soon

2gorgeousboys · 08/01/2022 00:37

Do it! But I'd also look at doing compressed hours. I've got late teen/twenties children so none at home but have recently reduced to a four day week. As I'm WFH now I'm not working any longer than work plus my commute pre covid but now I get to enjoy every Friday for my hobbies and friends.

No drop in income, slightly longer days but that Thursday night feeling is amazing. I only wish I'd thought of it a few years ago!

AD3000 · 08/01/2022 00:37

Plus, I work ft for less than4/5ths of that income and manage fine. Having career breaks is far more damaging to pension prospects than steadily paying in on a lowish wage.

Original poster
AndItDoesntSeemToMatter · 08/01/2022 00:39

Friday is the only day that interests me

OP posts:
GrandmasCat · 08/01/2022 00:42

@AD3000

Ask for Tuesdays off instead so you can have 6 x 4 day weekends a year

Wouldn't Fridays off achieve this anyway other than Easter (which would be 4 days anyway)?

No, because if you ask for any Monday off you will get as many 4 day weekends as you want, but additionally will get the benefit of having a break during the week.
arcof · 08/01/2022 00:59

10% would be 36 hour not 32, just a typo? I say go for it !

immersivereader · 08/01/2022 01:14

Don't blame you at all, go for it. Happy hiking

SpringDaisies · 08/01/2022 03:58

I’d say yes, except for two things I would calculate in advance.

  1. Pension - when do you want to retire and what income will you need to do so? Even if you don’t know, do a rough calculation based on retiring at 60 and needing your current income* to do so. Will you still be able to do this if you go ahead with your plan? If not, is there away you can contribute more whilst working 4 days or something else to make this work?

You don’t want to get to 55 and be faced with working longer than you want, when you could have set it up better at 37.

  1. Mortgage - this one is easier - when will you pay off your mortgage at your current rate of payment? Is this the house you intend to retire in (at least to start with). You need to get to retirement (again, let’s say aged 60), with a paid for house. Ideally, you would pay it off 5-10 years before retirement, so you can spend the mortgage payment money in that time on updating everything needed in the house (carpets, paint, water heater, air conditioner, car, new oven, new roof, new car etc etc) so you go into retirement with no known big expenses and a savings account to handle unexpected ones.

If you aren’t set up for this, then again you should look at adjusting the amount you pay to the mortgage to meet this goal.

Note if you want to retire at 55 or at 65, you adjust as necessary.

*current income is suggested as a rough guess, as retirement income is generally less (60%-75% of current income), as you have less expenses (mortgage, travel to work costs, work clothes etc). However inflation means the amount will increase. So this is a rough guess, but you should really make your own decisions.

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