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

[AndItDoesntSeemToMatter]

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?!

Do it.

Before I had DC I had a colleague who was child free by choice. She and her partner had always worked 4 day weeks and she was evangelical about this giving them a day for chores/must dos, a day to themselves/for friends/hobbies, and a day together.

Now I've tried it I totally agree. I currently work 0.7WTE, but as my children get older I still can't see myself doing more than 0.8wte.

credibility - in your work
many employers are anti part timers ime

@AndItDoesntSeemToMatter

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 😀

Totally do it! I work 4 days and previously 3 days due to having a little person but now she’s at school I still keep my day off, it’s so much nicer and financially we’re lucky I can do that.

Sounds like you are stable financially so I wouldn't think twice. I currently do 4 days, part time to work around dd's school. But I never intend on working 5 days again, it gives me huge peace of mind to have 1 day to do whatever I want to do.
Some days I go for a walk or ti the shops, sometimes I blitz the house. Yesterday I cleared out stuff from the spare room. It just helps me feel on top of things and is invaluable.

I'm not saying this lightly - it's life changing. I made the move the other way and I HATE my weeks now.

OP In your shoes I'd do this in a heartbeat

If you can do 32 hours over 4 days you would see that difference in pay etc so definitely consider it.

You are financially a great example, I'm
Impressed!

I would drop a monday over a friday because most bank holidays fall on a Monday and bh are calculated pro rata.
So a bh monday you are given 4/5 of a day but have to use up a whole day holiday
If you dont work Mondays you are entitled a 4/5 ths of a day in lieu

A single mum friend dropped one day and negotiated a 10.30 start ( short day) on another day to help with reading in school when her eldest started in Reception.
I only found out this year (we are both now 60) that she never increased her hours, even though the hearing of readers stopped back in the 1990s.
She could manage on what she earned, and liked the bit of freedom.

@garlictwist

I am a similar age also no cchildren and dropped my fridays for the same reason. I spend my Fridays cycling and running and love it.

I earn less than you (25k if I were full time) and have to be careful with money but I would rather have the time than the cash.

I figured most women go part time when they have kids. Why not go part time without them?

Because this will massively affect your pension! Op you really dont have enough savings to consider this, particularly as you are single, what if you are ill or unable to work? It will impact your pension and once you find out how much, then it would be wiser to work a 9 day fortnight, moving the hours over 9 days instead.

How do you currently spend your weekends? Could you hike then? Although if you can do it, I’d say absolutely. Life is short, you have some savings and sound like you’ve got your shit together.
I’m interested in doing this myself in the not too distant future, I have a dh, 3dc (2 of whom are mentally struggling) and look after a relative, never have enough hours at the weekend! Run myself ragged during the evenings when I get home from work trying to fit things in so I can spend some time with my dc over one of the weekend days so I can spend the other day with my relative without feeling too guilty!
A day off during the week would help to ease some of the pressure massively but my work (school) won’t let me. Hopefully will be in a totally different job come September where I can have more flexibility before I totally burn out

Just bear in mind that you'll have to use your holidays to cover some bank holidays if you work Mondays. If I were dropping a day, I'd drop Mondays.

Absolutely do it, although I’d probably go for Monday rather Friday. Way too much work crap occurs on a Monday!

Monday, then Friday, are the best days to drop because of the bank holidays so definitely pick one of them if you do it.

Look at whether you can up your pension contributions and if you can still live on whats left.

Enquire if you can increase your hours if it doesnt work for you.

Good luck!

Sorry but I don’t get why you would- you don’t have a huge amount of excess money to spend lavish days off on, no kids- honestly you need to find a job you enjoy- the way you’ve described life is utterly dull and minimal

@IloveJudgeJudy

Just bear in mind that you'll have to use your holidays to cover some bank holidays if you work Mondays. If I were dropping a day, I'd drop Mondays.

It depends on your employer, I work Mondays, all bank holidays are additional paid days off.

OP, you also haven’t mentioned national insurance - you know your current take home pay will be lower from this coming April? Have you factored that in?

I agree about paying more into your pension than overpaying your mortgage.

Absolutely do it if you can afford it. I went 3 days a week for a few years and loved it. Wish I could do it again but I'm saving for early retirement

Do it! You won't look back. Life over work. It seems you can afford it without needing to sacrifice too much.

I work a 4 day week (although I do have children) and I love it. I use my Fridays to go for a swim, meet friends for lunch, a long walk, visit nearest city and Potter about. Catch up on mundane tasks I don't want to do at the weekend. It keeps me happy, I know I'd be stressed and miserable working full time. I think 4 day week is they way forward.

Your circumstances are so similar to mine. I work 4 days a week and love it. The time is so much more important that the money. Enjoy!

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Sorry but I don’t get why you would- you don’t have a huge amount of excess money to spend lavish days off on, no kids- honestly you need to find a job you enjoy- the way you’ve described life is utterly dull and minimal

Fuck off!!

Just throwing in, I was talking to a friend who is working in his office part time and he has decided that he will prioritise being in on Friday because you miss out on lots of social events, and it’s true, I haven’t worked on Fridays for the last 10 years and I socialise with work very, very rarely. I’m I a very niche job, so it’s not dead important, but it could be an issue.

Most of the people I know who worked four days a week (all mothers, admittedly) have found going back to 5 day working an immense relief. They felt like they were doing loads of unpaid overtime here and there through the week, never really got their full day off on the Friday because there was always something going on, and felt that the jump back in terms of salary was really worth-while. And that's before you think about pension...

So I think it depends on your job. If they're going to be expecting you to pick up emails etc on your day off, or if no-one's covering your work so your Mondays are horrendous, then it's not worth it.

Also get a pension check. I 100% agree with the pp who said you'll end up kicking yourself if you can't retire when you want.

Sorry Op only want agreeing opinions?!
Yeh life is about enjoyment- most enjoyable thinks take a hell of a lot more money than your disposable income. I am interested though with what you will do on your extra day off?