Welcome Richard
Posted by Richard | Filed under Richard
Thirty and married, Richard and his wife, Jane, don’t have kids yet, but are hopeful. Here’s what Richard has to say:
We live in downtown Toronto, and we rent. We are saving for a place of our own, but real estate is ridiculously expensive, and Jane’s told me she’s completely happy renting and saving for retirement instead of ever having to deal with a mortgage. Neither of us drive, which has two implications: first, it limits where we can live; but second, it also means our transportation budget is miniscule, making it a lot easier to save. Both Jane and I can walk to work from where we live: heck, for me, walking was faster than public transport.
And that brings me to biggest elephant in the room, when it comes to our finances: at the end of August, 2011, I lost my job when the department I worked in was outsourced. I made about 60% of our income. This was a hard blow to take, and as I write this to you, there’s severance pay, and there’s been some contract work (and an extension beyond the August deadline to help with the transition), but there hasn’t yet been a new job. And I need to evaluate what I want to be doing with my life: I’m not sure I’ve found that element of “calling” yet in what I do professionally, and I’m not done searching for it.
If I had to tell you what I expect to be writing about over the next six months: I’d say that not knowing what’s next will be the adventure. Jane and I will be working through making our budget for 2012. And I’m going to need to figure out how I’m going to help pay my share of the bills, and do my part to support our family. Underlying all this though, I’ll be working with the question of “What do I want to do with my life?” In many ways, I expect whatever I’ll be doing at a specific moment will be well behind what I’m talking about doing in the blog… but I’ll try to keep people as reasonably up to speed as I can.
One other thing to know: I’m a nerd! I read intensely and intently, and try to know a little about everything. I’m big on history and geography, as well as culture and literature. I can try to blend in, but at the end of the day, I’d much rather talk about say…. Economic history, than hockey. That’s just me and who I am, and I’m sure it will come through in my writing.
I’m looking forward to sharing the journey I’m about to undertake on the blog—it’s exciting, and intimidating, and I’m impatient to get started.
Thirty and married, Richard and his wife, Jane, don’t have kids yet, but are hopeful. Currently renters, Richard and Jane are saving for a place of their own. Richard recently lost his job. “This was a hard blow to take.” He’s since found a new job. Yeah Richard.
January 10, 2012 at 6:29 am
Hi Richard — Nice to know I’m not going to be the only nerd on here! I’m really looking forward to hearing the story of your search and efforts to figure out your calling, especially during such trying circumstances.
Victoria (starting Friday…)
January 10, 2012 at 10:13 am
I wish I could walk to work, it would save almost $1,400 a year. I take public transit. It would take me 4 hours to walk to work from where I live. I am looking for a job position closer to home so I can walk. I love to hike and I’m a runner so walking to work would be a breeze.
If I lived closer to downtown Toronto I would rent too and save for retirement. The housing cost is crazy.
Nice to meet a nerd. I like to read too but not everything. I also could care less about hockey or watching any kind of sport really. I’m looking forward to your writing!
January 10, 2012 at 11:29 am
Hi Mels,
At 4 km, have you considered biking? The bike paths are growing and improving… and it’s a lot cheaper to keep up a bike than take transit. I know January isn’t the best time for such advice, but in April it might be worth looking at.
Richard.
January 10, 2012 at 10:44 am
I’ve also got to work on my writing. I must have use the pronoun “I” a million times in my post
January 10, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Hi Richard….
I’m a bit like you, in that I haven’t really found a “calling” as yet. I am a civil servant, working for my provincial government, but it’s certainly not what I want to spend my life doing. I have some ideas of what I might like to do but no way to implement them right now. I know how hard it can be to find work, too, and how very frustrating, especially when you are not sure what it is you really want.
I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing from you as you take this journey
January 11, 2012 at 8:06 am
Mels is actually 4 HOURS away from work walking, not 4 kms. Biking would still take quite some time!)
January 11, 2012 at 9:21 am
It’s nice to read about someone who is renting because it’s ridiculously expensive to buy in the GTA! We keep hearing from people who say, “Just buy a house!” If only it were that easy! We could get approved for a $300,000 mortgage but to buy where we live (just north of Toronto) we would be looking at needing a $150,000 down payment! So we continue to rent, and I don’t think that will change any time in the near future! My husband wants to buy but I am like your wife – I would be happy to continue to rent and save for retirement
January 11, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Yeah. I’m a runner and mapped it out on Gmap.
Work is about 13K away from home and there are a couple of hills. If you’re from Toronto you’ll know these areas – travelling to work would mean I would be going up the hill at Hoggs Hollow and down Yonge St. towards the lake to Wellesley St. and the reverse you have the steepish incline to St. Clair St. It would take me about an hour and a half one way.
Even biking – imagine doing that everyday – whew! )P I’d be a sweaty mess.
January 11, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Hi Richard!
I’m a book nerd too. An arts practitioner/scholar by trade, but an economic/finance reader for pleasure. I can’t wait to hear some of your book recommendations, and will be glad to share my favorites if anyone is interested. Thomas Stanley’s books are just the beginning…
Cheers!
January 12, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Hello Richard!
Have you ever thought about being a curator? There is a great program at U of T. You get to read a lot and do research. Check out the BBC series, and book, “History of the World in 100 Objects.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/
M
February 22, 2012 at 10:36 am
Trackback…
[...] Like you can discover at this site [...]…
March 13, 2012 at 12:58 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More here: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 13, 2012 at 2:02 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 13, 2012 at 4:45 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Informations on that Topic: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 13, 2012 at 6:54 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Informations on that Topic: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 14, 2012 at 12:46 am
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More here: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 14, 2012 at 8:11 am
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More here: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 14, 2012 at 12:49 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More Infos here: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 14, 2012 at 2:31 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] There you will find 67806 more Infos: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 14, 2012 at 4:03 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Informations on that Topic: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 14, 2012 at 4:24 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More Infos here: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 15, 2012 at 12:10 am
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 15, 2012 at 1:37 am
… [Trackback]…
[...] Informations on that Topic: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
March 15, 2012 at 7:13 am
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More here: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…
April 12, 2012 at 12:16 pm
… [Trackback]…
[...] There you will find 72793 more Infos: gailvazoxlade.com/othervoices/welcome-richard/ [...]…