Frugal ambition. . . .

So, I'm loving this article I just read at SFGate (the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle), about this man---Michael Skrzypek---who managed to work from 10 weeks to 5 months over the course of two years, and did, well, nothing for the rest of the year!

What I like about this is that, although he seemed to have the talent, personality and intelligence to succeed, he clearly wasn't interested in the 'rat race' mentality, which is especially evident in SF these days, in my opinion. He didn't need to make $175,000 a year so he could rent a loft in the Marina district and drive a new Audi. Instead, his salary of $38,000 (10 weeks) and $78,000 (five months) meant that he had complete freedom to NOT WORK during the other 42 weeks and 7 months, respectively.

What doesn't appeal to me is the whole doing nothing thing. If I had that kind of time, I wouldn't spend three hours walking the dog, I would drive to the coast and walk along the beach, go camping, hang out in coffee shops, volunteer, read, do some more volunteering, and, well, make really good use of my time without the stressing about how little of it I actually had (like I do now). Of course, I'd try to live my life frugally, to get the most out of my salary (note: $78,000 would do nicely---I can't imagine NOT being able to live like a rockstar on that kind of money).

One of the reasons I've gone back to school (yet again!) is so that I can eventually find a fulfilling job that doesn't require me to be on the clock from 8 - 5, Monday through Friday, 50 weeks a year. Michael Skrzypek proves that it can be done, although he may have gone to an extreme I'll never even attempt to replicate. I think the key here is to realize that in order to have that kind of freedom, frugal living wouldn't be just a hobby, but a requirement.