Sell The House, Live In A Van

[Sandwiches33]

Don't do it (unpaid overtime). Seriously. You're giving some overpaid executive a hard on while you do. They cannot fire you for not doing it. Yes you might be told you're not a 'team player' in a perf review, you might not get that 2% pay rise, or 1.5k bonus but stuff all that.

I urge you to sit down one evening and work out your effective hourly rate. Include *everything* in that - commuting time, cost of travel to work, the difference in cost between a premade sandwich at tesco etc and making it yourself, your tax rate, NI etc and then steel yourself when you see the pittance you're trading your time for and say 'No more'.

If of course you're doing it out of love, that's one thing. But don't let these idiotic 'targets' control your life.

If any coders in here fancy getting togethether and making something in our own time an indie game so to speak PM me. I completely understand the resentment to the industry but there has never been a better time to try and make your own stuff. I will not say what I can offer publicly as it would make me really easy to track me down but if you are interested in doing something off our own backs, maybe we could earn enough to buy a house outright! or at least it would be fin enough to know we were sticking it to the man

[ExiledMatty]

The £50 is $92 which buys you a backcountry pass. This enables you to stay in nearly all of NZ's 900 awesome backcountry huts. They come in all shapes and sizes, from 2 bed historical mountain shelters to modern 50 plus bed huts. Matresses are supplied and usually a large common area to cook and socialise. You have to be self sufficient as if you were camping.

Most people will just stay one night and move on but there are no restrictions or bookings. Some people spend many days in any particular hut, often fisherman, hunters and penny pinching gap years! I've had huts to myself before.

If you are into the outdoors they are a very great and frugal way to spend time in an otherwise expensive country. If you have time and flexibility then NZ can be quite cheap to get to. I am paying £150 from KL to Auckland. My flight to Asia was less than £300.

[RickyD]

Don't do it (unpaid overtime). Seriously. You're giving some overpaid executive a hard on while you do. They cannot fire you for not doing it. Yes you might be told you're not a 'team player' in a perf review, you might not get that 2% pay rise, or 1.5k bonus but stuff all that.

I urge you to sit down one evening and work out your effective hourly rate. Include *everything* in that - commuting time, cost of travel to work, the difference in cost between a premade sandwich at tesco etc and making it yourself, your tax rate, NI etc and then steel yourself when you see the pittance you're trading your time for and say 'No more'.

If of course you're doing it out of love, that's one thing. But don't let these idiotic 'targets' control your life.

The industry has actually matured a lot in recent years. I haven't done all that much overtime for some time. Believe it or not, there are some games companies that even pay employees for overtime. Of course, there still some that bully employees int overtime through peer pressure, but I stay well away from those.

[Democorruptcy]

The £50 is $92 which buys you a backcountry pass. This enables you to stay in nearly all of NZ's 900 awesome backcountry huts. They come in all shapes and sizes, from 2 bed historical mountain shelters to modern 50 plus bed huts. Matresses are supplied and usually a large common area to cook and socialise. You have to be self sufficient as if you were camping.

Most people will just stay one night and move on but there are no restrictions or bookings. Some people spend many days in any particular hut, often fisherman, hunters and penny pinching gap years! I've had huts to myself before.

If you are into the outdoors they are a very great and frugal way to spend time in an otherwise expensive country. If you have time and flexibility then NZ can be quite cheap to get to. I am paying £150 from KL to Auckland. My flight to Asia was less than £300.

OK thanks.

Sounds similar to Bothies in Scotland

http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/faq.asp

[ExiledMatty]

Yep similar to bothies. Would be cool if Scotland and other parts of the UK could develop a similar hut and track network like NZ. Guess this would involve planning permission so probably a non starter!

[long time lurking]

What I've read so far is a good read.

Now, I'm no motor expert or car mechanic but are self-tapping screws through the bodywork really considered acceptable workmanship? And where he makes holes for wires and ventilation, shouldn't he be doing some rust prevention after he's hacked through?

Yes to both of them

[Frugal Git]

I'd never heard of bothies or those NZ huts. Brilliant. Literally an indefinite retirement plan. Apr-sept in Scotland, Oct-Mar in NZ, hanging out with fit young wwoofers.

Just goes to show the innumerable options available.

[BeePee]

The NZ hut system is brilliant. No power, no mobile signal - just people sitting around yarning and eating! I spent time there in January and tramped out to a few of them including this in the Nelson Lakes (Angelus Hut)...

[ExiledMatty]

I stayed at Lake Angelus Hut before, great spot for a night. Funnily enough that's one you have to book. There are a dozen or so huts in Nelson Lakes that are free. Yea the huts can be really social and you meet interesting people from all over the World.

Over the last decade I have spent a lot of time in NZ. They still issue 6 month tourist visas to Brits. Beats sitting out a wet winter in the UK and cheaper too!