Having a good time V Hard Cash

WhiteWalls

I'm 24 years of age and will have a masters degree in September when I finish my thesis. I am travelling to Australia with a group of friends of mine in October. I probably won't work in what I'm qualified in because the money is only OK.

What I plan on going at is working with an engineering company at concrete. This will be hard work but good money. All of my friends are planning on having a good time and travelling around the country. However I would happily save every penny I have and come home in a few years and buy a house.

It would not bother me in the slightest about travelling around and seeing different sights. Will I regret it in years to come?

Zed Bank

WhiteWalls wrote: »

I'm 24 years of age and will have a masters degree in September when I finish my thesis. I am travelling to Australia with a group of friends of mine in October. I probably won't work in what I'm qualified in because the money is only OK.

What I plan on going at is working with an engineering company at concrete. This will be hard work but good money. All of my friends are planning on having a good time and travelling around the country. However I would happily save every penny I have and come home in a few years and buy a house.

It would not bother me in the slightest about travelling around and seeing different sights. Will I regret it in years to come?

No.

The Backwards Man

You won't get any harder cash than cash made from concreting.

Holsten

No I don't think so.

I wish I had done that instead of partying away. To think of all the money and time completely wasted makes me so angry with myself.

Why you'd want to come back I have no idea.

WhiteWalls

The Backwards Man wrote: »

You won't get any harder cash than cash made from concreting.

Might make a man of me and fill me out a bit

WhiteWalls

Holsten wrote: »

No I don't think so.

I wish I had done that instead of partying away. To think of all the money and time completely wasted makes me so angry with myself.

Why you'd want to come back I have no idea.

What about the whole enjoy yourself while your young thing though? Do you regret not saving money now?

El Horseboxo

Not at all. You can save away a decent chunk of your earnings and still travel a bit and have a good time. Drunken nights out are a dime a dozen.

J_E

Work hard and you'll be able to travel the world and have a house to come home to. If it's good money don't let the opportunity pass, the world will still be there for you.

Sir Arthur Daley

Dont be living your life with thoughts of regrets, look forward and keep the past in the past, thinking about the past will only mess your head.

WhiteWalls

WikiHow wrote: »

Dont be living your life with thoughts of regrets, look forward and keep the past in the past, thinking about the past will only mess your head.

I'm most definitely looking to the future and not the past?

Davarus Walrus

While I'd normally suggest having a good time; the fact of the matter is that you'd be having a good time in Australia. For many Irish people this seems to involve forgetting to put on sunscreen, drinking cider in a pub called the Cock N' Bull, giving out about the quality of the sausages in the Supermarket, and making an absolute embarrassment of yourself in some cheap hostel.

Sir Arthur Daley

WhiteWalls wrote: »

I'm most definitely looking to the future and not the past?

But why you worrying about regrets for your future?

WhiteWalls

WikiHow wrote: »

But why you worrying about regrets for your future?

Never looked at it like that, I'm not worrying though I'm just thinking about what I'm going to go at with myself when I go over. thanks tho

WhiteWalls

Davarus Walrus wrote: »

While I'd normally suggest having a good time; the fact of the matter is that you'd be having a good time in Australia. For many Irish people this seems to involve forgetting to put on sunscreen, drinking cider in a pub called the Cock N' Bull, giving out about the quality of the sausages in the Supermarket, and making an absolute embarrassment of yourself in some cheap hostel.

Haha, I'v definitely seen the cock n bull on facebook, cant wait to swing off the rafters in there after my first weeks work and buy the whole pub a drink

Sir Arthur Daley

WhiteWalls wrote: »

I'm just thinking about what I'm going to go at with myself when I go over. thanks tho

Drive on work hard, play hard and enjoy it, you are worrying for nothing.

MadsL

Nobody ever said on their deathbed "I wish I had spent more time at the office"...

Better to regret something you have done, than something you haven't done.

SouthTippBass

Holsten wrote: »

No I don't think so.

I wish I had done that instead of partying away. To think of all the money and time completely wasted makes me so angry with myself.

Why you'd want to come back I have no idea.

Time wasted enjoying yourself is not wasted time! I think a lot of us are guilty of this in our 20s, but that's what those years are for. I wouldn't change a thing!

(well, I would have saved a tiny bit more, but what ya gonna do!)

WhiteWalls

MadsL wrote: »

Nobody ever said on their deathbed "I wish I had spent more time at the office"...

Better to regret something you have done, than something you haven't done.

Ya all these quotes are well and good but I'd prefer to come home with more than good memories

sully2010

Reading your post really made me think should I have saved back then to buy a house? It would have been the smart and prudent thing to do for sure but Im glad I waited. Nothing will ever compare to the 2 years of work/fun/travel/sun/beaches/birds and overall madness I had down under around your age and I wouldn't change the friends and experience gained for anything.

Having said that I hear Oz is a much different place to how it was 10-15 years ago. My advice though is enjoy your 20's because I know many people who took the saving/prudent route in their 20's and I think they have more regrets about the experiences they missed.

WhiteWalls

SouthTippBass wrote: »

Time wasted enjoying yourself is not wasted time! I think a lot of us are guilty of this in our 20s, but that's what those years are for. I wouldn't change a thing!

(well, I would have saved a tiny bit more, but what ya gonna do!)

But 'enjoying yourself' and 'going out having a good time' for most people my age (including me) involves going out and drinking as much as you possibly can. for 3 or 4 hours of a good laugh on a Saturday night, I'm not 100% again until Tuesday.

sully2010

WhiteWalls wrote: »

But 'enjoying yourself' and 'going out having a good time' for most people my age (including me) involves going out and drinking as much as you possibly can. for 3 or 4 hours of a good laugh on a Saturday night, I'm not 100% again until Tuesday.

Ah Jaysus you sound like an old man! In all seriousness though there are plenty of people you meet on your travels who dont drink to have fun. If you have an open mind you will find many great ways of having fun other than getting hammered.

WhiteWalls

sully2010 wrote: »

Ah Jaysus you sound like an old man! In all seriousness though there are plenty of people you meet on your travels who dont drink to have fun. If you have an open mind you will find many great ways of having fun other than getting hammered.

I know I sound like an old man but that's the reality of what happens when my mates and I meet up (at home and in college) Who knows what will happen when i go out

Idbatterim

Better to regret something you have done, than something you haven't done.

Unless your Oscar Pistorious...

WhiteWalls

Idbatterim wrote: »

Unless your Oscar Pistorious...

When is the verdict due on that? I'm thinking he will be doing well to pull it off

Idbatterim

Op being honest though, could you not go down the fun route with the lads for a few months, then re-evaluate?

When is the verdict due on that? I'm thinking he will be doing well to pull it off

see below, the trial has been adjourned, no doubt he has thrown in some "Oscar" worthy performances!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0408/607443-pistorius-returns-to-witness-box/

GenieOz

Why not both? Save half blow half.

WhiteWalls

Idbatterim wrote: »

Op being honest though, could you not go down the fun route with the lads for a few months, then re-evaluate?

Ya I probably will go with the flow for the first while anyway, hopefully I won't end up a homeless alcoholic

WhiteWalls

GenieOz wrote: »

Why not both? Save half blow half.

could be a runner, u n oz?

biko

WhiteWalls wrote: »

u n oz?

Yes, I believe Australia is in the UN.

MadsL

Australia, that's the first mistake anyway...

GenieOz

MadsL wrote: »

Australia, that's the first mistake anyway...

What exactly is wrong with Australia?

MadsL

GenieOz wrote: »

What exactly is wrong with Australia?

Exactly? Sorry, I cannot pin it down that closely.

GenieOz

MadsL wrote: »

Exactly? Sorry, I cannot pin it down that closely.

Name anything then.

I bought my first house when I was 20. So I vote for feckin off and enjoying yourself, whether that be in Australia, Brazil, or Galway.

beks101

I'm 28 and haven't even considered thinking about saving for a house or any of that adult stuff. If I could figure out what country I actually wanted to settle in, that'd be a good enough start.

On the other hand I've seen plenty of the world, lived in crazy places, done incredibly fun but downright daft things with money, made a bunch of international friends and really lived my 20s, being strapped to a mortgage would have made most of those things impossible.

"Having a good time" doesn't constitute getting locked and stumbling home five days after you went out with fcuk all money OP.

Couldn't you save some and spend some in equal parts? Seems a less extreme decision tbh.

Stavros Murphy

Deleted User wrote: »

I bought my first house when I was 20. So I vote for feckin off and enjoying yourself, whether that be in Australia, Brazil, or Galway.

Same as that. I reckon I'm only having my early twenties now that I'm in my 40's, which is fair enough, but it's murder at the Raves with me dodgy hip.

crazygeryy

MadsL wrote: »

Australia, that's the first mistake anyway...

What a ridiculous statement. You probably haven't even been there have you?
Oz is a spectacular country and I'm only talking about the sights and the people. Forget the drinking in the cock n bull bs.

Op go enjoy yourself travel see as much as you can because oz is a hard place to get back to when you have a house and kids etc.
See it enjoy it while you can and if you can save to all the better.
Good luck.