Several years ago I embraced the philosophy of voluntary simplicity. I also try to make every possible effort to practice a lifestyle that is environmentally sustainable and socially conscious. I am currently pursuing an aggressive plan to pay off all of my debts, mostly student loans and home loans, to live debt free - even to be virtually self reliant if I had to or wanted to. While I don’t need a whole lot of money since I don’t spend much on luxuries, I do want to earn near the peak compensation levels for my occupation and location - more money now pays debt of faster!
My current position straddles the fence between engineering and sales. My problem is that I am being paid much less than the market average (based on salary surveys and certain salary oriented websites), and I think it might be tied to the fact that my peers wear expensive clothes, drive expensive cars, and talk about their expensive lifestyles at the water cooler. I have an “interesting” life, but definitely not “conventional” - as I am a single father (mother haabandoneded our kids), and I spend my weekends on “Green” projects, such as building rainwater harvesting systems for my home and growing my own organic vegetables - so sometimes I do “miss the game” since I’m in my yard with my kids and not in front of my TV. I don’t have any “bing” to flash and don’t want to. I don’t expend any effort on stamp collecting, breeding Pomeranians, or any other pompous, impractical BS - though I usually don’t express my disdain for such nonsense outside of my home, since I know most people don’t share my views.
My clothing is business appropriate, but I think I may have confessed too often in public that I buy my shirts at Goodwill for $3 each (they fit well with no wrinkles, holes, or stains). Until now I never thought I should be ashamed of my simple lifestyle or try to conceal it, but there are many books about career success and getting promoted that indicate that one should wear more expensive suits, keep a gold plated pen in one’s pocket, and brandish a Rolex to make it clear to managers, colleagues, and clients how “successful” one is so one will be remembered at decision time. Is my simple lifestyle such a threat to today’s “Management Class” to keep me pinned down in my current position at relatively low pay? Do you think my lifestyle could come across as a rebuke of their own “hedonism” (though I would never describe them as such)? I don’t drink alcohol, use tobacco, use drugs, fornicate, or even drink coffee, so could this be a part of the problem as well? I’ve always been able to hold my own in any conversation, whether business oriented, intellectual, or just small talk. I tend to make people feel good and people of all backgrounds seem to like to be around me and come to my office for a quick chat, so I don’t think I’m coming across as too pretentious or any kind of “better-than-thou” sort of person. Any suggestions?

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website