Now is the winter of our discontent.

Winter brings with it two things. Colder weather and an increase in people who decide once and for all that they've had enough of working 40 hours a week to make someone else rich. This is good for me because I make my living helping people to quit their jobs and work full time from home.

Karen emailed me last week. I could almost smell the euphoria in her email as she told me she'd left work. She didn't go into the details but it seemed that the final straw had come about at work when her boss had decided she could no longer have the time off she'd booked back in August. She presented him with a stream of verbal abuse in front of her colleagues then stormed out. Another Winter Job Quitter.

So she emailed me, happy as the day is long to tell me she'd done it. 'What do I do now'? She asked. I paused mid-sandwich and told her I didn't know - what did she want to do?

We chatted for a while and I asked her how long she could last on her present savings, and what money she was owed from work. About three weeks it seemed was the maximum she could survive for without having to start selling the furniture. Most people are in this situation. I remember hearing an interview with a homeless man on the radio. The interviewer was extremely condescending towards him. Eventually the down and out lost his temper and yelled

'Look - you can look at me and shake your head but the fact is that most of you are only three months salary from being in exactly the same position!'

I think three months is a very generous estimate. I think most people would start getting nasty phone calls within four weeks. Yet we feel that a 'nine to five' is secure??

I went through a few ideas with Karen and she worked at her new business 20 hours a day for two weeks. She struggled as her online income remained low througout this time. Four months later she earns more than her boss did. She has money in the bank, but her ex-colleagues tell her they're still waiting for her to return. Doesn't she miss the security?

I think they'll have along wait.