I would love to work, say, 20-30 hours a week for 50%-75% of my base salary. Buy stuff on sale, cook for myself instead of eating out, I think I could live quite happily that way. But unless you're good enough (and social enough) to find work as a consultant, there aren't many skilled jobs that will let you do that. If you're not willing to work at least 40 hours a week, they're not interested.