S/O: Working Moms Pay & Hours

[Anonymous]

$130k, 8:30-5:00, minimal travel, rarely take work home.

[Anonymous]

I'm very happy in my career, but I also have been "leaning in" the past 5 years with my company and have been rewarded accordingly in promotions/pay. Similar to you OP, I make $175K base with up to 20% bonus. I'm the breadwinner. I would absolutely still work if money were no object because I find fulfillment in it. However, I don't even think about it much though in terms of alternatives since DH and I have combined $300K in student loans.

I work 7a-5pm and some nights after 2 yo goes to bed/weekends. We'll see how that changes after #2 comes in April. For the last several years I've traveled every couple months for a few days.

I most definitely HATE that I'm not as good at my job as I used to be due to home commitments, and not as good at home as I could be because of my job. Basically all of my peers either have kids that are past college or for the few that do have kids, their spouse is a SAHM. They don't have the same time constraints so I'm the one who is always leaving early comparatively and have to make up the time other ways.

[Anonymous]

I make $107K and work 8:30-4:30 most of the time, though I put in a little more facetime on the days I'm not on kid pickup duty. I get one telework day a week that is a little flexible but not 100% flexible. I sometimes have time to work out during the work day, but not always.

Given my education and work experience, I should frankly be making quite a bit more. But I have foregone career advancement since I had a kid to keep a regular schedule with flexibility for doctor's appointments, some school volunteering, soccer practice, etc.

[Anonymous]

Whoa, I'm blown away by this thread. I make around 50K for 80% work (32 hours/week) in a museum content-related position. I adore my job (went back to school to help get it) and love working 80% time but I don't know ANYONE in real life who makes anywhere near the kind of money mentioned here. I know some lawyers but I guess not at the level of you guys. Most people I know are mid-level feds (grades 9-12 or 13) or teachers or nonprofit employees, etc. My spouse makes around 80K as a research analyst and I feel like we're really fortunate to be doing well and have some savings, but next year will be tight when we have child #2 this spring and then have 2 in daycare. This is just really eye-opening. And probably illustrates why comparison is the thief of joy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seriously can't believe how much some people make. I thought I was doing well at 84. DH makes 200. I work 9-5 at a small non-profit as a director. Started in September after SAH for 4 years. I left at the director level 4 years ago. My job is a combination of marketing, sales, writing, and business development mostly. Workload is heavy and intense and I could easily bring work home but I choose to keep it at the office and just stress there. I don't take lunch and usually leave around 5:30. Not much flexibility. No working from home, very little time off with 14 total PTO (includes sick) plus the major holidays. Enjoy the work I do but find the lack of flex and limited time off very stifling. I have previously WAH and SAH and thought with both kids in elementary this year that it was time to go back to work but I miss them and feel I'm not really able to be there for them as I have been. I would take less money to WFH with flex for school events, gym, and no commute. But at that, I cannot believe that others are making tons more than me with a load of flex to boot!

I'm 36 with a Masters. DH is 38. 2 kids, 5 and 7.

Anyone in sales/marketing want to share more? I must be doing something wrong!

I posted back on 2/14 (13:59) I am 40 and work in tech sales. I have been doing this for 10 years, and previously worked for a non-profit, where I made a quarter of what I make now. I don't have a tech degree (I do have a Masters), but I know the industry that my company serves, and that experience is valuable in my position. What else would you like to know? Happy to share if it helps. One thing I will say about sales in my industry, I could probably make two or three times more than what I make now but I would have to travel more, which I don't want to do with small kids, and my husband travels fairly frequently. Right now I only have to travel 4-5 times per year.

Not PP (NP here) but I want to know more. I have a tech background and a masters and have been doing public speaking for about a decade, so I'm polished. How do you get into tech sales? Who are the best employers in the region?

[Anonymous]

80k, work 9-4 at an association. Very family friendly and flexible which is partly why I'm still working. Don't love my job but love the people I work with. Very rarely travel and no after hours work. Works well with my husband's demanding career where he makes twice as much.

[Anonymous]

$95K full-time WAH (9-5) in a web/PR role. Love the flexibility but feel very underpaid for my skill set. Looking to move on when my kids get a little older and there's less need for flexibility.

[Anonymous]

I make $100k a year, and work full time (avg 40 hrs/wk, but it's a compressed schedule with longer days & every other Friday off). Most weeks, I don't have to check my email when off duty. I've only worked one weekend in the last four years.

I chose the field that I did knowing that I'd want a family and some work life balance - I chose a career that would work out at 40 hrs/wk. Even though being a lawyer or a consultant sounded interesting work wise, I knew 60-80 hr work weeks weren't for me.

I've been approached to join consulting firms and the annual compensation certainly would be higher, but so would the hours, and when I did the math, my actual hourly rate would not be higher elsewhere. So, overall I'm happy with my choice, even with the downsides.

[Anonymous]

^^ should also add, I do travel for work, but it's not required. I do it when it works for me, is good for my professional development, and sometimes I take the kids with me.

[Anonymous]

I make $64K and work 8-5. Hours are not flexible and I travel frequently.

I only keep working because I enjoy the travel. It allows me to see new places that I couldn't otherwise afford, plus accrue miles and points for family vacations.

I could make more at another company or working for myself though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whoa, I'm blown away by this thread. I make around 50K for 80% work (32 hours/week) in a museum content-related position. I adore my job (went back to school to help get it) and love working 80% time but I don't know ANYONE in real life who makes anywhere near the kind of money mentioned here. I know some lawyers but I guess not at the level of you guys. Most people I know are mid-level feds (grades 9-12 or 13) or teachers or nonprofit employees, etc. My spouse makes around 80K as a research analyst and I feel like we're really fortunate to be doing well and have some savings, but next year will be tight when we have child #2 this spring and then have 2 in daycare. This is just really eye-opening. And probably illustrates why comparison is the thief of joy.

I've never heard this quote before but it's spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoa, I'm blown away by this thread. I make around 50K for 80% work (32 hours/week) in a museum content-related position. I adore my job (went back to school to help get it) and love working 80% time but I don't know ANYONE in real life who makes anywhere near the kind of money mentioned here. I know some lawyers but I guess not at the level of you guys. Most people I know are mid-level feds (grades 9-12 or 13) or teachers or nonprofit employees, etc. My spouse makes around 80K as a research analyst and I feel like we're really fortunate to be doing well and have some savings, but next year will be tight when we have child #2 this spring and then have 2 in daycare. This is just really eye-opening. And probably illustrates why comparison is the thief of joy.

I've never heard this quote before but it's spot on.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoa, I'm blown away by this thread. I make around 50K for 80% work (32 hours/week) in a museum content-related position. I adore my job (went back to school to help get it) and love working 80% time but I don't know ANYONE in real life who makes anywhere near the kind of money mentioned here. I know some lawyers but I guess not at the level of you guys. Most people I know are mid-level feds (grades 9-12 or 13) or teachers or nonprofit employees, etc. My spouse makes around 80K as a research analyst and I feel like we're really fortunate to be doing well and have some savings, but next year will be tight when we have child #2 this spring and then have 2 in daycare. This is just really eye-opening. And probably illustrates why comparison is the thief of joy.

I've never heard this quote before but it's spot on.

+1

Agree that is a very interesting quote. I'm the one making 175K base and constantly am questioning whether I need to find a different job that pays better given our baseline financial commitments (student loans primarily, but also $3500 in daycare, mortgage, etc.) and "poor" status compared to everyone we know (yes yes, I know this is ridiculous I grew up in rural midwest).

[Anonymous]

I have two jobs, just getting back to work (DD is eighteen months). I substitute teach at a high school, which is intermittent, and am a yoga teacher, the income from which is variable, too. It's a real struggle but I don't want to become "unemployable" (with too much of a gap on my resume) so I thought this would be a good time to re-enter the workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two jobs, just getting back to work (DD is eighteen months). I substitute teach at a high school, which is intermittent, and am a yoga teacher, the income from which is variable, too. It's a real struggle but I don't want to become "unemployable" (with too much of a gap on my resume) so I thought this would be a good time to re-enter the workforce.

Oh, sorry, didn't answer the schedule component. I have to be available to work at a moment's notice starting at 7:30 (for substituting) until 4, and the yoga classes I teach are in the early - very early - morning or evening (I teach three).