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Anonymous wrote:

mjsmith wrote:did the same thing 14 years ago. took me about 4 years to get close to the same money i was making. but the PTO and better quality of life was worth it.

NP here: Would love to learn more. I feel like my job is making my mental health suffer. I've always worked and am thinking of quitting...and I've never, ever thought of not working before. I'm too young to retire but am thinking about a job that has benefits, but that I don't have to take home with me at night.

What was the realization you made 14 yrs ago and what was the shift? (from what to what?)

my old job I was working 50-60 hours a week. my last year there i spent about 20 weekends at work. I had a three year old daughter. and I was tired of missing stuff. I had a company vehicle nice bonus structure, but not much vacay or holidays and it was a bit high pressure with some sales.

was ready to change fields, but ended up staying in the same field. work for a government type org. now up to 26 paid leave days each year 18 holidays, average 40-45 hours per week. when I changed jobs, even though I was making more at the old job when you calculated my hourly rate at the new job it was 10% more per hour. Plus other better long term benefits.

Quality of life has improved so much, we get a few busy times of the year which kicks the stress/excitement level up a few notches.

well worth it. got to watch my kid grow up and actually have holidays and vacations.

we did have to do some belt tightenting initially from a budget point of view

Anonymous wrote:

mjsmith wrote:did the same thing 14 years ago. took me about 4 years to get close to the same money i was making. but the PTO and better quality of life was worth it.

NP here: Would love to learn more. I feel like my job is making my mental health suffer. I've always worked and am thinking of quitting...and I've never, ever thought of not working before. I'm too young to retire but am thinking about a job that has benefits, but that I don't have to take home with me at night.

What was the realization you made 14 yrs ago and what was the shift? (from what to what?)

Np here as well. My DH also went through this 4 years ago and the outcome has been great.
What made it work out:
We live below our means in the first place so would not stress about having ends meet after the lower pay
We had an emergency fund
He didn't actually quit, so there wasn't any CV gap or income pause, but for him/us it wouldn't have been too much of an issue
DH has some very transferable skills
He went to a much smaller organization where he could be much higher up
He knew that the smaller firm was well run and had a good reputation in its industry.

Benefits:
More seniority, able to implement his ideas and add value
This led to a pay increase as it reflected the firms increased revenue too
Great flexibility since he's senior and gets his work done however and whenever, and doesn't have to report to anyone...
Much more mentally healthy, as he has people around him really appreciating him

It's great for me as a WOHM as the flexibility for kids pickup is golden.
I do have better benefits but his aren't bad
I hate my job at a big organization and would love to work at his...but would never work at the same place as that would be too much togetherness or we would bring personal issues to work !

The key was to go smaller and pick a good smaller company that has potential to let you advance.

Happy for you guys.

Good motivation to finally leave my fed job that's secure but making me miserable.

This is helpful to me right now. I am a poster who posted about being miserable with my job and having a phone call for a really great opportunity that would pay me less (less than 15k). Glad it worked out for your DH- I hope this will be me.

Anonymous wrote:He hated his hold job. Was worried about leaving and the paycut, but I told him I'd rather have a happy husband and less money than more money and a miserable spouse.

Loves the new job, and now, a year and a half into it, he got a promotion getting him back to his former pay.

This isn't big $$$ by DCUM standards, I'm just so happy that the change paid off!

Good for both of you!

Great news!

mjsmith wrote:did the same thing 14 years ago. took me about 4 years to get close to the same money i was making. but the PTO and better quality of life was worth it.

NP here: Would love to learn more. I feel like my job is making my mental health suffer. I've always worked and am thinking of quitting...and I've never, ever thought of not working before. I'm too young to retire but am thinking about a job that has benefits, but that I don't have to take home with me at night.

What was the realization you made 14 yrs ago and what was the shift? (from what to what?)

did the same thing 14 years ago. took me about 4 years to get close to the same money i was making. but the PTO and better quality of life was worth it.

I said the same to my DH when he was miserable at his job. Life is too short to be that miserable for that long.

Money isn’t always everything- what about one’s happiness? I would do the same OP. I would rather sacrifice in other ways and be happy at my job.

OP, that's great! I'm glad things turned out so well. Mental health is priceless, and sometimes you just have to choose wellness over money.

Glad to hear a happy story of things working out!

He hated his hold job. Was worried about leaving and the paycut, but I told him I'd rather have a happy husband and less money than more money and a miserable spouse.

Loves the new job, and now, a year and a half into it, he got a promotion getting him back to his former pay.

This isn't big $$$ by DCUM standards, I'm just so happy that the change paid off!