Posted on 04/14/2015 2:29:17 AM PDT by newnhdad
For every job I ever held, I figured the marginal savings rate. In other words, I want to know how much I can bank at the end of each month after taking care of all obligations (insurance, student loans etc.) living costs (housing, food, transportation clothing, for myself and for my family), what I want to pay myself for incidentals, entertainment (sanity pay), etc.
What’s left over that I can SAVE. THAT’s what I am earning. If that number is really small or even negative, you need to keep looking for another job. But don’t quit the one you have until you have a new one.
That’s the first law of ropes. Don’t let go of rope A until you have a firm grip on rope B.
Yes. Have you thought about renting out the place you live in and moving with the kids to someplace closer to work?
Try looking for another job before you bolt but my experience in my own employment careers, was that it wasn't worth it in the long run. Time, family, health were all more important than any one job.
I used to tell my employees who were having the same concerns as yours, that it was my job to help them figure out that the job they were in wasn't always a good match for them. Not everyone is cutout for the stress.
Your ultimate decision is up to you. Other people have had good suggestions about how to weigh whether the job is worth the commute, so I won’t repeat that.
All I can say is that, on the occasions when I have to go into DC and fight that horrible traffic, I wonder why anyone willingly subjects themselves to that nightmare every day.
The longest time I have been unemployed (other than retirement now) has been 30 days. I chose that time length as a wind down goof-off period when I got out of the Air Force in 1976 after 8+ years. Always had a new job before I left the old one, but there were times when that really didn’t matter, really.
It all depends on what you have to fall back on and what exactly the type of job (and that career path) is between the two and whether unemployment of some length matters to the new position and whether he thinks he’ll ever want to go back to that career area.
In this case, with no seeming career goals at his current job and the physical harm it is causing I’m not so sure, especially since he does have a wife with a steady job. In the end it is up to him.
Can you telecommute some of the days?
Can you do 10 hour days and work 4 instead of 5?
DC Metro is completely unreliable and even dangerous. I’ve worked in the area for 15 years now, and am looking to make my escape ASAP. It is hell!
It’s not worth it if you must take Ambian.
I’ve had several friends that got up in the middle of the night and drove their car without even remembering it while taking Ambian.
That stuff is very dangerous. Sleep walking would be ok, but sleep driving.
I’ve personally talked with people when they woke up in the middle of the night while on it. They were still asleep but fully functional. In the morning when I asked them about it, they didn’t remember even being awake.
I now work from home. Hate the commute and hate the job. Spill my coffee on the steps all the time, feel stressed to the max and need to get out of here....
Any suggestions...
I know, move back to the farm where I can breathe!
Consider this job to be a stop gap situation. With no chance for improvement and wasting 3 hrs a day cage bound you will hate yourself for keeping the job any length of time. Start looking for something better but have patience.
I am in the same spot...except it’s probably about 80k more than I could make elsewhere and it’s a five minute commute.....and I have been here 25 years.
It was actually a really nice job until about 3 years ago when I got a new boss (and a new CEO) and my new boss is toxic.
The new CEO drives us hard, but she and I get along very well. The new direct boss sees me as a threat and works to undermine me wit other staff and our clients. It is a bad situation.
Three more years and the last kid (of three) is out of college. I was trying to make it that long and manage the situation, but it is a constant strain.
Leave while you can. Life is too short.
The DC area sucks. There are some good people, especially military and retired military, but the rest, and I include myself, are just part of a giant military industrial complex plus trickle down. It will keep going for as long as we borrow and spend (i.e. a long time), but it can’t sustain the entreprenurial spirit needed to grow in the long run. There are some entrepreneurs, good small businesses, etc but a much greater number of bad employers, bad managers, incredibly lazy employees, etc. I suggest calling friends and relatives in other states.
Pride or $30k???
$30k is not much. Especially when you drive 3 hours per day. That alone is...about $192 per hour (assuming a 52 week years). My rate at my manufacturing company is $85 per hour. But in any given year I can only safely bill 27 weeks a year. That alone is a pretty good return.
The good thing with a $30k per year is you will pay little to no taxes. You have something to do and can show pride at the opportunities.
Hard to say. If it were me in the Obamanation I would take as much free ash as possible. Forget pride. Take the money and run.
Bump for later.
Job compensation is much more than the money earned. I consider a quality commute at least a big chunk of the benefits. Time is more than money, it is peace of mind and is never recoverable.
My own standard is a 30 minute commute MAXIMUM. You may have a different standard, but from what you’ve written, you are over the line as it is.
That’s all well and good unless or until you have a spouse with some very serious medical problems that necessitate working even if you hate the job, because that job has good medical benefits. In such a case, retirement is not an option.
No.
Others on this thread have already done good analysis and offered good advice. But the most important thing is that by the verbiage of the post you already know your answer.
Good luck!
No one on their death bed ever said ‘I wish I spent more time at work’
It’s good to have a job while looking for another one. My two cents.
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