What Would You do?

[Shortie]

I know I'm the pnly one who can decide this one (with Mr Shortie's support of course) but it made me wonder what others would do if they were me.

So... if this were you, what would youu decide to do?

I'm in a job that I don't mind but I hate my team. I'm looking for another job which has made me think about what I want to do with my life.

I'm in IT in the City and don't enjoy it but to be brutally honest I stay there as it pays well and I can afford to pay my mortgage. That's the only real reason I o this

So... next month our mortgage changes to one of those Virgin One jobbies. It means that if we choose to, Mr Shortie and I can reduce down our payments and pay it off over 35 years. However we also know if we chuck most of our money at it, we can be mortgage free in about 8. originally we took out the mortgage so that we could aim at the 8 year mark

Now... the dilema comes in this. Do you

(a) Continue doing yur same job, being stressed in th evening when you get home, it ended up in the sacrificing of my lotties.. buuuuut... we'll be mortage free fairly soon and be able to do whatever we darned well want to. We can continue to have luxuries too like holidays etc. Also knowing my job is relatively safe (well... compared to most in the current market) and that if I were made redundant I'd get a nice pay off as I've been here forever (first job from Uni)

(b) Jack in the job, jack in the city, and find local work (I'd love to back in retail) knowing we'd struggle a little, and that jobs in retail can be less stable that where I am now, but I would have more time with the kids, maybe taking them to school in the mornings... but we'd have the mortgage hanging round our necks for what would feel like an eternity

(c) Other

As I say, I know only Mr Shortie and I can decide this, but I would be interested to see what other grapes would do if this were them

[miffy]

Hi,
My gut reaction is to jack it in and move on to a job you enjoy, however as you quite rightly say your current job is well paid and if it does go belly up you would get a good severence package.
I don't know what age you are, it sounds by the term you are considering that you must be quite young. 35 years is a very long term for a mortgage compared to eight.
Is there anything you can do to minimise the boredom factor of your post, retraining, asking to be moved to a different department for your CPD. Could you cut down your hours, take on flexi time? So instead of leaving you are still there but not doing as many hours.
I have a very stressful job at times, and i work daft hours but i love what i do so i can't imagine putting in all those hours for somethingi really don't enjoy.
I hope you are able to resolve this and feel happier.
All the very best.

[allotmentlady]

me personally, take a leap of faith and jack the job in and do something your happy doing, money isnt everything, although it does help, health, happiness and being with the one you truly love is what counts.....who knows what you will be doing in 35 years, use the spare cash to go on holiday, spend quality time together xxx good luck with whatever you decide x

[Comfreyfan]

Like you say only you two can make the decision. But I'd go with AL, money isn't everything. My DH died suddenly aged 35 - but we had a great life together. 2 years before he died he'd decided not to take an incredibly well paid job that would have meant living away from the children and I during the week. I'm so glad, I might not have had quite the struggle over the past years, but we had two more precious years with him at home, attending school sports days and walking the dog as a family most evenings.

And if you're anything like the rest of the world, if you get near the end of this mortgage - you'll see the potential for taking on another!!

[Shortie]

Hmmm.. I hadn't thought about that Comfreyfan.... there would be the temptation to invest the money in something else, and then we're back to square one...

Miffy, I just hit 30, so mortgage-wise relatively young still. I am looking within the company. There's a role I have been informally offered - more flexible, thought the basic 35 hours per week still need to be put in. There would be no automatic presumtion of doing free overtime (i.e. we are salaried, so an extra is unrewarded), and more importantly it's a nice team and working for someone who I respect. However there are problems releasing the head count, and though I believe she is/was genuine in the job offer, I have a feeling it won't materialise. Call me pesamistic but I think that's the way I feel about the company at the moment

They also recently relocated us and the journey for me is now a pain in the rear

[zazen999]

Shortie: only you can make the decision; I went the other way - left a job I really loved because the travelling was 94 miles each way. And that was just to the office; most of the work was in the field anywhere from northampton to norfolk; and back across to the M1 and it also covered london. The new £ was better but stress levels went through the roof.

I think a list of pros and cons might be needed.....

[kirsty b]

Have no idea on the mortgage front, as we rent, but on the job front...
I had a crap job in a meat factory that paid well. I hated the work and most of the people and was always miserable.
Going into the NHS as a Nursing Assistant was a leap for me as I had never done anything like it before - and 5 years on I still love it.
Money can be tight sometimes, but we always manage to get by. This time next year, as long as I'm accepted, I'll be a student nurse

[Two_Sheds]

If you stick it out, you can decide to do whatever you want in 8 years time.

If you jack it in, you may not get another job, or you may get a worse team.

-------
what can you do in the meantime to make the job more bearable?

[snuffer]

That is a toughy Shortie. Mrs snuffer has a well paid job that she loves. I worked as a coal miner. I wouldn't say I hated the job but no one in their right mind would say they loved it. I worked every hour God sent. Seventy two hours a week at times. By the time I was in my mid thirties mortgage was paid off and, we decided that I should finish work.

I have never looked back. I am now the 'house husband' and look after the lottie and the garden. I really am as happy as the proverbial pig in s%$t.

I guess what I am trying to say is that, I am only in this posistion now because I stuck with it earlier. We don't live in the lap of luxury but we have a nice house with a good garden, in a little village, surounded by farms and fields. Time spent putting up with the crap can pay dividends in the end.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[smallblueplanet]

How happy are you now? What makes you happy? Does lack of money make you unhappy?

I'd jack the stressful job in, but then you & I want different things from life I imagine.

[Nicos]

we did b)
It'd have been a lot easier if we'd waited another couple of years- but then I'd have probably ended up a widow.

So..we made the right decision for us.
As the others have said- only you can decide

[piskieinboots]

If it were me, which is what you asked - I would put whatever made me happiest first, which would be (in my case) jacking in a job that I wasn't happy in, cut the commute and take time to enjoy life NOW rather than push for potential enjoyment in eight years time, which may well have changed anyway.

I gave up a high paid job in 1993 when I married Snowdrop - it was either stay in my job and communte to a (at best) weekend husband or jack in and move with the Service.

I chose to jack in - money hasn't ever been high on my agenda in driving my ambitions, but I have always managed to get work prior to going to the self-employed/working from home route in 2000.

We don't have a mortgage and have no plans to do so - so I can't advise there, the passion to 'own one's home' seems to be a British thing, it isn't a strong feature elsewhere from what pals abroad tell me.

[pdblake]

Personally I'd stick it out. Just imagine, mortgage free in just 8 years, and not yet 40

A lot of people would kill for that, 8 years of stress or not

[Headfry]

If you really cant decide, make a plan to re visit this idea in say 6 months. do you really have to make that choice RIGHT now??
Would just knowing that you can quit the job if you choose, be the thing that keeps you going a little longer?
I think I would wait until world is a little more stable, but thats' is me and I am a total chicken when it comes to change!

[Rhona]

We were in similar position recently. We both had stressful but well paid jobs, but actually enjoyed it and work in nice situations. I stopped work to have our babies almost two years ago, and we had the same thing - we could pay off our mortgage in 7 years on existing terms if I went back to work; or extend the term and not worry about me going back to work.

We decided to extend, so I could stay at home and raise our little ones. We're very lucky and are still pretty comfortable on just one salary. Had it NOT been for the babies though, I would have wanted the mortgage paid off quick sticks whilst young, and then not having the burden of it as we got older.

Biggie though - like I said, I liked my job a lot so not looking to get out of it, which is not your situation, and of course only you and Mr S can decide, but if you're presently young and child-free, I'd be tempted to grit my teeth and do the time now.