A year and a half ago I went from $100,000 take home pay (using my degree in a healthcare field) to $36,000 take home pay (only need a high school diploma). I am so much happier!!! And am on track for a new position in the company for about $60,000 take home. If I could make $100,000 in my new role of course I wouldn’t turn it down! Haha but healthcare was wearing me out, and I still have a 60% ish savings rate so I just look at it as a temporary back step. I can’t imagine being in my first job 20 years from now, with a house, kids, dogs, more bills, and being unable to escape due to the lifestyle creep. I’m so glad I cut that job loose.
Here are the things that I did:
1) made sure I could live on my new lower salary
2) had a plan to increase said low salary (you don’t want to downgrade to a dead end)
3) kept my options open in my old job field in case I change my mind- i am keeping all of my certifications and I could go back to my high paying job tomorrow if I wanted.