Hi
I'd be grateful for some comments on my current situation please.
I live in the UK and commute 4 hours a day (2 hours each way). If I moved to the city where I work, my wife would have to commute 4 hours a day - she currently doesn't commute at all - and we'd leave all our friends behind. We've got good jobs that we enjoy and similar ones would be hard to come by. The commute is actually quite pleasant. I spend it sleeping, reading, studying, playing games and generally chilling out.
I don't own a car so its public transport all the way and costs me 4K a year. I earn 47K before tax. I love my job and am quite good at it. There is a chance of me being promoted very soon which will see my earnings climb to 58K + inflation in 7 years time - progressing about 1.6K a year + inflation between now and then.
It looks very likely that I am about to be offered a job that's so close to home I could easily cycle there, or even walk on a sunny day (4 miles). The job looks exciting but also scary since its quite different from what I have now and I might not be so good at it. It's likely that I'll be offered the same salary that I have now but there will be very little, if any, scope to earn more other than inflation based raises.
So, if everything pans out (and it might not!), I might have the choice of
- Higher paying job that I know I'm good at but big-ass public transport commute (currently 4K). Initially 1.6K better off a year, rising to 11K per year better off in 7 years time.
- Same pay as now but no commute at all. No pay rises. Exciting but scary job that I might suck at.
I'm curious - what would you do?
Cheers,
A noob mustachian