Quitting my toxic job pre-FIRE (be nice, please!)

[Mademoiselle Mustache]

Hello fellow cult members: looking for a little encouragement here so please be nice.

BACKGROUND: I relocated to my home country (Australia) in 2022 after 10 years living the tax-free expat dream. Though I was employed full time, I moonlighted freelance work throughout the ten years - and have kept that up since returning.

I'm single, no kids, and pushing 40. I am happy to say I've built up a little mountain of savings/investments and FIRE is within reach (5 years, maybe less).

THE SITUATION: I was recruited from overseas for my current full time job, and it has not turned out to be what was promised (ie. clients I relocated for had left the company and they hid it for the first few weeks from me etc). I finished a Masters in 2021, and now none of my clients relate to that field which is my passion (aviation) so the degree is starting to feel like a waste.

Even more tricky, my notice period is three months, which makes job hunting quite difficult.

I find the company culture is quite toxic, and trust has been broken by the way they have treated quite a few employees (unjustified redundancies made before Christmas and so on).

I indicated intent to resign in December 2022, and was asked to please re-consider and regroup in the first week of January with HR. I had to be proactive and set up a meeting to confirm my resignation in January as I didn't hear a peep out of HR. Again, I was asked to delay - they came back to me with the offer of 80% remote work and extra annual leave (that I would need to work to accrue). I appreciate they are trying to keep me, but after being employed there for 9 months, I'm expecting more of the same empty promises.

Today, I just want to have this over and done with, and be brave enough to rip off the bandaid and resign. Yes - it is going to delay my FIRE, but work should be satisfying/rewarding, and this ain't.

Staying would accelerate my FIRE plans, and I'm scared to not have the consistent salary/superannuation payments coming in.

My plan is to continue to freelance (I bring in about $6-7K per month but it fluctuates) and once I am closer to finishing my three-month notice period with this company, I can start job hunting properly and find something that better aligns with my passion/studies/previous experience.

Any words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated - I don't have many people I can bounce this off, so help me out Mustachians!

TLDR: Quitting my job pre-FIRE because I don't like it, and I'm scared.

[lhamo]

OMG -- yes!  Leave the toxicity now (well, as soon as your notice period allows).  I assume you can live easily on the 6-7k/month your freelancing gives you?  Personally I would stick with that for as long as you can -- you are basically coast FIRE if not fully FIREd at this point.

[former player]

You've made a big change with the relocation and that's a lot to deal with, absolutely no point in staying in a toxic job on top.

If you go completely freelance, what are your chances of picking up work directly from the clients you were promised?  You've already got a good base of clients given the money you''re bringing in, it might not take many more for you to be able to fly solo rather than looking for another employer.

Congratulations on the stash you've already got - 5 years or less to FIRE is a great position to be in.

[Malossi792]

OMG -- yes!  Leave the toxicity now (well, as soon as your notice period allows).  I assume you can live easily on the 6-7k/month your freelancing gives you?  Personally I would stick with that for as long as you can -- you are basically coast FIRE if not fully FIREd at this point.

+1
Not a minute longer than required.

[Metalcat]

No one here is going to discourage you from leaving a toxic job just because you haven't reached FI yet.

I took a massive pay cut early in my career while I was still is debt and it was the best decision of my life.

Don't waste your life on toxic bullshit you don't need to be doing. The purpose of money is to buy a better quality of life. You defeat that purpose by working a job that ruins your quality of life just to get that money.

Move on.

The world of work is MASSIVE. You have TONS of options.

[Freedomin5]

You have a ton of FU money and a second income stream from freelancing. There’s no reason for you not to quit and find something better.

[darkskys]

As someone who stayed in a toxic job for far too long out of fear of impacting my saving I can say it’s not worth it. You already are making money freelancing and I see no reason for you to stay.

Ask yourself this: what’s the health consequences of staying? Prolonging a stay in a toxic job can have health and relationship consequences that will add up over time. Consider reframing your cost-benefit analysis in terms of these factors.

[Dicey]

Time to fly.

[Omy]

You already make more freelancing than most do with a job. When you dump the toxic job, you'll have so much more bandwidth to expand that income source (if you even want to). You have FU money and freelance income. I don't see any problems (and I'm pretty good at finding things to worry about).

[Midwest_Handlebar]

But what if once you quit all your freelance work dries up, and you end up homeless living under a bridge! (s)

As others have already said, be kind to yourself, protect your mental health and quit the shitty job. This is why you save money, so you can live life on your terms.

[Fresh Bread]

Quit!!!

It sounds identical to a company I used to work for. Random redundancies before Xmas, promising things that don't exist, lack of communication, and worst of all - people being hired and then just abandoned. I remember a woman started and left within months due to it not being the job she was promised and I was so in awe of her. (I was stuck there for years to get PR). The two worst moments involved managing projects, calling a contributing team member to ask where there input was and finding out they were made redundant a few days ago, leaving me in the shit.

Quit today, it will only get worse :D

[FIRE 20/20]

$6-7k from freelance work?  And a huge 'stache saved up?  About 5-ish years from FIRE?  Yeah, definitely quit. 

And, with all that free time you'll have, do you feel comfortable posting about your situation on the Epic FU money stories thread? 

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/epic-fu-money-stories/