Author Topic: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job  (Read 6372 times)

DSmizzle87

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Hello,

What do you do when you have a high-paying gig that you cannot get elsewhere, but it is making you go crazy? Do you stick it out for the next 3-5 years for a nice chunk of savings or do you leave for something that you can see yourself doing longer-term but saving less?
If you have been in this situation and made a decision I would really like to hear from you. Thanks! PS- If there is anyone active on here from Michigan send me a message, looking to meet up for a beer with like-minded mustachians :s)

My Stats:
29 Years old
Resident of the Mitten
Bachelors in Finance, MBA in International Business

Debts:
None

Savings:Expected to be approx 100k by year-end
$75k current(in bank, nothing invested. Waiting for the next recession. I know I know, tell me this is wrong.)

Income: 78,000 after tax
Side Hustles- 3-5k Annual
Job Income- 70-75k (take home)

Monthly Expenses: Approx $1700
$930 small one bedroom apartment
$200 relationship budget with girlfriend
$200 all utilities
$300 food
$30 fuel
$50 misc
(work pays for car payment, car insurance and health insurance)

As you can see, my work pays for a lot. I've been working there for 3 years. I started working there with 55k in student loan debt and about 4k in credit card debt and 0$ in savings. My goal for this job was to pay off all my debts and save up some money. From that regard, I have accomplished my mission. I keep telling myself that if I can stick it out for even 3 more years and keep saving the way I am, I will be so much closer to FI at a younger age than most.

So what's the problem? I'm in a sales position at a minority-owned small business. Needless to say, we wear A LOT of hats. I've learned so much about everything. We are a government contractor and our motto is "we do everything the government needs". It's insane. One day we are a construction company and the next we are staffing nurses. There's only a handful of us that do the core work, so my brain has been stretched into a million directions. Everyone else are just floaters that for some reason never get fired. There is no company focus, mission, structure, and the only only management is the owner who sees things very differently and wanders into work around 2 or 3 pm and frowns on any one leaving at 5:30 because she just got there. This is a Indian-owned company and they are basically the mafia for anyone who works there that isn't Indian. Me, however a white boy, have worked my way up in the company being the top-selling person that works there, so I am for a lack of better words "protected"... I'm in the circle of trust. I feel there is discrimination, I hate seeing how my co-workers are treated. The way they pay people I feel is not legal to say the least..Also, we are not salary but are not allowed to put more than 40-hours our timesheet without getting pulled aside and corrected, although we all work more than 40. The company is often being audited by the DOL and they usually lose. Glassdoor reviews post things like "Nightmare company" and "Don't walk, Run!". But me, I'm on the top of the food chain. No one really bothers me and now they have me training people to sell like I do. I have to put on the fake smile and laugh at their stupid jokes to not give indication I secretly have not bought into their bullshit.

I have moral, ethical and legal problems with being here and it's an above average level of stress. I am quite a sensitive and artistic, right-brained person. So the fact that I'm only crying and arguing with my parents and gf occassionally is a WIN.I went to school for finance (which was my worst class) and I've been in sales my entire career and I absolutely hate it, but having graduated in 2009 when the economy took a dive, sales is all I've done since graduating (aside from taking 10 grand i had from pinching pennies in college  to open a pizza restaurant for a year during the recession which was a horrible financial decision but it was fun). The only reason I am still at this job is because of the money I take home.

So there's a few things going on here: 1) Bringing home a lot of money but at what cost, 2) Major anxiety and stress daily 3) I don't want to leave this job and take up another job just like this because I've grown to hate selling anything anymore 4) I don't really know what else I would do if I leave this job

Side Hustle- I've done side hustling all year. I've sold e-books for Amazon as a self publisher. If anyone know about this method you know it is a scam using other people to write your books. Once I found this hustle out I stopped. I now have a side hustle where I sell coffee mugs on esty with cool things on them. I don't really enjoy, but it's what I do when I get home from work to give me some light at the end of the tunnel that some day I don't have to do what I do now for work.

Sorry if this is all over the place. Just trying to give all the facts that are important to knowing my situation. Looking forward to responses from anyone who has been in a similar situation.

Thanks gang! And thanks to MMM for putting this whole thing together. I'm riding a bike to work now, hoo-rah!

MishMash

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2016, 02:45:30 PM »
Dude,

Run.  Just run.  Legal moral and ethical questions, it's not worth it.  And with your degrees you can make way more then that if you are willing to move.  You could easily double it if you moved here to DC and that's without doing sales. 

mozar

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2016, 09:42:20 PM »
Being that you've worn so many hats you can use your non selling experience to get you a job in a related business field. It will probably take at least a few months. You can post all the details of the different kinds of work you have done and people on this forum can help you craft a resume that will work in a non sales position.

You say that they don't bother you much, can you use your time to shadow someone else while you are at work? Do you have any co-workers who can cross train you?
I've been where you are at, and feeling hopeless. I thought there was no way I could get a higher paying job. But I went from 75k to 94k in one job hop by learning how to negotiate within my field. Are you on LinkedIn? Do recruiters contact you?
I'm also a sensitive person. Hang in there!

Cottonswab

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2016, 12:35:15 AM »
Apply for other jobs.  You should be able to improve your income, work environment, and type of work you do. 

DSmizzle87

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2016, 03:57:14 PM »
Mozar, thank you for your response. What field are you in that you were able to make that kind of jump in salary? I do get contacted my recruiters but it just seems to be more of the same


Being that you've worn so many hats you can use your non selling experience to get you a job in a related business field. It will probably take at least a few months. You can post all the details of the different kinds of work you have done and people on this forum can help you craft a resume that will work in a non sales position.

You say that they don't bother you much, can you use your time to shadow someone else while you are at work? Do you have any co-workers who can cross train you?
I've been where you are at, and feeling hopeless. I thought there was no way I could get a higher paying job. But I went from 75k to 94k in one job hop by learning how to negotiate within my field. Are you on LinkedIn? Do recruiters contact you?
I'm also a sensitive person. Hang in there!

mozar

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2016, 04:13:23 PM »
I work in a type of consulting related to accounting. If you are being contacted by recruiters you have no excuse. Leverage the recruiters against each other to get a big raise. If it is actually more of the same (though I find it hard to believe that every single employer would be the same, surely you can find an employer not run by the mafia) just move on.

dess1313

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2016, 05:43:36 AM »
Start applying for new jobs now!!!
Sounds like you needed to leave for a long time already. And you will never find out what is out there unless you you look.
You should be able to put lots of rounded out skills on your resume if they have you doing anything and everything.

acroy

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2016, 06:49:58 AM »
Reading the title, I was gonna say, Suck it it and stay.
But based on the description, you should have a stellar experience-based resume and be able to make 100k+ elsewhere.
Run!

mskyle

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2016, 07:42:09 AM »
Just start applying to new jobs! You can find something better!

A lot of people (here and elsewhere) seem to believe that difficulty/unpleasantness of a job is correlated with how much money you make at the job but this is not generally the case. Shitty workplaces underpay you AND mistreat you. Like, beyond literal hazard pay, shift differentials, stuff like that, most places don't pay you extra for having a crappy job.

Frugalman19

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2016, 07:51:05 AM »
Dude, i know you think you make alot of money, but you really dont. With your experience and credentials you should be making well over $100,000. Id go ask them for a $20k increase and if they say no, then leave.

spicykissa

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2016, 02:18:53 AM »
Get out! Even if you have to stay in sales (and you probably don't), you can find another position that won't make you cry!

I agree with the notion that a crappy workplace will both underpay you AND treat you poorly. You probably have tons of contacts after three years of this many hats thing--put out some feelers! Just starting to look will probably help you feel better.   

snogirl

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2016, 07:38:47 AM »
Please go and sell your talents elsewhere! You have wings & will fly! I retired Army in 2007 & since then have walked out of 2 soul sucking jobs the last being a horrible 5 year stint with the government. HRC complaints, lies, back stabbing, high stress for what? Thank God for MMM principals & practices. I culled so many great ideas here. Toxicity has a huge price & no amount of money is worth it. You'll land on your feet & make more. I'm a week out of that job & am excited about new opportunities.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk


Metric Mouse

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2016, 01:26:26 AM »
Mozar, thank you for your response. What field are you in that you were able to make that kind of jump in salary? I do get contacted my recruiters but it just seems to be more of the same


Being that you've worn so many hats you can use your non selling experience to get you a job in a related business field. It will probably take at least a few months. You can post all the details of the different kinds of work you have done and people on this forum can help you craft a resume that will work in a non sales position.

You say that they don't bother you much, can you use your time to shadow someone else while you are at work? Do you have any co-workers who can cross train you?
I've been where you are at, and feeling hopeless. I thought there was no way I could get a higher paying job. But I went from 75k to 94k in one job hop by learning how to negotiate within my field. Are you on LinkedIn? Do recruiters contact you?
I'm also a sensitive person. Hang in there!

You get contacted by recruiters!?  Follow up with them; get the hell out of there as fast as you can.

MsRichLife

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2016, 03:24:40 AM »
With all the benefit of hindsight: Sanity is worth more than money.

Dicey

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2016, 12:59:54 PM »
And the OP isn't really making all that much at the end of the day...  presumably other jobs in the area would be at least comparable.
I was thinking the same thing. To the OP, this may seem like a lot of money, but in the real world, replicating it should be doable, particularly with their experience and aptitude.

marty998

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2016, 01:23:20 PM »
You seem to be able to run the business better than they can.

Ethically questionable, but if there is no non-compete clause in your contract, can you be a bit cheeky and set up your own similar business?

Fuzz

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2016, 05:13:28 PM »
Life is short. Check out some Ramit's job search stuff. You should be able to find a better job with those credentials.

letired

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2016, 06:00:54 PM »
What all these fine folks said.

Also, invest your cash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep whatever you consider a health emergency fund/cushion, and get those dollars going on making new dollars!

brooklynmoney

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Re: Sanity VS High-Paying Job?/ 29 Years Old makes good money and hates job
« Reply #18 on: November 07, 2016, 08:43:00 PM »
Do you know how much an enterprise software salesperson makes? I would check out any companies near you. If you are going to have a high stress sales job you might as well get $$&