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!