Taking Vacation to study and feel pretty mixed

[Mesmoiselle]

I'm about to finish this assignment and go home for 3 months to study for a licence. The point of the licence is so I can be more picky about the jobs I take; not more interesting places, because I'm a bit of a homebody anyway. not even really more money, because I think the way the contracts work, it's negligible. But so I can take assignments that are closer to home where my husbands of 5 and 3 years remain while I'm in other states. Also for a future where I switch over to a different career teaching.

 I did the math and every week not working will be around 2k I'm not putting in my pocket. 😮 So I realized I'm losing out on 16k+ to study for a test. That's an expensive test!

Back when I only made about 1k/week, I was like, eh, month off is awesome. Now that's it's twice that, it's kind of staggering me.

I guess it's not really a question, but I feel guilty? @_@ Anybody else get this feeling when they started earning more?

Edit add: Unrelated, I've noticed how my job satisfaction is inversely proportional to how much I read and post on this forum. :P

[Choices]

I'm a little confused. Do you have multiple husbands? And you want to be close to them both?

If passing this test is the only way to get to your new career and increase your ability to work where you want, it can be worth it. Do you have an emergency fund to see you through? Will your new license increase your happiness by $16k worth? Will your new license enable you to negotiate for $16k more per year?

What are your chances of obtaining your license if you don't take the time off?

[Playing with Fire UK]

Can you combine the time between contracts with something to save money or make money? Are there any projects that you would normally outsource that you could do yourself? Do you have any interest in doing some casual work after your studying?

Would you feel better if you calculated how much it would cost to spend the same amount of time at home while doing contracts further from home. Eg taking Friday afternoon and Monday morning off and travelling back every weekend? Or working shorter days so that you got home at the same time (not sure about the distances involved so what the fair comparison is).

Do you have other self-improvement projects that you could combine with your time off? Any interest in doing something like P90X or another fitness programme? A meditation programme? Any post-FIRE (if that is your plan) projects that you could make a start on or test out?

I also go through phases of thinking that I must work-work-work to FIRE asap, but by focussing on the WHY (more time with loved ones, more time outside) I can be more balaced about it. When I first discovered this forum and FIRE concept I spent a lot of time being less satisfied with work, this still comes and goes (a bit like the Matrix red/blue pills).

[Axecleaver]

Lowering your income will also reduce your tax burden. Do you file MFJ with one of your husbands, or do you file single? 2k a week MFJ means you're at least in the 25% bracket, maybe higher. So it's really not 2k a week you're missing out on, it's at most $1500 a week.

But to answer your question, yes, I struggle with taking time off and missing out on income. I'm a small business owner and paid hourly. If I decide to take a week off for vacation, I spend money on travel and I lose that income, so the vacations are really "expensive." The other side of the coin is that you're making a tradeoff - studying for the test may provide more options in the future.

You could do a Return on Investment (ROI) study to see how long it would take you to recover the three months of revenue you're missing. Just model out what you're not taking in, and how much more you're likely to earn in the future.

[arebelspy]

so I can take assignments that are closer to home where my husbands of 5 and 3 years remain while I'm in other states.

I'm a little confused. Do you have multiple husbands? And you want to be close to them both?

That's how I read it.  Quite curious about this, as I'm sure you get a lot, if it wasn't a typo.  :)

I know we have a large number of polyamorous people on the forums (from previous threads/discussions), but I'm curious about the logistics of the above.

[bobechs]

Sell the big husband and move in with the little one.  You'll save a ton and the clutter will be reduced amazingly.