Sorry to hear the situation has got you down.
Please, please don't beat yourself up or facepunch yourself for taking back the job at lower pay. In fact, I think you deserve respect for overcoming your emotions and making what it seems was clearly the best decision and in your best interest.
The lower pay is _not_ a reflection on you personally. The job marketplace is just about supply and demand... the same as for a farmer who worked just as hard this year as last year but, because of global forces beyond her control, was only able to sell the crop for half the price. In this case you said yourself that jobs in your area are "few and far between." Your employer may also have known about the overall supply/demand situation and also that you were unemployed and so not in a position to be picky.
After being unemployed myself a few years ago I took a job paying 20K less than I had been making. No regrets, and am now just shy of where I was before.
You avoided the trap I see people stuck in: "I made $50/hour for many years, so now I won't accept these jobs making only $25/hour" and then they are unemployed for years and years, sometimes forever. Or a variation: "We bought the house for $200,000 and put $40,000 in improvements into it, so it can't possibly be worth $180,000, which is the highest offer we've gotten after listing it for six months." Markets change... don't take it personally.
The good news is you'll have an easier time finding a new job now that you're employed. Perhaps they'll find out soon (when you leave) that the supply/demand situation wasn't as favorable to them as they thought. Or perhaps you'll be showing them your new job offer at 25k higher and asking them if they'd like to match it and keep you. Or maybe their lower offer really is the best you'll be able to get at the moment, in which case there is nothing wrong -- and everything right -- in working that job.
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Regarding your budget, it looks good overall. Sure you could push things but it seems modest (other than the vacations, but hey, the goal is greatest happiness and you have said they are important to you). Have you double-checked/shopped around on your life insurance cost? It seems a little high but obviously without knowing your age, health, and the length of the policy this is just a shot in the dark. (Not that you need to share those things on the internet -- just for your own thought.)
$50/month seems a bit low over time for home maintenance but you know your home best. This seems enough for normal spending but not putting anything away for the eventual roof replacement etc.
Is this the whole budget, or just most of it? What about doctor visits? I guess you're not including health insurance because it is taken out from your paycheck automatically? If you buy a stamp, what does that come out of, your fun money?
I assume the $5,000 is pre-tax since it's a nice round number... have you figured out how much the taxes are/will be? If anyone is working as a 1099 contractor, have you counted self-employment tax?
For electric: unfortunately anytime you heat anything with electricity, it's expensive (house, dryer, hot water heater, etc). So I assume heating the whole house is the main driver of the bill, unless you live somewhere that doesn't require much heating. If you can turn down the temperature of your hot water heater without impacting your quality of life much, you will save something there too.
I also assume that even though you have "burned through most of your savings" that you still have enough in your emergency fund to warrant taking $6,000 in vacations/year? If it's there, go for it, but it's possible it makes sense to save cut back there to build up the emergency fund.
Cheers to you, winner!
Have fun
