Thank you!

[JennieOG]

I just wanted to say thanks to MMM and this forum for helping to validate my opinion that there are other ways to live.  I used to always feel like a weirdo living way beneath my means and not mindlessly buying my kids everything in sight when I was out at a festival or some other place with friends.  I worked at a corporate job, making good money but totally hating it for ten years. I was often on call and would have to jump out of bed at 2:00 to help someone figure out technical issues. I quit before I started reading this forum, but I always doubted whether I'd made a good decision by quitting because the pay and benefits were awesome.  I suppose I also felt like a big shot working in a skyscraper in downtown Chicago. 

I still have to work because I am a divorced mom who doesn't get child support, but I work in a job that is not stressful at all and allows me to be with my kids after 4:30 or so each night with no work interruptions.  Sometimes there is a little part of me that gets embarrassed that I don't have some fancy job but I look back to the "corporate era" and know I am making the right choice for me and my family.  We are secure, we have a paid for home and we don't run around mindlessly all night doing sports and work stuff, we sit and play board games or go for a bike ride.  Life is good!

[arebelspy]

Great post, thanks for sharing your story!

[avonlea]

Sometimes there is a little part of me that gets embarrassed that I don't have some fancy job but I look back to the "corporate era" and know I am making the right choice for me and my family.  We are secure, we have a paid for home and we don't run around mindlessly all night doing sports and work stuff, we sit and play board games or go for a bike ride.  Life is good!

Yes, it is!  I loved reading your post.

[hybrid]

<---------  Board games totally rock.  Good for you seeing the big picture!

[Gray Matter]

Hi Jennie:

I really appreciated your post, as I'm where you were before you made the choice for quality of life vs. income.  I've been working in the skyscraper for over ten years and I find myself really wanting to slow down, spend time with my kids while they still want to, and reduce stress overall.  I have a really hard time sustaining my energy levels to do everything that needs doing after work.

But I'm afraid of stepping off the corporate ladder, as I suspect it's hard to get back on it later.  And I worry about the short- and long-term implications of taking such a drastic pay cut.

But then again, I also worry about the implications of continuing to live at warp speed.

It's nice to hear that others have done it successfully with few regrets.

[scottydog]

Thank you Jennie for sharing your story!  My wife and I are contemplating going down to a single primary income for similar reasons.  It might mean we're treading water in terms of reaching FI, but when we're both working full-time we feel like we're treading water in terms of raising our kids and that feeling is much worse.  I've worked many evenings while playing the career game according to its rules, and after the most intense period it took nearly half a year to restore the prior rapport with my kids.

The community here, and posts like yours, make it easier to take the plunge and live life according to our own rules.  Instead of fitting our family into our busy work schedules, we're aiming to fit some side hustle(s) into our family's schedule.