A fresh start

Wordsmith

Oh, go on - do it! You know you want to.

taxi73

everything sounding quite positive there and a reduction as well

chevalier

well done on the reduction. the debt is still going down, and that is the main thing. Hope the house gets finished soon.
chev

Seaxwyn

OK crazy decision time. I have seen a job advertised which I would love and think I am well qualified for. There are lots of good things about it, including it is home-based, three days a week flexitime (including some evening and weekend working). So it should be possible to combine around freelancing. It would fit very well with my other activities. So I feel very excited about it.

BUT it has a big downside. The salary is £20,400 pro rata compared with my current job which is £33,000 pro rata. So it would be a HUGE drop! Set against that is it would be easier to combine with freelancing and I would lose my commute which costs me £225/month.

All you sane people will tell me not to think about it but I admit I am hugely tempted. I intend to apply then can test whether there is any flexibility in the interview. eg maybe I could take on some extra responsibilities and get the job upgraded. I also notice that people doing the same job in London get £5k London weighting whereas here, 17 miles from London and every bit as expensive, get nothing. Is it possible to ask for Home Counties weighting, does anyone know?

hypno06

Do I count as a sane person? Probably not, so here goes.....

Work out exactly what the difference will be in the two incomes. That means either netting down the salaries to get "take home" pay, from which you deduct your travel costs, or grossing up your travel costs and taking it from your gross salary.

Work out if your tax credits would increase as a result of the reduced pay, and bring that into the mix.

Be realistic about how much freelance you can get.....and more importantly, how much you will realistically do without putting yourself under pressure.

Aside from the travel costs, are there other costs that you have been paying out to "go to work" - clothes, spends on overseas trips, lunches etc that would be reduced if you worked from home.

Conversely, are there costs that creep in from working from home (I don't generally buy biscuits, for example, but when working from home I certainly do.....)?

If you feel excited by it, and it is workable, then what is stopping you. You know what I think - anything is possible if you want it enough

Wordsmith

I agree absolutely with everything hypno has said, butafter the sensible calculations I would also allow in some emotion. Hating your job must be as stressful as struggling financially, so changing may alleviate this sufficiently for you to find ways to cope with the new salary. Think about why you took on your current job and weigh up how much it has helped (or not). Where are you now (financially and emotionally) compared to where you were then? Has it got you to the point where you want to be? Are you prepared for your own sanity to push your OH even harder to bring in some funds? The most important thing is whether you can cope with making up the shortfall with your freelance work - don't lose sight of how you struggled before and how it made you feel. What is your gut feeling - logic has to dictate sometimes, but gut feelings can be listened to as well.

I'd say apply anyway. What have you got to lose? If you don't get offered it, you will have been through a useful thinking process. If you do get offered it, your initial reaction may well tell you whether or not you should take it. If there is no leeway with the salary, you will have found out more about the job to know whether it is worth making up the finances some other way. You can always ask for a Home Counties weighting - I doubt you'd get it, though, but you never know.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Seaxwyn

Thanks you too - I'm definitely going to apply and think I'm almost guaranteed an interview. I hope I'd be able to get freelance work - where I'm working at present there are lots of freelancers working regularly so I have some hope of ongoing work there, though the current run is probably about to end.

OH is a bigger question. Things have moved on a bit there. I've told him about my concerns about the relationship and he's taken it very badly. He recognises the need to get work but whether he can do that I don't know.

Wordsmith

That must have been hard, Seaxwyn, telling your OH that. But I am absolutely sure it was the right thing for you to do, and how he deals with it will confirm for you - one way or the other - how right you were. Love to you.

hypno06

Wordsmith wrote: »

That must have been hard, Seaxwyn, telling your OH that. But I am absolutely sure it was the right thing for you to do, and how he deals with it will confirm for you - one way or the other - how right you were. Love to you.

From me too.

ZTD

hypno06 wrote: »

Do I count as a sane person? Probably not, so here goes.....

Of course you are...much more than me.

hypno06 wrote: »

Conversely, are there costs that creep in from working from home (I don't generally buy biscuits, for example, but when working from home I certainly do.....)?

The biggest cost I've found in working from home is heating. It is an extra 8 hours of keeping warm.

Seaxwyn wrote: »

OH is a bigger question. Things have moved on a bit there. I've told him about my concerns about the relationship and he's taken it very badly. He recognises the need to get work but whether he can do that I don't know.

It's not just a case of getting work, but is more a case of working. If you came home to a spotless house, meals on the table, and a restful evening, then I'm sure he'd be seen as far more an asset - employment or not.