change jobs to benefit family time or remain to benefit family financially

Bouncybubbles

Hi all
So I work nights as a district nurse I am not able to change in my current post as our team is the 'night team' so we permanently do nights. Anyway I am constantly tired due to nights so any time off I get impacts the quality of time I have with my son/husband due to my almost constant exhaustion. Due to this I applied for a job in our local walk in/ minor injury unit and hopefully I should hear if I am successful on Monday after interview last Thursday. It would be 4 days a week early or late shifts (haven't got the childcare for full time) so I would be at home every night however obviously it would be quite a large pay cut I'm talking £500+ a month :eek: we are not well off in the slightest and this would make life very frugal for us rather than ok as it is currently. So we had our work xmas do last night and I couldn't help but think how much I would miss them all if I left they have been one of the nicest teams I have ever worked with and I worry if I leave the new team might be horrible etc etc. What I am asking is has anyone been through similar? have you left a relatively well paying job and managed just to improve your family life? or have you ended up staying somewhere just for the money or your good colleagues then regretted it? I am just very uncertain of everything at the moment and am scared about taking the leap into the unknown especially as it will impact so hugely on finances and as a result our family life. Many thanks for reading :A

Mojisola

Bouncybubbles wrote: »

it would be quite a large pay cut I'm talking £500+ a month :eek: we are not well off in the slightest and this would make life very frugal for us rather than ok as it is currently.

Do you have a rainy day fund or would an unexpected large bill push you over the edge if you took the new job?

SnuggleBuggles

Can you stay in your current job but reduce your hours slightly?

onwards&upwards

Are there no jobs you could go into that would give you better hours but not so much of a pay cut? What about going for a higher grade?

With the late shifts you still won’t be home every night with the walk in job.

Bouncybubbles

Mojisola wrote: »

Do you have a rainy day fund or would an unexpected large bill push you over the edge if you took the new job?

Hi no we don't we would have to rely on either our credit card or family to bail us out awful as that is

Bouncybubbles

SnuggleBuggles wrote: »

Can you stay in your current job but reduce your hours slightly?

Hi no my manager has said there is no capacity currently

Bouncybubbles

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Are there no jobs you could go into that would give you better hours but not so much of a pay cut? What about going for a higher grade?

With the late shifts you still won’t be home every night with the walk in job.

Hi I have applied for several higher grade posts but they wanted managerial experience which I don't currently have, the only other jobs are private sector which I wouldn't want due to a/l sick pay etc or the hospital and I really Do not want to work in the hospital as I absolutely hated it when I was a student

jackieblack

Yes, I did, and never regretted it

There might be other benefits to the new job you haven’t considered...

Due to having more time and not being constantly exhausted, you are likely to be able to reduce your expenses in various ways. I expect there might be things you spend money on for convenience because you were ‘time poor’ and exhausted. If you have more time you might be able to reduce/cut some of these out (eg cooking from scratch, maybe bulk cook and freeze meals for the days you are working, time to shop around for the best prices etc)

When I was working full time (exhausted and miserable) I felt the need to treat myself to things ‘because I deserve it, working so hard’ - spending money on stuff I didn’t really need.

Will your transport costs be reduced?

And most importantly, quality time with your family... can you put a value on that?

If money is really tight, could you pick up an extra shift occasionally doing agency work?

Mojisola

Bouncybubbles wrote: »

Hi no we don't we would have to rely on either our credit card or family to bail us out awful as that is

jackieblack wrote: »

Yes, I did, and never regretted it

There might be other benefits to the new job you haven’t considered...

Due to having more time and not being constantly exhausted, you are likely to be able to reduce your expenses in various ways (eg cooking from scratch, time to shop around for the best prices etc)
Will your transport costs be reduced?

And most importantly, quality time with your family... can you put a value on that?

If money is really tight, could you pick up an extra shift occasionally doing agency work?

Generally, I would agree with everything Jackie says but the lack of any financial safety net would worry me.

theoretica

Would your new job have more capacity for occasional bank shifts or other ways of increasing your income? If you are only working 4 days a week you would have more time for these.

onwards&upwards

Bouncybubbles wrote: »

Hi I have applied for several higher grade posts but they wanted managerial experience which I don't currently have, the only other jobs are private sector which I wouldn't want due to a/l sick pay etc or the hospital and I really Do not want to work in the hospital as I absolutely hated it when I was a student

Check out the private sector jobs, might not be as bad as you think, and you could always go back to the NHS in a few years when your kids are older.