To take higher paid job or not?

DebtHurricane

Keepcalm- exactly my thoughts. The current job is much more of a breeze in terms of the duties required and I think it’s more long term despite low pay. 

I’m just so fed up of having no money. I pay my bills and then I literally have about 80 left to pay for fuel and petrol if I’m lucky. 

I might look into a second part time job, as there is no overtime where I’m working. 

monetxchange

A second job in your local area would be a good place to start. It sounds as though the travelling and stress of such a full on job in London won’t work out for you. It’s not worth risking your health for. Have you considered something like delivering Amazon parcels? Not the best paid, but it’s flexible and would be something relatively low stress you could just mentally shut off from.

Fireflyaway

So a couple of years back I thought I'd done quite well to land a supervisory role paying around £34k. My first proper job after going back full time. It was the most I'd ever been paid but I have never been so unhappy! The management were horrid. I was so stressed I couldn't sleep, I was over eating and drinking too much. I was signed off with stress in the end and quit ( most probably before I was pushed!). I'm not saying a better paid job automatically brings stress, just that the extra money in no way lessens any stress that might happen. You don't look at your pay slip and magically feel better. I'm now in a low paid job but I'm happy! Everyone is really nice, I don't have any management responsibilities ( and the headaches that to with that). I sleep well. I'm satisfied. I have a great work life balance. As for travel in London! That alone is one big stress! If you have any doubts I'd say don't do it. You might be able to make small savings elsewhere.

On_my_way

You really don't want defaults on your credit file - especially as many are not recorded immediately meaning that they have a negative impact for longer than 6 years.

EssexHebridean

DebtHurricane said:

I think you’re right. Also call centre would mean 8 hours on the phone. Constantly. Think that’s why it’s paid fairly. If I still lived in London it would be a no brainier, but I think I’ll be miserable 

This answers your question. 

Look for a halfway house option - could you enquire about increasing hours where you are? Take another part time job somewhere else that would tie in with the times you do't work job 1 at the moment? The "mid-ground" here on full-time work might be to find something full time but on the outskirts of London - I effectively do this although I only do 4 days a week - that means the commute isn't quite as horrific as travelling right into the centre of London would be. Alternatively what about other larger towns that are easy to access from where you currently live - it might be worth exploring options there? Maybe target some local companies that you feel you might like to work for a write to them with a CV? 

Willing2Learn

I once turned down a job offer that paid an extra £5/hour.  I declined the offer because the employers vision and mission statement were not the same as mine. 

edrushuk

If you got a job with NHS England ( Elephant & Castle) you maybe able to negotiate flexible hours or to work from home 2 days a week. 

[Deleted User]

How did you get on, did you take the new job?

I did something similar last year, left a part-time job that just covered my bills and a couple of beers, for a full-time one that doubled my income. Although being able to clear my debts and build up my savings was great, I'm not overly happy with the new job and still kind of regret leaving the old job. I still think often that I would have been happier if I stayed in my old job, still paying my debt off in drips and drabs and having not much left over at the end of the month than having to go and do a boring soul destroying job for 40 hours a week.

Maybe when I get my savings up to an acceptable level I may go back to a part-time job again.

CreditCardJunkie

If you're happy in your current job, could you not take on another job at a few hours to give your extra money for the nice to haves? Having recently quit a pretty decent job in favour of a very part time, minimum wage job alongside working for myself, take it from me sometimes it isn't worth the extra money.

DebtHurricane

LeeUK thanks for reminding me to update on what happened! I ended up taking the new job- and I’m still trying to work out how I feel about it. I’ve been able to save a good emergency fund, pay some debt off, book a holiday and pay in full for next year and pay all my bills without a worry. Lockdown helped as didn’t need to commute and have those costs. 

The job I left, which I had only recently started when I left it- made loads of people redundant and it’s likely I’d have lost the job anyway. We’ll never know though. I definitely would have been furloughed as it had to fully shut down most of this year. 

I totally agree that taking the job with more money has not bought happiness. I’ve had days where I’ve felt so depressed and working from home has been hard for me suffering with mental health issues as it is. But I’ve benefited from the financial side of it. In two minds on whether to leave or not. Every day I wake up dreading it!