cross-posted from: https://linux.community/post/3297319
I’d like life to be black and white, but ¯_ (ツ)_/¯
I’m a floor nurse, a job incredibly full of egos, passive aggressiveness, picking favorites, openly denigrating you with you present, a job I don’t like. I’m basically wiping up asses, dealing with alcoholics who fight you, washing people with dementia who don’t want to be washed, patients who refuse their meds but in the eyes of the charge I’m the guilty one if I don’t, somehow, make the person take his meds.
I hate it but this job pays my bills and even lets me save for retirement. Coming from a poor background, financial stability is incredibly important to me. I’m in in 40s for reference and not smart enough to study medicine.
It is what it is.
Job I applied for: moving beds, not empty beds but moving patients in beds from floor a to b, or taking them to the OP room, or for any kind of intervention. Everyone doing this job is happy: no floor stress, nobody micromanaging them, they get ample of free time, because they get to choose when to mark the patient as moved, don’t have to wash patients, if a patient refuses transportation they document it and move on, no drama, like when the charge asks you why patient x didn’t do whatever… seems an easy job.
but those 20K per year… (102K vs 81K fwiw)
Is it even worth it? I really hate my job but need the money.
but those 20K per year… (102K vs 81K fwiw)
You can live quite comfortably on both, assuming USD. Go for the one that won’t make half of your waking hours hell. If your background has meant a scarcity mindset, you might have a good start on savings anyway.
If it was minimum wage on the low end I’d give much more nuanced advice.
It really depends on your personal financial situation.
For me, I only need around 50k per year (before tax) to maintain my lifestyle and save a bit. That includes a pension (as if that will make a difference lol).
So going from 70k to 55k would be … Uncomfortable (I get you with the stability anxiety), but rationally, if my mental and physical health were suffering. Those extra 20 % is really not worth being miserable.
You only have one life. Make sure to enjoy it.
Having said that, if it was going from 55k to 45k, I would have to have a close look at my finances and lifestyle to see what would be worth cutting. The end question is: are the things you need to cut to make do worth the extra suffering you are currently enduring?
Everything has a cost, whether that is paying with your time, your health, sanity, or choosing to spend time with one person instead of another. Only you can answer if it’s worth it for you.
Not to be overly morbid, but what’s the point in saving up for retirement if the job is killing you? Financial security is important, but so is your mental health. And based on your general field, I don’t think I need to explain that stress has real, quantifiable consequences. I wouldn’t be surprised if reducing your stress level actually raises your ability to do some stuff for yourself that you’re currently finding pretty impossible. Less stress at work might give you more energy to exercise, cook healthy meals, better maintain your home, etc.
You might need to adjust some of your “extra” spending to make it work, but if that’s the only real sacrifice in the switch, I’d say make the switch. You’re obviously unhappy with what you’ve got or you wouldn’t be looking at other options and asking the internet.
FWIW, I’m in my mid 30s and changed careers ten years ago. I was a chef and loved what I did, but I had a boss that completely killed my passion to grow or even sustain. I literally got a raise when I quit for a job scrubbing toilets. I found my footing in power plants and now I’m an operator in-house. It’s never too late to make a change. You’re never in too deep. And in many cases, it’s gonna take a step down before you have a chance to rise up higher. Never stop learning and growing. Cheers and good luck :)
social pressure and accolades.
i have a low-pressure good-wage job. I get ton of casual feedback from everyone in my life that I am ‘wasting my life’ by not working in a higher paying job. I’ve had multiple relationships end, because I prefer to stay in my stable & rewarding job than seeking more money and climbing some corporate ladder. etc.
I may be quite happy with my life and my job. But other people tend to look down on that and it has negative consequences for my social/romantic life. They are often jealous of my conditions and/or condescending that I am not ‘optimizing’ my earning potential. A lot of people can’t fathom living outside of a toxic/stressful work environment and regard people who don’t as ‘lazy’ or ‘lacking ambition’.
if it is the difference between heartburn everyday and not, then 100% worth it
in my case, it was immense anxiety and LOT of physical impacts so i took a 66% paycut; i feel for this person.
I think it’s worth a shot. If it doesn’t work out, you can go back
