I really have a hard time with making decisions. It seems that every time I make a decision, I always wish I chose the other. It’s a fact of life, I suppose – the grass is always greener and such.
I’m not sure where to go with my career now. What do you think?
Option 1: A stable though slightly unfulfilling career in admin work that I’ve done before. The pay is decent though not exorbitant, the benefits are marvelous, and the job is steady. Upward mobility wouldn’t exist except for changing companies when I garnered enough experience, though the option to possibly take on more tasks would be there. I wouldn’t need to buy a new car.
Option 2: A brand new career, in an industry I love. The base pay is small but commissions could possibly double what I make in option 1. The hours are long, the position unsteady, the benefits are good but not as great . I don’t have experience doing this before, so I could either fail miserably or succeed fantastically and make 6 figures. I could climb the corporate ladder if I do well enough. I would need to buy a new car.
What would you do? Anyone want to give me your anonymous opinion?
I’m actually debating something very similar right now. Should I stay in something stable and safe, or branch out and have more fun with my career?
UGH I just can’t decide. It’s giving me a headache. Let me know when you decide! I could use any pointers.
I’d go for the scary option #2. Key words:
“love” -life is too short to do work you hate.
“double”- the ability to double your income is no brainer.
You can always go back to option #1 if you do “fail”, but think of all the cool skills you’ll learn along the way.
That’s sort of what my husband says – no matter what opportunity I take/am offered, I could always go to the other in the future. I just think that now is the time to determine my career path, but I’m only 31! I have 34 more years of work ahead of me. I definitely might choose a different path sometime down the line.
I have to ask more questions.
*Do you feel your savings/expenses are stable enough that you could afford to try option #2?
*Would that new car be purchased on credit? (I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this.) If you find you don’t like Option #2 as much as you thought you would, the new car’s debt will still be on you. And you won’t get back what you put into it. (Can you buy a used ‘new’ car, instead??)
*Would option #2 still possibly be around, even if you worked #1 for a while?
No career’s ever permanent nowadays, it seems — but getting out of debt and settled really helps if you’re going to take a big jump into something different. That’s why I’d be more apt to say take Option #1, work hard and save your pennies…THEN take a chance and do Option #2.
What does your husband think? He knows this situation better than we do…
Here are my answers:
1. We have enough savings to try option #2, especially since my husband is going back FT and we could budget to live on his salary if we needed.
2. I knew I should have clarified this! It would be a new-to-us car, but used definitely. And I thought about renting/borrowing a car for a month to see if the job was the right fit before buying. But yes, while we would put a down payment on a car, we could have to finance the rest.
3. Nope. But a different type of option #2 would.
4. We don’t have any debt besides the mortgage on our house that we’re living in, and we have finally settled into our house and though it is small, it will be fine for the next year or so. So if you’re saying that we should save before I try something new…now in fact might be the time to do it since we have savings and no debt. I don’t like the idea that I’d have to buy a car though – I bought ours 8 years ago and haven’t had to pay a car payment for 6 years. I’d be grumpy having a car payment, though I was thinking of buying a beater for my husband to drive (since his is to and from work) and using our current car for me until we figure out if the job works or not. It’s a sales job, so there’s lots of driving. If it worked out, we’d want to buy a prius to save on gas mileage.
If you didn’t have any savings and needed money desperately, option 1 would be the way to go, for me at least, I tend to ‘play it safe’ though. Since you guys have savings and your husband is going FT again, go with option 2. Would you be able to purchased the new-to-you car with cash through a private party, instead of financing? Even if just temporary until you had a steady stream of income to get a newer financed vehicle. Tough choices, but I’m sure it’ll work out. Glad to see an update!
Thanks! We’ve been busy with moving in and job interviews and such. Also started posting elsewhere if you want to see pretty, pretty pictures! http://www.eatsavelive.com