Should I take a 10K drop to work closer to home?

[NemesiS]

Your doing similar hours to what i was doing in Dubai. Sh1te. No amount of money makes you happy if your working like a dog.

Having said that, theres no point advising you to stay where your happy as you don't know if the other job will be better or worse than the one your in now. It could be you change, hate it and your earning £10k less, but you get to see your son more.

Quite frankly, i'd stay where you are as you will probably get a raise anyway and you may also be able to sit down with someone and explain the situation for maybe claiming some expenses.

Failing that, as your contracting and not cards in. Why don't you see an accountant with regards setting up a business and making yourself an employee and shoving all your travel expenses through that name so you can claim them back. I'm sure the company your contracting to now wouldn't mind. You'd still be working for them but contracting to them under your company name rather than an employed contactor.

You get a decent accountant to sort it and you will save a shedload of cash.

Theres only you that can make the decision really. I always trust my gut instinct and if a job feels right or i get a good vibe from a place i will go for it regardless of dough which may be on offer elsewhere.

[Unwell Cat]

I'm not contracting mate, it's an 18 month fixed term contract as a permanent employee for that duration.

Does anyone on here know about share options?

[noobish hat]

Plus the extra hour in the morning I get to spend with my 3yr old son. With the job in London I only see my son maybe once a week if I'm lucky most weeks I don't see him until Saturday morning.

you should take the new job

[Brad]

Think about how much time you spend working for someone else. No amount of money could possibly be enough to cover the amount of your life you're giving them. So, if you can afford the salary drop, all other things being equal I'd pay the 10k to get some of my life back. I actually did this 10 years ago. I used to commute from Cheltenham to Halesowen and back each day. That was basically 2 hours a day driving. I took a 10k cut and can now cycle to work - half an hour's traveling a day but a pleasant half an hour!

235 working days x 1.5 hours saved = about 350 hours of extra time a year - just enough to do all the Oblivion side quests :-) .

It also meant I didn't have to run 2 cars and that was worth a load on its own. In the end you gotta weigh it all up I guess. I've never looked back though.

[Mr Ono]

Does anyone on here know about share options?

What about them?

You will have some vesting or held in a trust presumably until you decide to cash them in.

[Unwell Cat]

What about them?

You will have some vesting or held in a trust presumably until you decide to cash them in.

Apparently although they are reserved for me they only get cashed in when the company is sold. Is this common rather then give the shares up front?

[Mr Ono]

Erm, never dealt with those.

MY shares are vested (ie. I am entitled to them) if I stay at the company for 2 years. New grants are awarded each year depending on my performance.

When each tranche vests, I can either sell them back to the trust at market value or leave them in the trust until the price goes up.

So, no, mine are cashable any time as long as I have been there 2 years after each grant.

[nakamura]

Dont chase money. I worked in a team of 4 a few years back. Another business opened in the same area as ours and my 3 colleages left to fill the 3 open positions they had open(1 senior manage and 2 junior). I told them not to go as they would regret it. We had a great team and a good working life. They didnt listen as the other member who was already employed before them ruined it all within a few months. Then another position became available but i refused to move even though i missed my co workers.

Now they are all pretty unhappy at their work. They all wish that hadnt left as they company they are at now is not turned out to be the bed of roses they expected.

Better the devil you know eh.

['Press Start']

Plus the extra hour in the morning I get to spend with my 3yr old son. With the job in London I only see my son maybe once a week if I'm lucky most weeks I don't see him until Saturday morning.

If you can afford too get the new job. Someone else quoted you can't buy back time, time with family is priceless man. Specially as your boy is growing, you do not want to miss those years.

I am expecting my first child Jul 09. I might have another job by then that pays 10k more but it means I only get 2 weeks off for paternity were as the job I am in now I will get 5 week pat mixed in with annual leave.

<~~~~~~ Family first, career 2nd for me. It is a tough one!

[MisterBubbles]

suppose you have had a chat with the person that it will effect most your good woman ? how does she feel would she like to see you more ?? is she under strain of looking after your son ?? if shes happy and you are stay were you are, but if she aint then move cause the joys of family cant be put in cost of money
1 of the hardest things in life is getting a work/life balance right but only you can tell what your is
my own personal view is the saying eat sleep sh1te, hope this dont sound offensive , as i like my time away from work playing games and going out

[charlesr]

Get up 6am (kids waking up)
Play with / feed kids till 8.45.
Get dressed.
9am start work in the lounge.
Hour for lunch every day - sit in the garden if it's nice.
5.30 finish work.
Help get kids fed and to bed.
If stuff is going on during the day (shops, help with kids lunch etc) then defer the work time till after they have gone to bed.

I love it and am never going back to a "normal" job.

[Unwell Cat]

Get up 6am (kids waking up)
Play with / feed kids till 8.45.
Get dressed.
9am start work in the lounge.
Hour for lunch every day - sit in the garden if it's nice.
5.30 finish work.
Help get kids fed and to bed.
If stuff is going on during the day (shops, help with kids lunch etc) then defer the work time till after they have gone to bed.

I love it and am never going back to a "normal" job.

Glad the venture is working out for you mate.

[Dogg Thang]

Sounds great. What line of work are you in, Charles?

[bingo83]

I dont know how anyone could put up with 4 hours travel a day. I got promoted last year and had to move office. Best thing about it was it was actually closer to where I stay, I can walk to work now. No travel expenses and a nice pay rise on top.

I dont know if ?10,000 a year equates to a saving of 2 hours per day, but I would go for it. You could gain promotion and a better pay deal with the new employer down the line so I say jump ship.

[JU!]

Having said all that, I'd blow my brains out the back of my head before I worked in London.

I hope to work in London in the future hope I don`t get this feeling.

With regards to the job I think Unwell Cat you should stay where you are imo more holidays too, and an extra hour in bed is not the be all and end all imo. My work hours are really weird here in Japan so I`d give anythin to get home at 19:20 instead of 22:30 every night. 10k is quite a bit of money use the extra cash to go see a band etc. Considering the stuffy train aspect I know going to Tokyo in the morn is a bummer but if it meant it was a job I enjoyed and paid well too I`d jump at the chance.

I don`t have kids but if I do in the future I will only be expecting to see them at weekends mostly anyway as I think most people in Japan do the same. I know we as English are different but it`s an interesting cultural difference. I only saw my Dad about once a month or every 2 weeks in England/Germany because he was in the army when I was young, it did make me feel more distant from him even now, but once a week would have been fine.