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

[Flompy]

Even though I spend the majority of my time doing nothing, I value it above everything. After having a part time job during college with an hour commute I vowed to always either get a job within walking distance of where I live or move within walking distance of my job. When I worked for Gamestation I was about 20 minutes walk away and now I live 10 minutes walk away from my current job- you can't put a price on quality of life!

[Daragon]

Currently I work in London (18month fixed term contract) which is basically a 2hr (ish) door to door trip each way every day by train. It's not to bad, I tend to get a seat 75% of the time and there is one change each way.

Get up 05:45
Catch train 06:30
Arrive London 08:40

Leave London 17:15
Catch train 17:25
Arrive home 19:00

I've been offered a job which is closer and it's permanent. It's still an hour on the train but nowhere near London so it's a much better journey.

Get up 07:20
Catch train 08:05
Arrive Brighton 09:10

Leave Brighton 18:00
Catch train 18:23
Arrive home 19:15

The Benefits are roughly the same except for my current job having a better pension contribution and 5 days more holiday a year. The main crux is the job I've been offered is 10K less than the job I'm currently doing, in real terms when you take into account reduced travel costs etc it works out about ?250 less (take home).

Would you take the offered job or stick with the current job in London?

Wait, what?

It's either 10k less or it isn't - how does reduced travel cost result work out at ?250 less when you're losing 10k?

Personally speaking, I'd much rather have the extra 10k and just move closer to work.

[GluedOnBeard]

I used to do your current journey aside from I would get back at 7.30pm and leave for the bus at 6.30am so I know the feeling all too well.

That said all you are really doing here is giving yourself an extra 1.5 hours on a night for a 10k drop in pay? I would save that money then put it all into having a long break later on between another change and not give up so much for such a short time.

It seems you are spending longer at the job in Brighton, I managed to arrange with my work to only have a 30 minute break instead of an hour, would be good if you could just do that instead :/

[Unwell Cat]

Wait, what?

It's either 10k less or it isn't - how does reduced travel cost result work out at ?250 less when you're losing 10k?

Personally speaking, I'd much rather have the extra 10k and just move closer to work.

It's ?250 once you take out the extra travelling to London + just the general expense of wokring in London etc.. Before you take that out it's closer to ?450 per month.

[S_rank]

why don't you just buy or rent a 1 bedroom flat in london .

[Unwell Cat]

Took a job with an 7K difference in the end nearer to where I live. I certainly don't miss the travel into London each day.

[davesol]

Does anyone on here know about share options?

Share options are worthless unless the company is sold whilst you are working there.

Let's say you have 1000 share options. You don't actually own those shares so you can't sell them or take them with you if you leave. If the company gets taken over while you work there then you will be given the value of those 1000 shares. If it doesn't and you leave then you lose the options.

So basically they are a nice-to-have if the company is giving them out for free as you may get lucky and make some money out of them (if the company gets sold while you work there) but chances are the company won't get sold so I wouldn't attach to much weight to them as a perk.

Edit: Just realised the question was asked 8 months ago! lol

[gunrock]

Edit: Just realised the question was asked 8 months ago! lol

yeah, Unwell Cat has just woke up from cryo-sleep and has been reanimating threads all over Off Topic.

[capcom_suicide]

Took a job with an 7K difference in the end nearer to where I live. I certainly don't miss the travel into London each day.

I don't think you will regret it mate.

My schedule:

Wake up: 06:30
Kids breakfast & get read to leave: 07:30
Drop off kid 1 at school: 07:45
Drive back up to the company nursery, drop off kid 2 and park the car at work: 08:00
Swim in company pool or use gym 08:00-08:30
Work 08:30-16:00
Pick up kids & arrive home 16:15-16:30
Cook & eat dinner: 17:00
Playtime/homework/kids TV: 17:30-19:00
Bathtime & Bed: 19:00-20:00
Adult time! TV/Wine/Games/Chat/Walk/Night ski/Summer night dive: 20:00-23:00

I love living 10 mins from work, and having done London for a few years I'd never go back. I'm sure it works great for others, but I think that every day I use a total of 30 minutes travel time. That's 2.5 hours a week.

In London I used 1.5 hours x 2 a day, so 15 hours a week.

Norway = 130 hours a year, all of which is spent with kids in the car. In the summer we walk.
London = 780 hours a year. All of which was spent pressed up in dangerous, dirty, stinky Underground stations/trains.

That's like 32 days a year!

Mind you it does rain a bit here. (..180 days a year)

[dotoko]

Kids? Pfft, I can beat that.... My schedule:

- Wake up sometime between 8:00 and 9:30
- Rock up at work for 10:00 (except Thurs/Friday when I work from home)
- Work/Visit Clients/Attend Meetings: 10:00 - 17:00
- Enjoy a nice relaxing cruise on the M/Way: 17:00 - 17:30
- Adult Time (Eat out/Catch a Mid-Week City Game/Watch a movie or some football in the Pub/Play PS3/Shop at Ikea or The Trafford Center/Be annoyed by Girlfriend's incessant soap watching/): 17:30-23:59