Joeyballs is somewhat right.
I had pretty the same job 10 years ago as I do now.
I enjoy doing that job then but I enjoy my job more so now, partly b/c I have more autonomy but also partly due to the increase in pay.

 

I hate my job lots of the time. Pay is decent I guess but my wife makes a ton so it offsets my need to make a bunch of cash. My benefits are good even if the pay is not. It may also allow me to retire between 55 and 57 if I can keep stashing away cash.

I have been doing it for 17 years and rarely enjoyed it but I am still here. Why? Well it is a job that requires me to work like a dog for six months out of the year, and then the other six months the schedule is lax, I have about 10 weeks of paid time off to use, most of that falls in the summer so on just about any given day I can not show up and go wakeboard at the drop of a hat, and schedule vacations during that time and no one will care.

I know of people who get paid more than I do and really need a vacation and they always say "I just can't get away. It is always busy, I don't get that much paid vacation, and my employer does not like me to be gone very long."

I would have to give up lots of free time and fear what the tradeoff would be. The wife and I are planning three weeks in Hawaii next January and it will be perfectly fine with my employer. That is not easy to find.

The six month busy period though I am lucky if I can coax one day off during that stretch.

 

Option 1. The benefits of option 2 are somewhat negated by the well-earning significant other. Marry her and have medical covered.

There's not enough money in the world to do something that sucks away your soul.

 

sacrifice dream job for 4K? i think that's crazy. i don't think the benefits of the other job outweigh having your dream job. your gf/wife seems to have that part covered.

unless there's something else you're not telling us? or maybe the dream job is not completely a dream job?

 

well, im only 23 and opened up my own business. Thought it would be great and it was at first. But like all things, you start to lose the love over time. I have heard of very few people who love their job after a few years. Like many have said, a job is a job no matter how you sugar coat it.

I would choose option 2 because of the security. No chance of losing your job, free medical, pension, longer vacation and 5 years earlier retirement sound like winners! At the end whatever you hate about the 2nd job will be made up for with your over double vacation time and retirement with pension.

@ whiteflash...i work almost 7 days a week, sometimes from 8 in the morning until midnight and still i struggle with money sometime. So please don't assume that all people who dont have enough money are lazy! And please be realistic. Hunting to feed yourself everyday? Its cheaper to buy a $1 burger than acquire hunting skills and tools. All Joey is saying is that its a lot less stressful when you dont have to ration your money to save enough to eat.

 

The 4k in pay diff. Is not the dealbreaker. It's the pension and benefits.

 

i dunno, 20 yrs is a long time. i don't think i could be in one place for that long unless it was a great job. and definitely not that long if it was security or maintenance, fack. maybe 1-2 yrs max. actually yeah...i would not take the menial job unless i had to.

plus security/maintenance sounds like a stagnant salary. dream job (or something else)...as long as you're doing a good job i'd hope you could get decent raises after awhile.

 

money=hapiness isnt exactly true. The better quote I heard was "money is like health, without it you'll be miserable, but having it doesnt guarantee happiness."