Good advice above. Of course I do not know your household income or spending habits, but these are the factors that you CAN control when it comes to providing worldy comforts for your family. If you choose to spend more time with the family, you are chosing to limit your income, but have you thought about adjusting your spending habits? Again, I do not know your financial obligations, but curtailing your spending habits may allow you to have your cake and eat it too.

 

work to live, not live to work.

 

another thing to add. it becomes a slippery slope. because of the possibility of OT or working longer hours, they dont even use the free time they do have well (ie: dont take up a hobby or travel) cuz they have free time, but not enough free time to feel comfortable doing it. so, it's important to think once in awhile, what would i do if i didn't have to work at all and try ur best to still do as much from that list as possible while working.

another thought that is more drastic is that it is simply retarded to live in socal. i know since i do. so many other places to move to where cost of living is reasonable. plus, might be more healthy for the kids, etc.

 

I find that the quality of my liesure time has a good amount to do with the amount of work that I put in to "earn" it.

I don't mind working because it improves my enjoyment of my free time.

 

this thread reminds me of the movie "click" with adam sandler.... it wasn't the greatest movie, but it turned out way different than i expected. i cried too. watch it some time, when you're not busy working...

 

and that's the main problem.

what EXACTLY are you or me working for?

-do the kids have to go to private school?
-do we need 4 flat-panel TV's?
-does my stay-at-home wife need a 2006 Mercedes?
-do we need the home that we have?

does all of the above equate to "wanting the best for me and my family"?

i get depressed in not so much that i don't see the kids (cuz i do), but in the knowledge that i'm bringing all this financial "burden" onto my self because i want the best for my family, and that the best costs A LOT of money, and to make A LOT of money, i have to work harder.

it's like i'm stuck in a vicious cycle....

 

I did it again. I'm at work now because someone called and said, I have a quick 2 hour case for you. I also signed up to be on call from 5pm to 7am on Thursday. We moved into our new house today and we need to buy a ton of stuff. Man. It's truly a vicious cycle.

 

be warned when no one else wants the shift u take.