Anyone left a very high stress job for a low stress and big pay cut?

[phonicscloud]

I'm done in, on my last legs. Feeling hammered and exhausted daily by it. Single parent to a 5 and 10 year old. I do a shit job that no one really wants to do hence being agency and getting high pay... its not worth it. Just would like to hear experiences from anyone thats cut their pay and stress

Sort of.

I sold my business where I did long days and weekends and had the responsibility, and now work for the new owner 3 days a week. I'm on a third of the money I was on but its less stressful and I get time to myself.

Yup. Took a 50% pay cut. Im so much happier. I will say before you do it you need to consider your finaces and understand what you can afford. Will you be able to pay your mortgage? Food? Etc. What will you need to give up? Do you want to give it up? It sounds obvious but it took some real considering for me.

Yes I left Nursing due to the stress and took a job with a lot less pay but I'm a lot happier and less stressed. very much worth it.

Sorry to hear you're struggling OP.

I have recently quit my horribly high stress job, knowing I'll take a big pay cut. I have absolutely no regrets, we can change our outgoings to cope with the loss and I'll be loads happier.

Me! I left teaching which admittedly isn't the highest paying job there is but certainly was (I had a few additions to my main pay scale thanks to extra responsibilities etc) compared to what I'm doing now. I took a new job with a view to starting an apprenticeship and retraining. Two years on I've just started the apprenticeship and it's certainly hard work but it's enjoyable hard work and I've got a clear end goal in sight (and more money eventually). I couldn't have done this though if it weren't for universal credit cushioning my wages-in the time between stopping teaching to go on maternity leave and then starting this new job I became a single parent so it really was starting over from zero as opposed to trying to make new figures work in an already established household budget iyswim.
The difference in quality of life is immense. I'd never go back. In a couple of years time my wage is going to go even lower thanks to a weird quirk of the degree structure I'm on. Still not enough to persuade me to look for a higher paying job. We'll get through it and onto better things but the stress of my old job was unimaginable. I shudder to think of still being in that position.
Nobody ever gets to the end of their life and wishes they'd spent more time at work but conversely work does make up a huge part of our lives. Might as well try and make it something worth getting up for OP.

Yes - although I was made redundant which gave me the push but I've never been happier.
I set up my own business, earn about 25% of what I did before but I have loads less stress and complete flexibility.

Interesting experiences, thanks for sharing. Thankfully I've built up some savings so have a decent cushion to fall back on if necessary. I'm currently on £38/hr and some of the jobs I'm looking at are around £10 per hour :( There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. I know I have to leave though, and as stated above no-one wishes they spent more time at work once dead. Its such a scary big step though

Cut my pay to work for a charity. From home. Have never been so stressed at work in my life. It's utter chaos. All I'm saying is grass isn't always greener!

Yes I did the stress wasn't my sole reason for leaving geography and other issues also played a part but I took a 25% paycut and with budgeting and my then partner now DH support I was fine and hand on heart it was the best thing I did my life is infinitely better now including the arrival 2 years ago of my DD and currently 35 weeks with DC2. Both my pregnancies and return to work would have been so much harder with my former employer.

yes, gave up being a solicitor to teach fitness classes and yoga & pilates. Obviously had to train but even so am much happier and fitter and less stressed. It is generally a happy job meeting people at different clubs, being my own boss and keeping fit and make people happy too.

This is a very timely post My dream job has come up (although I am woefully under qualified for it) but it also pays about half of my current stressful job. I'm in two kinds as to whether even to go through with the application process at the moment.

I dropped from full time Head of Dept to part time teaching with no responsibilities. It's wonderful. Once you take the tax and childcare etc into account the difference isn't that much financially. The difference to my life is immeasurable.

@Babyroobs what do you do now? I'm a nurse and often think about leaving nursing.

Yes, I was made redundant from my £36 an hour part time job which was quite stressful. I now earn £11.60 an hour working outside and meeting people all day. I love the job but working full time again is a shock. Love getting fit and having spare brain capacity. Not sure I can survive longer term on this amount of money. Still pondering the next step.

[quote princessspotify]@Babyroobs what do you do now? I'm a nurse and often think about leaving nursing.[/quote]
I work for a charity as a benefits adviser. So basically face to face benefit advice 9 in normal circumstances) , applying for grants, helping people fill out disability forms, advising on entitlement etc. It's poorly paid ( although can be better paid with more experience ), but so worth it for less stress.