To ask how much of a pay cut would you take to...

[luckylips]

Work from home so no travel costs and no childcare costs (working around primary school hours).

Only you know how much money you need or want to earn. If it matches that, then go for it.

I have a very flexible job and work from home a lot. It's hard to quantify in real money but I would want ALOT more to move!

It's all the other stuff. If they are sick no need for time off, if you have deliveries you are in. You can get the washing on and hung out while making a coffee. When they are older no need for holiday childcare.

This is a £7k pay cut, but then my travel costs are just over £200 a month and I'd save the same in after school club fees.

Honestly i think I'd do it. I took a smaller pay cut of about £3.5k to work from home. It's been great. My children are still young enough they need childcare but i can see how it will benefit us as they get older. I find it much more convenient and a better work life balance.

It's irrelevant what I would do. Can you afford the 7k drop and maintain the lifestyle you want?

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Sounds like not much difference in take home then once tax comes off.

So realistically only a £2,000 cut

I would have to be paid more to stay at home and work rather than get to mix regularly with the rest of my team.

Assuming the 7k difference is in gross pay and you earn over the tax threshold I doubt you'd see much reduction in disposable income because the costs obviously come out of your taxed pay - so you wouldn't be paying tax and NI on that 7k...

Financially I'd say £7k would stack up given what you'd be saving etc. Are the long term prospects with the two roles fairly similar?

If it’s £7k gross you need to calculate the net

If you are saving 2.4k on travel and another 2.4k on childcare I’d say it’s a no brainier as it will presumably massively improve your quality of life.

That assumes you are at a level you are happy at within your career and this move doesn’t massively damage future earning potential / progression

None. Did it for 6 years it was boring and lonely. Took a pay cut to stop working from home!

And i still used childcare, after school club and holiday club.

Can you increase your pension contribs along with the savings to make up for the salary decrease?

What TooManyCats said.

Do the maths re actual take home pay vs savings in after school clubs and travel. Don't forget to factor in heating your workroom all through the WInter and maybe a fractional amount for lighting and charging your laptop etc (and printer?) (I'm presuming your internet wouldn't have to change and presuming you won't have clients etc, so your house insurance and things like the rates you pay for commercial bin collection etc won't change?)
but then remember how lovely it is to be able to do those things like put the washing to dry at 10am rather than arriving home at 6pm to it all still wet in the machine. It is difficult to quantify, but it would take a LOT of money to get me to go back to working in an office / out of the home.

None. They pay me fuck all anyway. A pay cut would put me under the minimum wage.

Why wouldn’t you ask them to up their offer?

Thanks for all your replies. Food for thought.

More things to consider -
I would actually be saving £100 a month in after school club fees as I split everything with DH so realistically I'm saving £100 in that department.

The new role is same as what I'm doing now, however it's a change of industry and a better job title (next level up).

I wouldn't have to get the tube every morning and evening which is a bonus!

I am 40 so have enough time to progress in new industry, however I am quite well known in my current industry due to the company I work for.

I would be working for a friend which has its pros and cons...

Taking a pay cut means putting other stuff on hold like home improvements.

The cut would be from £32k down to £25k 😭. Which is the salary I was on when I was 25! Realistically I could go out and get a job around the £40k plus mark if I committed to full time (I currently work 32 hours a week) but I don't think I want that stress and responsibility at the moment.

Well, at your stage of life, our budget couldn't have stood being 'cut' by that much. You need to work out the figures.
I was thinking more in terms of "would I give up being able to work from home, for a couple of hundred a months more?" to which the answer is no. But most folk tend to spend what they are used to coming in each month, and you aren't in some kind of ridiculous income bracket where a few thousand a year might not make a difference.
It is lovely being able to work from home, but that is a HUGE proportion of your income to be losing.

Be very careful working for / with a friend. A successful business owner told me never to mix business & pleasure, I thought it would be ok and I could make it work (running a business with a friend). I should have listened to the business owner!
About the financial situation, £32k down to £25k is a lot but I do understand wanting to drop the commute.
Also if you start to look for another role in future it would be hard to make the leap back upto where you should be, hiring companies usually want to know what salary you’re on and offer you a bit more to move. I think it’s too much of a drop.

Aside from work life balance and money in your pocket now have you thought about the long term impact of the reduction on your pension?

Thanks for your replies. All worth thinking about.

@OhTheRoses - pension would be something I would have to consider too.

I wouldn't do it. Getting out, going to work, mixing with colleagues is important I think.