Which job option would you choose?

[kravestix]

I have two potential options to choose from Job wise. I can't decide. Which would you choose? I have a three year old DS and a DH.

OPTION ONE:
6am - 8am Six Days a Week
Uni 3 Days a Week Term Time 11am - 3pm
Take Home: £1206

• Potential to earn an additional £219.12 a Month working an Extra 6 Hours a Week which would make Take Home £1425

Positives:
School Holidays off with DS apart from Morning job until 8am. Maybe 9am if doing additional Hours. But Whole Day free from 9am.
Mondays and Fridays off from Uni.
Time with DS. Time at Home.
Eventually opportunities to earn more after doing and have a career after Uni.

Negatives:
Extra Hours not guaranteed.
Will only qualify for 30 Hours Nursery if doing the extra hours. Otherwise only get 15 hours Nursery.
Waking up at 5am, six days a week!
Will need to go to bed earlier. (Night Owl here. Sleep Late, Wake late.)
No career progression with Job.
Higher petrol costs to get to Uni.

OPTION TWO
8:30 - 6:30 FT Job.
28 Days Annual Leave
£1500 - £1550 Take Home + Bonus Opportunities

• Time and a Half 1 in 3 Saturdays 8am - 1pm

Positives:
More Money.
Bonus Opportunities.
Career Progression may be possible.
Back into FT working Environment after being home with DS for three years and jumping from PT to PT.

Negatives:
No School Holidays off apart from Annual Leave. Less time at home.
Less time with DS but possibly more valuable time?
Higher Childcare Costs.

Option One: YANBU
Option Two: YABU

Perhaps I'll do Option Two, the FT Job for a year and reassess this time next year when DS starts School. It might be that I'm happy to continue with the FT Job or perhaps Uni might be an option again.

@Gwenhwyfar

8.30 to 6.30 five days a week is a very long day for not much more money than option 1. I don't really understand how option 1, which is only two hours' a day would give you so much money. Have I misunderstood?

Option One is the OT Job, plus the Maintenance Loan from Uni. So, yearly it's £9221 from Uni and £5697 from the PT job.

As a fellow night owl I would say neither.

Option One sounds good until you consider that the money is coming from a maintenance loan.

If you don't have a plan for a career that is going to help you pay that loan back at the end of the course, then at the end of it you'll still be left with just option 2, with added debt. Option One is a GREAT option if it's helping you springboard into a career you'll enjoy.

If the plan is to do the creative writing degree to be a writer -- don't. You either are a writer, or you're not. Successful writers don't all have a creative writing qualification; what they all do have is the ability to put the words down from start to finish and get it to a publisher. That doesn't take a degree, just dedication.

Where is your DH in all of this?

The answers will be very different if he's earning £6k or £60k!

I also assume you pool your household income?

So it's about the total of all of these and his timetable too.

Are you planning another DC? Also would massively change people's answers.

Also things like housing- do you rent/own/ need to move somewhere bigger/ closer to good schools in the future?

Also what about commuting? Do you have a car? How much does that cost?

Regardless though I don't think either is right for you atm.

Maybe what you need is a life coach session?

Picture yourself when DS is 18. Where do you want to be then? In what job etc? Take that goal and work back through what steps you need to make to get there.

How about cleaning at more sociable hours that suit preschool etc, self employed £10 /hr under tax threshold and write around that? You could do an online creative writing course at anytime. I don’t understand why these are your only 2 options! Don’t be a teacher unless you really want to especially if it’s going to take 5 years and a lot of debt.

@felulageller

Where is your DH in all of this?

The answers will be very different if he's earning £6k or £60k!

I also assume you pool your household income?

So it's about the total of all of these and his timetable too.

Are you planning another DC? Also would massively change people's answers.

Also things like housing- do you rent/own/ need to move somewhere bigger/ closer to good schools in the future?

Also what about commuting? Do you have a car? How much does that cost?

Regardless though I don't think either is right for you atm.

Maybe what you need is a life coach session?

Picture yourself when DS is 18. Where do you want to be then? In what job etc? Take that goal and work back through what steps you need to make to get there.

DH works. 30k a year. Yes, we pool income. We have a mortgage. We aren't having any more DC. I don't like where we live and don't think the schools are great but we can't afford to move anywhere nicer and DH wouldn't move anyway. Yes, I have a car. Commuting to Uni would be the biggest cost. The FT Job is 5 mins from home and could walk it. So cheaper. Nothing is right for me, tbh. Don't think it ever will be. I don't know about jobs when DS is 18. I just know I'd like a job that provided me enough money for a few meals out, a holiday a year and not having to worry about how I'm going to pay for a new pair of glasses if mine break. I don't care what the job is. As long as it allows me that. I just want a job that allows me to enjoy my free time when I'm not working. I want the money to be able to buy new books when I want them, to upgrade my kindle. To buy a fancy box of chocs and something nice to drink. Read my new book over the weekend with my chocs. Or to buy a new wetsuit for sea swimming. That's what I want.

@Karwomannghia

How about cleaning at more sociable hours that suit preschool etc, self employed £10 /hr under tax threshold and write around that? You could do an online creative writing course at anytime. I don’t understand why these are your only 2 options! Don’t be a teacher unless you really want to especially if it’s going to take 5 years and a lot of debt.

That wouldn't work for this next year. I'd have to pay out for Nursery with no guarantee of a set income coming in every month. Those are my two options because that's what I've got on offer in front of me right now. And I need to pick one. That isn't to say I can't think again and chose differently later on but right now, those are my two options waiting to be chosen.

If your goal is to provide financially then getting into debt to do a degree in creative writing doesn't really make much sense tbh.

@Karwomannghia

How about cleaning at more sociable hours that suit preschool etc, self employed £10 /hr under tax threshold and write around that? You could do an online creative writing course at anytime. I don’t understand why these are your only 2 options! Don’t be a teacher unless you really want to especially if it’s going to take 5 years and a lot of debt.

Basically, I've accepted the Cleaning job and been offered a place at Uni but now this FT Job has come up and thrown a spanner in the works and I'm not sure what to do.

Is the ft job all in situ? Can you negotiate slightly fewer hours?

@Karwomannghia

Is the ft job all in situ? Can you negotiate slightly fewer hours?

No, I don't think negotiating would be an option.

Option 2. The degree will not make you a writer and you will not earn a good income having done it.

If your main aim is to give your son and good life and to be able to go on holidays, etc, take the option that is going to make you money, which is option 2.

But, you don’t have to do the car job forever - take your time to look at other jobs or other subjects you can study which would help you further a career.

"If you don't have a plan for a career that is going to help you pay that loan back at the end of the course, then at the end of it you'll still be left with just option 2, with added debt."

Yes, but if you don't earn enough, you don't have to pay it.

"Option 2. The degree will not make you a writer and you will not earn a good income having done it."

She'll earn a good income if she then does the PGCE. Obviously not a good income according to MN standards, but a good income in the real world.

Depends if you really want to be a teacher. You could do a different job with uni that doesn't involve every morning

I just want to point out that you can want the best for your children, you can want their happiness and security as well as wanting a fulfilling carer for yourself. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Find what is going to make you happy, if selling cars to people really will make you happy and give you career satisfaction then go for it.

@kravestix

Perhaps I'll do Option Two, the FT Job for a year and reassess this time next year when DS starts School. It might be that I'm happy to continue with the FT Job or perhaps Uni might be an option again.

This sounds sensible.

You don't know what you want, so stick with what is safe with prospect of advancement and guaranteed financial security, whilst writing in your spare time - you can wake up early to do that.

Creative writing is pie in the sky and a bit of a hobby which you can ill afford. Fine if you have a high earning dh bankrolling you but it is an irresponsible indulgence if you do not have anything you are working towards. I am surprised it is even an option.

Actually, I'm going to chose Option One for now. I'll go to Uni and do the 5am part Time Job. With the maintenance loan and the part time job, I'll be almost earning as much as the FT Job but won't have to pay out childcare fees. 5am start is crap but it means I'll have the days free. It also means for the next 4 years whilst I'm studying I'll be able to spend the school holidays with DS and do the school drop off and pick ups. I also really do want to do the PGCE once I've finished my degree. I've wanted to teach since I was thirteen. And I want to be teaching even when DS has grown up and left home. I think this is the right option for me.

Definitely 2, I could not get up early enough for 1, especially with a small child. Also, very few people make a living from Creative Writing degrees, not directly anyway. If I was going to study as a single parent I'd do something to increase my career prospects only.