If you were guaranteed 1,200 a month income…

[Tja1]

Would you give up full time work and a stressful job for something low key with minimal pay and minimal responsibility?

I’m 43. I’ve been a single parent for several years. It’s been a struggle. I have income guaranteed of 1,200 a month. My mortgage is 980 so this income only really covers that and council tax.

I have around 2k spare a month at the moment that I can put away after all expenses but my mental health and general health is very bad due to the pressures of the job. I am seriously considering just throwing the towel in and getting a job two days a week doing something basic (I can’t go part time in my current industry), just something that pays the extra bills and a bit of spending money.

has anyone done this? Is it crazy? I’m so depleted and I’ve exhausted all other options including sick leave, annual leave and therapy. I just want to get off the treadmill.

If you asked me 20 years ago, I would have said you were crazy to do it, but now - no, not at all. Your peace of mind is all that matters.

This is less than the living wage if full time so no, go for living wage instead, take home over £1,600. Do you mean you’ll have £1200 left after mortgage? If so, I would but I know how to budget having been on minimum living wage for years in the past.

I think you might need to clarify - £1,200 a month plus approx £700-£800?
So potentially £2,000 coming in each month? Or just
If your other bills aren't too much then it's probably doable.

I think you need to do it for your mental health. Take time to recover, see how you manage on that money, and then you can take time to re evaluate how much you need to earn to be happy, taking into account pension etc. Then, if need be, you can up your hours, retrain or be sufficiently healed to go back to your old industry.

But short term your plan sounds as if it’s needed.

I did exactly this. No regrets.

This would be my answer too

Don’t be ridiculous £1200 is
nothing really as you said it covers your mortgage and that’s it. If your able to work I’d be banking thay £1200, keeping my job and seeing what the situation looks like in 5 / 10 years time.

Can you live on that? If yes - do it as I can totally understand how you feel. But if you can't live off that, financial stress will be worse than the stress you are currently under (in my experience of taking a pay cut - although my monthly outgoings are huge).

This. I'm 49 and I was made redundant last September and am currently living off my redundancy. I'll need to get a job later this year but I want something with less stress, preferably part time. Leaving, albeit forced on me, was the best thing that could have happened to me.

ETA I'm lucky in that we don't have a mortgage but even if we had something was going to give as the stress was making me ill. DH has noticed how much more relaxed I am, I'm not snappy and always on the verge of tears.

Normally this income will be fine if a man pays all your bills including mortgage

Yep, that is my experience too. Worked in a shop, hospitality, call centre... I found most of them more stressful than my current office-based role. Especially the call centre work: dealing with pissed off people, a huge list of weekly targets to meet, senior staff listening in to calls to make sure you were doing your job properly, absolute worst for micromanagement. And that was for a government help line!

It doesn't sound as though OP is in a position to keep her job for another 5/10 years. Her mental and physical health is suffering.

Interesting, I was on this for over 10 years with no man paying for anything.

What's your pension like? Can you realistically find a less stressful job that will make up the difference?

I say this because I would rather carry on in my current, well paid, high stress, but management so I can work around my kids, job as a single mother, than trade it in for a low wage, less mentally demanding, but also less flexible job in a supermarket/cafe/school

Aha, Apple has said what I was just trying to work out a way to say! Lower level jobs are far from easier, and particularly if you are used to manging your own time and workload.

I've done something broadly similar by giving up my full time job and going part time in an easier job after receiving an inheritance that paid off my mortgage. I never regretted it and never went back to full time work. I eventually retrained and was self employed doing as much work as I could comfortably manage. I was younger than you when I made that choice. Good luck whatever you decide.

I agree. There's a level I wouldn't drop below now because I love the autonomy and flexibility.

What worked for me was taking a bit of a sabbatical and then a move just a couple of layers backwards, so I was in my comfort zone but still at a level where I had plenty of autonomy and flexibility

Juggling a demanding career as a single parent is hard. Mix in health issues and it feels even worse.

I think I would start at looking elsewhere within your industry. Can you do your role in another organisation that has flexible working? As a parent, you have the right to request that in your current organisation but I'm guessing you've probably already tried that without success. If you want to leave your industry and try something new, then that is another option. Would you think of your health issues as a symptom of your job dissatisfaction?
Do you get help/support from family and friends as a single parent? Feeling isolated and having little support can also be really difficult.

I've worked across different industries and retrained in my 40s. It was a bit of a leap of faith but I'm now self employed and it's great (for me). Might retraining or looking at self employment work for you?

NMW jobs are a bit pot luck. If you can secure one it can be demanding in different ways so it's not necessarily easier. The people you work with tend to be what makes any job something you enjoy and good/bad managers happen across all industries.

Good luck with whatever you decide. The positive thing here is that you have options to weigh up.

Hi op, I was in a similar situation to you last year. My job was crazily stressful and I was working 70-80 hours per week.

I paid my mortgage off and went to a really simple and lower paid job. I was stupidly overqualified for the job. It was amazing but I ended up getting promoted a few times in 6 months in the new job and now I earn more than before - with still no stress!

I'd say aim for a role that is less traumatic than one you are doing. But definately get out of that job that's harming your health. Life is too short!

Some companies offer a sabbatical. 13 months off unpaid. My colleague applied for one, and got it! We were very suprised as he was the first person to ask! Why don't you do this, just in case £1200 isn't enough to live on.

Ignore. My math was way off!

Do it OP. There’s no way I’d be working full time if I had £1200pm coming in.

Do you have a good pension? That £1200 will only be worth £300 or £400 by the time you’re pension age.

10k savings isn’t much at all & I’d want more as a buffer, but it depends how bad the stress is. I’d just be careful not to make your life even more stressful without enough money for food etc.

I would. I would do it for 12 months and see how I feel health wise after that.

Maybe check out the thread today on reading comprehension🤣

OP CLEARLY states she can’t reduce her hours.