Am I losing perspective on these jobs offers? I don’t know what to do and running out of time!

[Linset]

I’ve been offered two jobs.

One has take home pay of 4,100 a month. Work from home whenever you want, with office presence every so often when you decide to do so.

Other is take home pay of 4,350 and opportunity for a bonus with health insurance on top. Office presence needed 4 times a week, sometimes 3 times depending on what’s on.

I am a single parent and do get maintenance of around 1k a month. DD is is nursery but has some free hours now so the bill is around 500 a month.

I don’t know which role to take. The nursery is on the way to the second job but the traffic is horrendous. I’d also feel stressed coming back from the office to be there on time for her as I am the only person who does nursery drop off and pick up (that isn't going to change).

I am conflicted as I feel silly not going for the better paid role but also the idea of having a commute on top of everything else I have to manage seems overwhelming. But am I letting myself down? I don’t know. I’m 39, not sure if relevant.

Assuming "finance job" means in to the city, the traffic should be pretty light from nursery to home in the morning. Or you could move nursery to closer to home?

How long til you need to deal with schools? If starting school in only a year or 2 into the future, take job 1.

Job one. Going into the office 4x a week sounds ok on paper but it's just another layer of faff, commuting costs, traffic, parking, dropping off, picking up.

Well done OP! Take job two. 250 is a lot per month - over 12 months it's an extra 3k!

Job one. You will spend much of that £250 on lunches, drinks, impulse buys

Job one definitely, £250 per month to avoid the stress of rushing out the office sometimes mid meeting to make sure you get there before closing time is an absolute bargain. Plus once your DC is at school what with different finishing times, school holidays with holiday clubs with shorter hours etc the benefits of wfh are priceless.

Job 1 but consider where the office base is in case they change positions on wfh - would that make you worse off than job 2?

What percentage is the bonus ? That could make a huge difference.

I'm a firm believer of being in a job that pays less but you're happier, overall, than a job that pays more but you're miserable in..

Can I ask what you? I knew I was already in the wrong job but this just confirmed 😂..

A job working from home will let you keep on top of things so much better. Seems an easy choice to me.

I would go for the first job I think. Both are well paid, it’s not a massive salary difference and the second one sounds stressful as a single parent. Plus, it’s likely you’ll save money working at home. Add up petrol costs for journeys to and from the office for a month and see what the maths indicates.

Are the pension contributions and holiday allowance the same with both? Lunch breaks and hours the exact same? With job 1 is it still possible for you to go into work if you wanted to? Would either expect you to work outside your designated hours?

Go for job 1. The flexibility of working from home is well worth £70 a week.

I’d take job 1 and get my own private health insurance. It’s not that expensive

Take the first one. The pay difference is negligible. Presumably it’s more or less the same level song won’t harm career progression. It’s not worth the stress trying to get back for nursery pick up. And as a pp said, you will spend the difference in transport costs.

I’d take the lower salary for the flexibility

This isn’t just a straight WFH vs commute though, is it? OP says she will need to drive to nursery in bad traffic then drive back home for job 1, and will be travelling about as long as she would be for job2.

Things to consider in this case would be, will her DC be in school soon, and is the school close to home, so the nursery commute would be a temporary issue?

The difference in money is fairly negligible in the context of £4k+ and may even be eaten up by spend on petrol for your commute. Regardless, I’d go for the one which makes your life easier (ie the wfh job). Unless you think the better paid job would be much more fulfilling and enjoyable.

Ho much is the bonus?

Absolutely this.

For what it’s worth, I have just taken a lower paid role, with a 30 minute commute, hybrid, decent pension, role over another which paid half as much again. The higher paid role was longer days and a massive, hellish, commute and no benefits as such.
I am entirely comfortable with my decision.

In my opinion, I would be taking your first job offer for the WFH benefits. The additional £20p a month sounds tempting but the commute and childcare costs soon add up, plus I would have to ask myself if the commute stress was worth it.

Not everyone would! I go into the office 3 x week a day always take my own lunches/snacks/coffees - never buy anything during the day (shopping online at home may be a different story...)

Agree the first job if it makes you less stressed and happier - if you have all your costs covered then the extra money isn’t worth it. You’ll be more likely to stick with job 1.

What are career prospects like with job 1?

Flexibility is king when you have young DC. I would take the first one without blinking.

Unlike most folk here, I'd go for job 2. The commute is no different from driving back home from nursery, you get £250 per month more, plus health care, plus a bonus. If you think how much difference it makes over, say a couple of years, it's quite a lot!

OP what are the pension contributions from employer? that should also be a factor