Has anyone taken a significant pay cut for happiness?

[sourcreamnchives]

I'm a band 7 nurse - and utterly overwhelmed, burned out and miserable in my job where I have worked for the last 7 years. I am considering requesting reducing my hours even more than my 30 hours a week (four days) ... for lifestyle/to escape. I am also frantically looking around for another job but at band 7 it will be a long drawn-out affair. Every day I look. Today I have seen a band 5 nursing job advertised that looks interesting. The salary is £25,250 per annum which would work out at about £1750 net monthly full time. My current salary is £41,000 with unsocial enhancements in addition. I am married with two grown up children (so no dependents) and could afford the drop but would not be able to save as much as I can now and lifestyle would need to be adapted. I would also need to work full time. However if this were in a job I preferred I anticipate this would not be an issue. I am also hoping in a different job I might be able to make more friends as in the one I'm in now there is very little camaraderie in a very stressful job and staff keep their heads down - and no one socialises outside work - creating a lonely working experience.
Now I know I am the only person who can really make a decision to swap more money for improved quality of life but would be very interested in hearing from those who have made similar changes to their lives with positive effects.

I was burnt out and miserable in a job I hated in London. I was pretty well paid. I quit and moved to Ireland, taking a 40% pay cut. It was fine and probably saved my life. It took me about 4 years to get my salary back up but our lives were so different in Ireland it didn't really matter.

Me! I literally halved my pay to get out of a toxic work environment, and it was probably the best decision I've ever made. I love my job now. It was such a shock to find that colleagues could actually be kind to one another!! I do miss having disposable income but it was definitely worth it for the quality of life.

My dh and I both work for a charity, for a pittance.
We do it because we love it and believe in it (faith based charity)

Yes, we don't have the same fancy holidays, yes money is sometimes tight, but our quality of life is great.

I quit my very well paid job to be a SAHM 12 years ago. Never regretted it.

I took a pay cut of more than 50% to retrain as a teacher. The first four years were horrendously stressful but I'm now settled in a school I enjoy, part-time and generally really content. Would have been far tougher without dh salary contributing to household income though.

I've gone pt Self-employed so I can manage my mental health after stress at work left me depressed, anxious and agoraphobic. I used to earn about 39,000. I plan to work enough take home 750 a month. I'm so glad I did.

I think if you want less stress you probably need less hours.

I left corporate banking on a really good salary (I thought) when I was 42. Took a PT support role in a school, which I thought would see me out. I was completely burned out and never wanted any responsibility ever again

Now, at 50, I've gained new qualifications, am at my third school and a member of SLT on much the same salary as I had in banking, but with much more time off and no expensive commute.

So yes, I took a big pay cut for the sake of my happiness and wellbeing but nothing has to be forever.

Not that level of cut as he wasn't earning a massive wage beforehand, but DH- changed both his place of work and his hours, dropping to 3 days a week on pretty low pay for his physical and mental wellbeing and to better support the family. His income is about half what it was before we made those changes but we are SO MUCH BETTER OFF in terms of time and family life and his health.

However, having been v low income in the past, if I had not been full time and earning enough to support us without needing his FT wage, we would not even have considered it.

I took a 40% pay cut to drop my hours in a job I hated just go have more free time. It was exactly what I needed at then time, until it wasn't. Dropping hours but keeping the same job eventually resulted in the same feelings creeping back in as before. So I changed my job completely and absolutely love it. I'm still on less than I was in my other full time role but on more than I was part time and happier than ever. Sometimes a complete change is needed.

Yes - I earn 50% now of my salary when I left my job as a lawyer in 2014. I work in the public sector now, and whilst it can be stressful it's for the right reasons. I don't regret it ever. Money wise I'm lucky as my OH salary grew as mine shrunk and whilst we don't share everything he pays for treats and more into our bills account (which I did for 11 years)

I took a £12,000 pay cut to start a new job at the start of April, I haven't done the actual new job as yet as we were in lockdown but they're paying me. I don't think I'll have any regrets as they seems really supportive and my last job had become an utter nightmare which was literally making me ill. We've had to make some adjustments but we'll be ok.

Yes. I had a senior leadership role in a hefty salary. I was becoming unwell. I left last year. I'm not even on a quarter of my previous salary and I don't regret it in the slightest

I decided to retire earlier than planned and left last year at the age of 58. I was working long hours, but there was still more work than I could manage. I was constantly juggling things and as soon as one thing was sorted out, new urgent priorities would present themselves. I also had a three hour commute. I have have always been lucky with a good ability to manage stress, but I found I was becoming less able to deal with it. My physical health was also suffering (too much snacking for instant energy boosts, too little exercise and a very sedentary lifestyle with no energy to exercise, or do anything much, when I arrived home exhausted at 8.30pm, having left the house before 7am.

When they decided to replace me with two people, I did consider briefly whether to stay on to do half the job, but by then I had I become very attracted to the idea of retirement (especially as my husband had already been retired for a few years) so I decided to go. I'd been making extra pension contributions for a while, to help make up for years working part time earlier in my career so, while ideally I'd have worked until at least 60, to make up even more of the deficit, my pension is sufficient, and my husband has a good one and a state pension so we didn't need the money.

Just over a year on, I have no regrets. I've lost 3.5 stone (still some way to go) and feel fitter and healthier than I have for years. I'm also seeing more of friends and family and have re-started hobbies I had given up over the years because of lack of time. Lockdown has prevented me from doing a lot of this over the last few months, of course, so I'm looking forward to get back to it.

I know I'm very lucky.

I went for a Band 7 in one speciality to a Band 6 in a totally different area of work.
Much happier, and not spending so much on lunches and treats cos work is so hard.

Do it, you can always top up occasionally with a bank shift.

Life is too short to be unhappy