Change of career money concerns

[Shelby10]

Not wanting to be nosey. It’s more for reassurance or if we must be mad. So opinions very welcome.
Currently have a household income and 2 secure jobs where 50% of our earnings are ‘spare’ for holidays, dining out, savings. Meaning we can go abroad once or twice a year, dine out every weekend (in normal times) and save a bit per month too.
My DH would really like to look into a new career later this year (a manual job he enjoys and is good at), but it would mean our spare money would easily halve.
We’ve not been in this financial position for long, only a few years, and we’ve been financially comfortable for the first time in 20 years. But DH really does not like his job and it’s making him miserable (management in the private sector). We are in our early 40’s. I think the current way of life has meant more time to think.
Anyone else taken the plunge with something like this?

Today when I hand in my notice....me. sorry I can't tell you how it goes in terms of the future. I'm absolutely terrified but also can't do this for another year
Hope others have some positive stories

My brother in law did and seems very happy. It was a big financial adjustment but he easily seems ten years younger for it.

How are you for pension and saving?

No proper savings. We both have pensions through work

I did the same April last year OP, I hated my job, and took a job that was £15k less. After tax and student loan deductions etc it is about £450 less a month, so quite a bit. However, we can still comfortably pay the bills, although it depends on your financial commitments I guess! We purposefully took a small mortgage when we bought our house in case something ever happened, so we weren't stretched to start with.

I haven't regretted it for even a second, and I was a bundle of nerves and wondering if I'd done the right thing before I started. I now actually really love work, and it's made such a difference. We do have to be a bit more mindful, but honestly it's been worth it to us.

If I were you I’d set a timeline - agree that you’ll stay as you are for the next X months, and use the time to aggressively save up as much cash as you can. That will give you a bit of a financial buffer for when he does make the switch and feel more comfortable about being able to cover unforeseen bills etc. The fact that you say you have “no proper savings” despite having so much spare money each month shows you’ll need to completely change your attitude to saving/spending as you won’t necessarily have the ability to just pay things off with the next pay packet any more.

Look at your retirement/pension setup as well - if he’s switching to a more manual job would he be able to work for as long? Are you covered for if he needs to retire earlier?

Thank you for your posts.. good luck to you guys who have dared so far.

We’ve only had this higher income for a few years so the money has been used on the house and paying some small debts off. Plus we’ve managed to buy our son his first car. As everything is closed we decided to use it to get some stuff done that we’ve wanted to sort for some years.

@Shelby10 that’s a really good use of the money - if you’ve done up the house and paid down debt then you’re setting yourself up well for if you did have less coming in each month; as you’re less likely to have unexpected expenses crop up from house stuff, plus less outgoings committed as you’ve paid off the debt.

Yes. This year I'm going into a job that is less than 50% of my previous salary.

Things are tight financially however that is a billion times better than the stress I was under previously which was making me physically sick.

Does it have the potential to increase once he has experience?

I did this 6 years ago and although my salary would have been much higher by now I have just reached what I was on when I left 6 years ago. I will never be able to reach the top salary I could have potentially reached in my old role, nowhere near!

BUT I hated my old job. Cried a lot. Had to go on maternity leave early due to stress and bullying. I love my job now and wouldn't change a thing. Of course it is hard, especially when you get comfortable in a certain lifestyle, but it is a long time to work and be unhappy!

I just changed job in October. I was miserable for a very long time I'm my old job. It took me 5 years to build up the courage to leave. It's a big drop financially but I love this job !
I've never been great with money ( that's why I'm on here! ) . I pay all the bills and then whatever is left over, is spent! Not great really ! So since my new job, I've had to be more alert to how I spend ...... I think I'm starting to budget and be a bit more frugal ( out of necessity) .
Money isn't everything. Just make sure all current bills can be paid comfortably and aim to save a little .....job satisfaction is worth so much more . Life is too short to be miserable at work .

Thank you everyone.
Yes the aim is to do one more biggish job on the house this year or at least save for it, then all the big stuff is done.
And hopefully a drop is wage won’t affect us too much longer term if the big spends are out of the way.

It’s generally a lower paid job even longer term. But I know he’d be so much happier.

My partner changed jobs in 2019. Took a 15k a year reduction in salary, 4 weeks later had a heart attack and was out of work for 6 months. Went back to his new job and a year later we haven't looked back. Yes, we have had to adjust accordingly and sometimes it's hard having less money, but the previous job caused health issues, so glad he took the jump when he did!

You sound wonderfully supportive OP, as long as it won't make things financially tight to the point you will be counting every penny or be worrying constantly (which is also stressful), although this sounds cheesy, it will be so worthwhile if he will be happier. What I meant to post earlier is it makes a huge difference as well if you are happy at work. Me and my DH when we discussed it knew we would largely be relying in our budget planning on him staying in the same job, but if he was unhappy as well we would have considered that.

Thank you. I am as life really is too short. It’s difficult as none of us want to struggle but we don’t want to feel like a slave to work either. Luckily I enjoy my job but it’s a lowish pay. But it’s also very secure. I’ve worked it out and we should still be able to afford 1 cheaper abroad holiday per year still and a meal out once a month. And even save a very small amount to help with if something in the house needed replacing. So not poverty. Just would have to think more when we want to plan something.
Thank you all for your responses.

Could you try living now as if you'd already had a drop in income? Then the change in actual salary will be a lot less noticeable. I appreciate you may already do so of course, with saving for work on the house, and the pandemic shutting down restaurants etc.

Generally I'd say go for it if this is a well thought out plan rather than just a way of escaping this particular job. I changed career direction a few years ago because my previous career path had started to feel completely meaningless. Not as drastic as switching from a management role to manual work, but still a noticeable change. I earn slightly less now than I could have, but am much, much happier.

50% income spare every month but no savings is a strange position to be in. Surely you’ve saved some of this spare money or do you spend it all?

I’d be worried about the change in job & income without a backup fund of savings to cover big purchases/emergencies etc.

Yes, we are in a way, as any spare is paying debts off or doing hole improvements. So that’s kind of made us think about being able to manage long term. Thank you

We’ve used the spare on the house and paid some small debts off