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unusual job situation: two fulltime jobs
Since Jan 2008 I've had two fulltime jobs in a professional industry. This working arrangement started when I was working one fulltime job by telecommuting, that job became a little slow, and I took a second at the office job with another employer. My initial idea was to work this arrangement for a few months just to save up a bit of money - but a few months has turned into a few years, and it still appears that I will keep this arrangement. At times, this arrangement is more complicated than I would like, for example when there is a meeting scheduled at the same time at both jobs. My attitude towards work is not entirely positive, even though I manage to get my work done and with good performance reviews.
But this has been very good for savings, including monies for a large downpayment on the purchase of a home, payment of wife's tuition, funding 401k at maximum, paying off automobiles in full, and establishing a 529 plan for each of our children. It has not been good for finding time to exercise (my physical fitness is markedly worse, although I've recently taken steps to improve this), do hobbies, or for spending time with friends or family; however, there are currently no critical problems in these areas either.
At times I think about how I would spend my free time if I were to quit one of the jobs, which I could do at anytime with the standard two weeks notice. I do not 'need' both jobs from a financial perspective - our housing payment and expenses are low enough that we can get by on one job's salary only, while still making some savings. If I quit a job, it would be the second job, which is still far more work than the first.
This may be a psychological issue, rather than a strictly financial one. Over the past two years, having the greater income from the two jobs has led me to believe that level of income is normal for me (even though a single job income was what I had been used to before).
When I redid budget projections to account for only one job, I was shocked to look at the figures and see that I could only save a much smaller amount of money per month.
When I think about the things I would not be able to do as well with only one job (efforts towards savings, investment, buying real estate, early retirement, helping family members) it became a bit discouraging. Also, when I think about how I could transform my family's financial picture over a longer period of time (say 5 to 10 years) with this arrangement, it is fairly attractive.
Has anyone experienced having the choice to scale back work efforts or increase those efforts to meet a goal, and how did they deal with that? How much forward looking should I plan a budget under these circumstances?
But this has been very good for savings, including monies for a large downpayment on the purchase of a home, payment of wife's tuition, funding 401k at maximum, paying off automobiles in full, and establishing a 529 plan for each of our children. It has not been good for finding time to exercise (my physical fitness is markedly worse, although I've recently taken steps to improve this), do hobbies, or for spending time with friends or family; however, there are currently no critical problems in these areas either.
At times I think about how I would spend my free time if I were to quit one of the jobs, which I could do at anytime with the standard two weeks notice. I do not 'need' both jobs from a financial perspective - our housing payment and expenses are low enough that we can get by on one job's salary only, while still making some savings. If I quit a job, it would be the second job, which is still far more work than the first.
This may be a psychological issue, rather than a strictly financial one. Over the past two years, having the greater income from the two jobs has led me to believe that level of income is normal for me (even though a single job income was what I had been used to before).
When I redid budget projections to account for only one job, I was shocked to look at the figures and see that I could only save a much smaller amount of money per month.
When I think about the things I would not be able to do as well with only one job (efforts towards savings, investment, buying real estate, early retirement, helping family members) it became a bit discouraging. Also, when I think about how I could transform my family's financial picture over a longer period of time (say 5 to 10 years) with this arrangement, it is fairly attractive.
Has anyone experienced having the choice to scale back work efforts or increase those efforts to meet a goal, and how did they deal with that? How much forward looking should I plan a budget under these circumstances?
Not only that, but he was/is very active with his church and volunteering his time every weekend.
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