Would you rather... Money vs. Job edition
Wow it's been a long time since I've done a "would you rather". I feel like we need one of these to get our brains in think-mode today. After all, it's Feisty Friday! So here's the question - give it some thought and drop a line w/ your answer. You never know when it just might come true ;)"Would you rather be rich with a crap job, or poor with a job you love?"I'll admit it's not the most creative question ever asked, but it's something we talk about whether we realize it or not. Remember all those times we bitch & complain about our jobs? If we're not doing it for the money, then why? ;) (on a side note I actually DO happen to love my job, but not after sorting through the other dirt holes first) In interest of this question though, I feel like I'd choose rich over poor. You can do a lot of good w/ money both for yourself AND others. As long as the job didn't suck up all my time, I'm pretty sure I could deal with it in order to grab the benefits. Although, if I really hated it that much I guess it would mean that it DID take up my time, eh?
On the other hand, spending your valuable time @ a place that makes you happy can go a loooong way! Easier to wake up to, get back from vacation to, and just overall a better quality of life. Minus the money part, of course. But that alone is enough to drive a man crazy. As I mentioned, I couldn't ask for a better job right now, but if the pay was a half or a third of what I currently make there's no WAY I could live the lifestyle I do - and that's saying something considering I live pretty low key as it is.
None of these questions ever have correct answers, but it's still interesting to think about. I'm a huge "what if" kinda guy, for better or for worse (usually for worse if you ask any of my previous gf's). But if you find yourself leaning towards the "poor with an incredible job" side of things, ask yourself this: what's stopping you? If money isn't as important deep down, why not get out there and start looking for it? It's worth a few minutes of your time considering it at the very least.
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Check out some others:
- Would you...politically & publicly sell out for $10,000?
- Would you rather... Be ugly & rich, or hot with less?
- Would you...take a 10% pay cut if it saved co-worker?
Labels: career, would you rather
posted by J. Money at
10:20 AM
26 Comments:
So I have often chosen in my life to live in really beautiful places that are hard to 'make it', economically speaking. The reason is there isn't a lot of jobs and it's pretty rural. So I am trying to create my own professional job and using the connectiveness of the internet to make it work.
One of my favorite songs has the lyrics "I've got a smile on my face and I've got four walls around me." I have never needed a lot in my life and living simply is what makes me happy at the moment.
That said, if I want to climb the corporate ladder in a few years, I'll give it a shot. I think it's important to keep checking in with priorities and make decisions in line with them. And personally, I'm choosing to live poor with a job I love...at least for as long as I can.
I would happily take either. Having an okay job with an okay income is probably the norm for most of us, wouldn't you say? I'd like to spend a few years in a miserable "rich" job to set myself up for a much longer stint at a very fulfilling "poor" job.
This is always a good question because I think people's answers change when their situations do. Since I am currently in a job I HATE making sad money, I'd have to say I'd take a job I love even if it meant I wasn't rich (notice how I can't bring myself to say poor...). Satisfaction goes a long way. Puts a spring in your step, makes the days more pleasant, makes you feel like a better human being. I've never heard anyone say that about money itself (they may say it about the things money can get them!).
And in case you're wondering, yes I am looking for a new gig!
My selection would be more along the lines of: Rich, with a part-time crap job, and a side business that I love. :)
Poor with a great job. No question. And yes, I quit a high income job that I hated to take 1/2 the money and be surrounded by people that I could respect. At the outset, losing 30k+ made things uncomfortable, but it taught us how to live on less so that a few years later I could transition to a SAHM without too much pain.
I would say rich with crap job. Great job with little money is going to make your life outside of the job very difficult. After all, you are only at your job 40 hours per week. You are outside of your job 128 hours per week.
It's more of a question to ask depending on the situation. If you are young and have no real financial responsibilities other than yourself, having less but being happy is important. If you have a family and financial future to worry about, most people would make the sacrifice.
I would probably take the crap job. I could put up with 8 hours of misery if it meant the other areas of my life made up for it. Plus the more I made the sooner I could retire :)
Nice timing J for this question....as part of a large banking company merger, I was just offered a job in another city (not my favorite city anyways) for the same awesome salary last week... and I I turned down. So my last official day is November 30th with a 3 month severance.
If I had said 'yes,' the working conditions would have included having a tiny desk in a cramped office with no windows with a boss who has to micromanage just about every project. Long stressful days included.
And from my employer there would be no $$ help for relocating so we would be shouldering the cost of selling our current house (not the best market to sell now here) and also asking hubby to quit his current job (we make about the same $) and try to find another good job in a city where he knows nobody...well, talk about taking a big leap of faith.
And apparently I wasn't the only one in my dept.who turned down an offer to relocate to the new company headquarter's home town.
Instead, I excepted an offer to freelance for another publisher who will give me more work now that I will have more time to work for her - definitely not the $/benefits I am making now, but I will totally enjoy working with her and doing work for her.
So time will tell whether I made the right decision or not.
since i am currently unemployed this question takes on new meaning..i left a corporate job that paid pretty well and had the potential to pay a lot more.....i missed the classroom and wanted to get back to teaching kids....so for me, i would rather be poor with a job i love ....and right now, i can't even find a teaching job so times are definitely tough....good question...at the end of the day, i'm not willing to compromise my happiness for money
Well, it depends how poor, because I'd hate to be truly poor and have to worry about things like where my next meal is coming from, let alone trying to eat healthy. Also, how many hours a day are we talking about? When I try to imagine a job I'd hate I think LONG hours, whereas a job I'd love would probably have more reasonable hours.
So assuming that and that I had money to be safe & healthy, I'd rather be poor and have a job I love because if you're working long hours at a job you hate there isn't a lot of time to enjoy the money -- and just buying stuff to have it isn't enjoyable, imho. However, if you work reasonable hours at a job you love then 1. your job is entertaining and fulfilling in itself and 2. there are plenty of free and low cost things you can do for fun. So, why would you need a lot of money except for health care and emergencies?
As it is, my husband and I don't spend a lot of money on entertainment because we do a lot of free/low cost stuff like taking walks, going to the farmers' market, borrowing library books, watching stuff online, etc. That started because we're trying to get out of debt, but I don't think we'd do things very differently if we had no debt -- and we're certainly MUCH happier than we were when we were spending our money shopping and eating out a lot. For us, the big thing we look forward to when we're out of debt is my husband having more flexibility with his job choice since we wouldn't need such a high income. Then he hopefully could get a job he loves and have more time at home, too. (And maybe we won't have to wait for that, but it would be easier to find a job like that if we had no debt.)
I'm gonna roll with Rich on this one. Money is power and Id use it to eventually leave the job and not have any job at all.
I have found that doing something you love and are passionate about is better than working at a place you hate. Life is too short and if you are passionate about something then you are far more likely to find new and creative ways to make more money. Dan Miller at 48days.com deals with this specific topic. If you love your job, it's not like work. Passion is fire and fire keeps you moving in a productive direction.
To answer the question I would choose a career I am passionate about, and make money providing a service to others. Poor is not an option. Passion translates into money if you use it to everyone's advantage.
Rich with a crap job. Because you can always take the money and leave the job:) Wait, save it up, leave. Unfortunately, passion alone does not just translate into money. There are many social factors that might still work against your hard work. It's true. I'm not saying that finding your passion and doing it isn't important - it is. But it won't necessarily bring you money, or enough of it.
Can i be poor with a job i love, and marry a hot wife who makes some serious bank?
If so.... i choose that option!
Poor with a great job. Really crap jobs (and I mean really crap, not just boring) make you ill over time and there is nothing more important than your health.
Glad to to see the return of WYR...
I'd rather be rich with a crap job - but with one disclaimer - it couldn't be something I was morally opposed to. If it's crap because it's annoying, that's fine with me. I can use the money to enable happiness in other areas of my life. As long as I'm working for money, I'll never like the job I have anyway.
I'd argue that most people aren't being honest when they say they'd rather be poor with a job they love. If they wanted, they could quit their jobs today, be poor, and volunteer for a cause that they care about.
@David
"I'd argue that most people aren't being honest when they say they'd rather be poor with a job they love. If they wanted, they could quit their jobs today, be poor, and volunteer for a cause that they care about."
True. But the problem for many people is that they used to think money would buy happiness and can't leave their current job because they have CC debt, student loans, and/or an underwater mortgage on a house they can't sell.
That's a tough one, but I would have to say rich with a crap job. Unless the crap job means I'm working crazy hours and have no free time. But if it's an average 40-50 hour work week, I'm sold.
Money isn't everything, and I don't need much, but I would like to be able to provide for my family. Especially if I could make enough so my spouse could stay home and raise our kids and we could send them to good schools and help them with college. That would make it worthwhile.
Well, I think I'm going to have to agree with Meg: It depends on the actual job. If it's a normal job that I'm unhappy with, I'll make money and enjoy myself in my free time. But if it's all-consuming and/or a job that makes me lose my soul... Poor!
FYI Tim says poor. Not even a blink, just answered. Then again, stress makes his skin break out and crappy jobs are pretty stressful!
Good thoughts everyone! Usually at this point I declare a winner of the two options, but you guys make strong points for both :) I guess what matters the most is if you're living by the answer you chose, and if not, whether it's worth changing in the future? Either way, thanks for leaving your thoughts! Another "would you rather" successfully played.
I'd be in the boat of doing something I love for less pay. I think being happy is a lot more fullfilling than having insane amounts of money. I'm currently in a job I don't necessarily love, but the money is pretty darn good! But I tend to carry some of those stresses of work into my personal time, and I'd think with a job that I simply adored I wouldn't be as stressed feeling as I typically am. But maybe it is a 'grass is greener' scenario. Maybe if I was in a job I loved but barely able to put food on my table because of it, I'd feel inclined to do a job I hate for more pay....
This is a tough one for me. I'm in a job that I actually can say I enjoy and one I can work at home later in life if I choose. But it doesn't bring in the greatest of money. With my constant struggle for money, I'd say bring on the crappy job with money rollin in for a while and then I'll go work from home in what I love.
@MK - yeah, the "Grass is greener" thing gets me too...guess that's why this is a 'would you rather' and not real life as real life is usually some sort of mixture ;)
@forensics - I hear that. Being able to work from home is awesome, esp if you can figure out a way to bring in some decent money! at least you enjoy your current job though, that's awesome.
Man! I think about this "What if?" all the time! I used to love journalism... Well, let me correct that. I loved *the idea* of being a journalist. Then I got the job making $19,000 a year. The money wasn't bad because I have few expenses, but then I realized I was having to work 60 hours a week, super late nights, I was missing class to go to meetings, my editor was a butthole and no one else seemed to like us either! At least, I'm deducing that because they never called me back when I left messages. :-p The thing that I loved had become a job and stop being the thing I loved.
Now I'm convinced that I'd rather have a job I didn't care for making more money than be poor with a job I love. It's not fun to admit, but money is important. What's going to make us happier? The 40 hours we spend at work or knowing we're providing for our families and our future selves? As someone who went through a major rough patch with credit cards, I can tell you I would have traded the stress of getting phone calls from creditors all day long for a higher paying job any day.
Interesting...I appreciate your honesty girl with red balloon! And I'm even more intrigued by this whole "getting phone calls from creditors all day long" gig...would you ever be up for guest posting on this blog about it? I'ma hit you up via email.
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