Historical Record

I know I already mentioned Mr. A’s new job, but there was more background that went into that decision so I am going back to record it.   You know, just in case he gets another cockamamie job idea in the future, I can refer to this and remind him why we made the decision we ultimately made.

A few months ago, Mr. A was approached about the possibility of a new job.  The job is a good opportunity for him, but it also appeared to require a rather substantial pay cut (maybe about 30%).   The idea of a pay cut that big really freaked me out.  It isn’t like we are living like rockstars over here.  Right now, we have enough to pay our mortgage, our school loans, our expenses, save a bit for retirement and to stash a little away in other savings.   We certainly do not have the wiggle-room to lose 30% of our income.  (I should also note that neither of us believe in consumer debt, so floating by with credit cards is not an acceptable option.)

Mr. A really really wanted this job.  From an experience/resume point of view, it is a no brainer.  I, on the other hand, was not sold on the risk to our finances.  I was also really annoyed when Mr. A suggested I should find a job to make up the lost income if he took the job.

(And yes, I realize that this post is heading into territory that provides fodder for the haters out there to think I am selfish.  I am not going to waste time trying dissuade people who want to think that about me.  Instead, I am just going to write about the thought process we actually went through.  If you want to dislike me, don’t let me get in your way.)

Thus began a several months-long debate about the job.  In theory, if we needed more money, obviously I could get a job.  In practice, it is more complicated than that.

Throwing L into daycare would be very hard on her if we didn’t do it carefully.  If I were to work part-time, I would only be able to earn about $10-$15 an hour and would only make up about a quarter of Mr. A’s lost income.  If I worked full-time, I could make up more of it, but then we would lose about a a third to half on daycare and after school care.  It hardly seems like it is worth the effort before both girls are in school.

Mr. A tried to sell me on the possibility that he would work a lot less at the new job.  But then I pointed out that if took that job, he might work 15 hours less a week.  In exchange, to make up some of his lost salary, I would have to work between 2o and 40 hours a week, L would have to be in daycare 20 to 40 hours a week and even M might need to be in after-school care for 5-10 hours a week.  So 15 hours less for Mr. A = up to 90 hours of lost family time for the rest of us.  Not to mention there are few nonprofit jobs available right now due to the crappy economy (I looked) AND they don’t pay enough to come anywhere near making up for his lost salary + daycare.

The insinuation that I needed to find a job to help Mr. A get this new job was really irritating to me.  As if I wasn’t ALREADY helping out Mr. A right now to the detriment of my own future employment options.  I used to have a job, but I quit in part because Mr. A’s current job’s hours are so excessive and unpredictable.  I wouldn’t mind having a job IF that job was a stepping stone towards a career.  But the job Mr. A wanted only involved a few years commitment, then he intends to go back to his old (way too many hours) job.

If he goes back to his old job,  most likely, we would decided that I needed to be home so he could work the ridiculous amounts of overtime he needs to be really successful.  The career he has chosen makes it much more difficult for me to have a career if we are going to have the family lifestyle we really want for the girls.  Popping back into the workforce for two years and then back out again, does not do much career-wise for me.

Besides, it turns out that I really, really like being home now that the girls are a little older. (Shocking, I know!)  I am really happy with what I am doing and with my life, so I was super-annoyed that Mr. A was trying to wreck my good setup under guise of “helping” him because he was unhappy with his job.  (Not to mention he was satisfied with his job until someone started waving this new option in front of him and got him all excited about it.)

So we researched it more and discovered that the new job provided much, much cheaper health insurance and retirement than his old job which provided NO employers sponsored benefits (jerks!).  We also figured out that we would be in a different tax bracket, so we would see a bit of tax savings too.   With a lot of calculating, Mr. A came up with a salary that we could live with at the new job without drastically cutting back.

When he interviewed, he was very up front about that number.  We knew it would be a stretch for the employer, but we left the decision up to fate.  Lucky for Mr. A, they were able to work things out.  So, in about a month or so, Mr. A will have a new job.

And that is the story behind the story.