Hellobee Boards

I'm the same. Job happiness is a lot more important than money to me. I'm making half of what I once made at a different job that I was miserable at but I wouldn't trade it. I love my job I have now.

I definitely prioritize happiness. My grad school stipend is like half of what I made at my old job and once I finish my phd my earning potential for my first position will be close to my old salary

DH and I are both underpaid for what we do, but we have good bosses, a great atmosphere, and love our jobs. It's not worth the extra money for us to look elsewhere!

Yes but only if we were comfortable with the lower paying salary. Not wealthy but not stressed about paying the rent and cell phone bill, you know? Once a certain standard of living was met, yes I'd choose lower pay for a job I liked more.

@Modern Daisy: If i was miserable with a higher paying job, totally!! If I was content, but just bored.... probably not!

I would however take a pay cut to work less hours. I think about it everyday!

Definitely. I am working my butt off to run my own photography business. If I'm "successful" I'll probably be making about 33% less than I'm making right now as a lawyer. But it seems more than worth the trade-off to actually love what I do.

Definitely. As long as we can pay the bills and not have to scrimp too much, DH and I would both take the job we love over the job worth more pay. That's been our philosophy since we met.

I love the firm I'm at right now, and I don't see myself leaving. They pay me rather competitively, but I could likely go someplace bigger and earn more. However, I'd lose great coworkers, partners that value my work, a very flexible and family-focused atmosphere, no billable requirements, and the ability to leave work at work and be done for the weekend. Most other places are all the opposite of that, and not worth the loss of time and added stress at all.

I've been offered a job with more pay (less vacation though..) but I really love the company I work for and my boss/owner of the company is one of the best people I know.
Not to mention, I work so close to home, I get to have lunch with DS and the commute is 5-10 minutes.

I recently had to make this decision and it was really tough! I decided to go with the higher paying job though because:

1) I would only be working 3 days a week but making more overall.

2) while the culture at my worksite is awesome, the general culture of the whole organization is less-than-desirable.

It was a hard decision because I really liked the team I worked with and I felt really appreciated at my previous job. There is however, lots of opportunity for growth in my new job and I couldn't forgive myself if I gave up 4-day weekends!!

@Modern Daisy: I'm in the more job than pay position currently. Totally overworked and stressed all the time, and not for that much money. I'd love to switch to a job (with the same employer) with less responsibility (like no weekends), but I would most likely take a pay cut.
I think for my mental health and overall happiness it might be worth the lost $. I'm really miserable where I currently am and it affects the whole family.

@Modern Daisy: and @Mrs. High Heels: I am absolutely at my current job because of the comfortability and flexibility. As long as you are happy with your current pay and situation, then why work more for a little more pay? Its possible the raise will just bump you into a new tax bracket and you will never even enjoy the pay raise. (Hi... that's happened to me plenty.)

There is SO much more to a job than pay. I always learn the hard way. Of course if circumstances made it tough to take a pay cut I would have to deal with it. Currently my work culture is unbearable and I'm pregnant and it makes getting up in the morning nearly impossible. It's such a miserable way to spend my pregnant days - stressed out and overworked. I would easily take a pay cut and switch jobs right now if I could find an employer open to hiring preggo women!

Well I currently do a job that I really like -- college professor. There are a variety of jobs that I would be qualified that pay way more money than my current job, but I don't think I'd find them fulfilling.