[Help] Has anyone WITH responsibilities ever just quit their job with no backup plan?

[Tim Over Whelmed]

There's always been a reason to not 'rock the boat' (responsibilities).

The job is weighing on me.
Today I've returned from 3 weeks holiday.
I was happy enough coming back but within an hour found myself 'triggered' as if I'd never been away.

Now they tell me I'm getting a substantial pay rise in April - another millstone!!!



I know I need to get out, esp before I get used to the money.
But I don't have anything else, I have responsibilities and very little in the way of fall back money

I'd imagine the only thing more stressful than a stressful job is having no job if you have financial commitments.

Look out there and see what you 100% could do, if you had to, and would that be better than what you're doing at the moment.

I did this, took a 50% pay cut several years ago and it was the best move I ever made, I had to make do with an old Fiat 126 to run around in, I stopped all the "fun" parts of my life, for a good few months, but took control and have never regretted it.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Yes, last year. Job wasn't as promised and despite being WFH and very well paid I was a grumpy git at home. Made me ill too.

Then both my parents died very close together and unexpectedly and I just turned round to Mrs WS and said I can't do this any more. Employer was kind enough to pay me my three months notice and I'm still not working - haven't worked since 1st Sept last year. Scary but to be honest my mental health was more important - might be a bit tricky when I run out of money !

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

Yes, too many times. I would probably have had a better career if I had stuck things out but on the other hand I did get the garden sorted last time

 

[BBassic]

I'm working on building up a buffer of expenses so I can take a year or two out of work without risking losing the mortgage etc.

That'd be my advice - work out your buffer, save for it and take some time out.

I'm firmly of the opinion that the days of "yeah work is shit but we've got to do it until we die because that's the way our parents did it" are waning.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

I'm working on building up a buffer of expenses so I can take a year or two out of work without risking losing the mortgage etc.

That'd be my advice - work out your buffer, save for it and take some time out.

I'm firmly of the opinion that the days of "yeah work is shit but we've got to do it until we die because that's the way our parents did it" are waning.

Or other options could be to look for a similar job and do job share, i.e. gain some more leisure time, or find a job you'd enjoy doing that pays less but is better for you. I tried the stopping for a period and it didn't work for me.

 

[BBassic]

Or other options could be to look for a similar job and do job share, i.e. gain some more leisure time, or find a job you'd enjoy doing that pays less but is better for you. I tried the stopping for a period and it didn't work for me.

Yeah the problem I have is that I don't really have any interest in what I do.

I fell into my career and now I'm realising it doesn't fill me with any joy whatsoever. Changing jobs would work in the short-term because I'd be meeting new colleagues and working with a different infrastructure but ultimately I'd end up back here.

I plan on taking the time to retrain.

 

[Braggfan]

My job is making me ill.
I should have left ages ago.

I'm in need of some courage.

I know responsibilities make things difficult sometimes, but if something's making you ill you need to change it.

I always think its easy for people to say do what makes you happy, but that can be really hard to work out or find. There is one thing you owe yourself in life and that is don't do things that make you unhappy. My advice is 100% make a change, you'll feel so much better for it.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Not quite the same but my Mrs got made redundant from a fairly high powered job just after COVID kicked in
She used to come home stressed and frustrated with it all but would never had quit as she had responsibilities.
Took her a little while to find it and on less money but she absolutely loves her new job.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I moved back from Australia in 2011 with two kids and no jobs. It worked out. Things usually do

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

My job is making me ill.
I should have left ages ago.

I'm in need of some courage.

First, my best wishes to you.

Second....my youngest brother quit his job in a fit of pique one Friday afternoon 7 years ago with no plan. He worked for a well know former nationalized monopoly run by utter wankers. For example he was called to drive up to Leicester to see a senior manage one time, and when he got there the manager had forgotten why he'd asked to see him. Like me (but worse) my bro is 'on the spectrum' and has zero tolerance for ****wittery. So a few weeks after that, following yet another absurd exchange with a manager, he flounced.

The following Monday he phoned me in a panic. What had he done? He hadn't even realized he could take his pension, for example. After several months of panic, he developed a plan and has now found a job he loves (self employed) and lives a simple life. However he had few outgoings (no mortgage, for example) and is unmarried so his situation was uncomplicated.

You should take a good look at your finances before jumping ship, but the best plan would be to find a new job first. I expect I am not alone in giving this advice. Best of luck!

 

[Gabbafella]

Yes.
Worked for an absolute weapon of a business owner, high end catering equipment. This **** thought that money made him more important than anyone else, he punched his son in front of people, regularly made his daughter and wife cry due to stress and belittling them, he tried it with me a few times until one day I'd had enough, wrote out my resignation letter there and then and told them to shove it. I worked my month but he refused to speak to me for the entire time, didn't thank me or even shake my hand when I left. His wife was upset and bought me a bottle of champagne and wished me luck. Lovely woman and didn't deserve that prick as a husband.
I had no back up and very quickly ran out of time, I lived on my own which made it worse as I had nothing to fall back on or anyone to support me. I was literally down to my last few quid when I got a job but I was seriously worried that I had made a mistake.
Thankfully it turned out well and a couple more shitty jobs later I'm in a very happy place for many reason.
It's a tough one to call as a job can have such a negative impact on your life if you're not enjoying it. If you can afford to be out of work while you look and if you have someone to support you if you can't find work for a while then I'd say happiness and wellbeing is way more important.
Depending on what you're looking for, there are a couple of jobs going at my place of work, one in customer service and one as an operations assistant. Nothing earth shattering in terms of salary (£18k-ish I believe) so probably not what you're looking for, but PM me if you want any info.

 

[Biscuit]

I did.

I had a job in London that was making me ill. I'd just bought a house in Brighton and knew long term I'd be moving back this way..

I quit my job the day the house was completed. I knew I had a month/two months of mortgage payments and that was basically my time to find another job down in Brighton. I did. It all went incredibly well for me, but it was VERY high risk. Always have a backup plan.

 

[JBizzle]

My job is making me ill.
I should have left ages ago.

I'm in need of some courage.

Have you considered using a Reverse Recruiter? It's not something I've used but I know someone who has. They essentially go out there to find you a job, but obviously there's a cost associated with it.

If you're struggling to make the leap into the unknown (understandably), maybe hiring someone to take the leap for you would be a good thing? You'd be committing to it financially without having to actively "hunt" for jobs yourself, which could be a good motivator to take their suggestions seriously and get a proper idea of what's out there?

 

[m@goo]

Yes sorry that is what I meant.
As much of a drama queen that I am, I'm certainly not the 'throw ID badge, at boss and tell him to f**k off' type.

I've just been fantasising about doing just that, for quite a while.



I'm of an age, and have never left a job with knowing where the next wage is coming from.

Part of me says if you really hated it there you would have been more proactive in finding something else but it's obviously getting to that stage so why not get looking, get applying and get interviews done?

Life is far too short to be getting up every morning with that dread in the pit of your stomach. Don't forget, you'll be dead soon

 

[Springal]

Depends on your profession / what you want to do - but I would say the job market is incredibly buoyant the moment - but often attracting significant applicants in some markets. I've got a decent job and thought I could walk in to many jobs in my industry, but having applied for a few jobs in the last 6 months - and made it to the final 2 twice without being successful made me realise how tough it can be to get a new job and also how competitive it is. Doesn't help when many of these interviews are 3-4 steps, require a lot of prep, things like presentations etc so certainly some investment in time. Also nothing is moving quickly - not sure many of these processes were much quicker than 8 weeks from application to getting to the final stage.

 

[rbridd]

Twice.

First time I was commuting to London to a job I hated, so had no quality of life at all. Up at 6:00 am to catch the train, home at circa 7:30 pm absolutely shattered, mentally and physically.
I worked out with my partner how long we could survive on savings and her wage, which was about 3 months... and walked out the following day.
I didn't actually find work for 6 months, so things were tight, we had to cash in various savings schemes, and towards the end we were living pretty much on baked spuds and porridge, but i never regretted it. the job was making my life meaningless.

Second time I walked out on principle. The company was making me do morally questionable things, (Mis-selling pensions), so I just said no.
Again, I discussed with my partner, and she agreed I had to get out.
This time it took 3 months to find another job which was about 30% of what I had been earning, but enough to cover the mortgage, and once i was back in work, it took another couple of job moves before I found a place where I was earning sufficient, and happy in what I was doing.

Looking back, it was hard both times, but I have no regrets whatsoever.
Work to live, not live to work.

Do discuss the situation with your partner, and/or whoever your responsibilities lie with, before doing anything. You will need support and validation for your decision.

Maybe I was lucky, but I like to think that things work out for those who have a clear idea on what their life priorities are.

Good luck.

 

[Robinjakarta]

Yes sorry that is what I meant.
I'm certainly not the 'throw ID badge, at boss and tell him to f**k off' type.

I am and told one ex-boss exactly what I thought of him. To this day, I look back on that with pleasure as one of the best things I ever did. I didn't have a plan for after that but did have reason to believe I'd soon find something suitable and did.

Perhaps not recommended without some kind of backup and/or being able to survive financially.

 

[jakarta]

Yes, was on a shed load of money for an American H&S Consultancy but within 12 months realised the stress of working for the US wankers was simply not worth it.

Thankfully Mrs Jakarta was still working as Head Teacher so Mortgage payments were looked after.

I went Self-Employed and 90% of my Clients followed me. Money reduced (but not TOO much) so I can't be too bad at what I do!

Also backed into a job at a University as an Hourly Paid Lecturer which helps to pay the bills...

That was nearly 15 years ago & now looking for an exit strategy from Work in the next couple of years, my current Clients will still need somebody to do what I currently do and I don't want to just walk away.

If there is anyone on NSC that has been in this position please PM me.

 

[Chicken Run]

There's always been a reason to not 'rock the boat' (responsibilities).

The job is weighing on me.
Today I've returned from 3 weeks holiday.
I was happy enough coming back but within an hour found myself 'triggered' as if I'd never been away.

Now they tell me I'm getting a substantial pay rise in April - another millstone!!!



I know I need to get out, esp before I get used to the money.
But I don't have anything else, I have responsibilities and very little in the way of fall back money

3 week holiday!!! Of course your job is making you ill first day back after that, you’ll be alright in a few days, are they bullying you, are you on shit money??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Yes, I have probably mentioned this before on here, the corporate micro managing ***t, that was brought in drove me to it as he was making some odd and very wrong decisions within the company, there were going to directly effect my sales.
So I fronted the CEO about these decisions, he backed me micro penis, the company went bust a year later.
I was 43 just moved to a new home (bigger mortgage) and the wife was 6 months pregnant with our first.
I am a risk taker, but it was calculated. It was the right decision as it happens. I started self employed and took back 99% of my business.

Tough, yes, satisfying yes.

Can you go self employed in what you do?
Would set up costs cost much?
Plan it meticulously first if you choose that route. There is nothing like building a business.

What I do know is, I have been to a couple of part time jobs recently and there is no doubt huge agesim in the workplace.

I was over qualified for both, one asked me how old I was after showing me their entire setup, he didn't have a poker face as I said 57, the other asked me when I plan to retire.Bearing in mind most say I look ten years younger, or did precovid!

Steam blowing from ears still!

So age might be something you want to take in to consideration, if you think your industry could be age biased.

I wish I could help more, it might be a case of bed back into work for two weeks while looking for stuff, see what your feeling then.

I am a big believer in gut instincts.

Good luck Stat.