Money or Life

[ksc0723]

To be short and quick. Newer RN. Make over $70,000 working straight nights 1.0FTE. Love the money from a savings and security perspective, love job, hate shift and schedule of staff RN's in general. It seems when you work in the hospital your life takes a back seat. This doesn't seem to happen with other professions. You work nights, holidays, every other weekend, take call etc. It sucks. I am looking for RN jobs anything m-f 8-5 no holidays, weekends, no call nothing.

My issue? I'd take about a $20,000 pay cut, thereby eliminating the substantial savings my husband and I are currently contributing to. Not sure if I am supposed to suck it up even though I am miserable for awhile to save up some cash or look at this as you are only here once and money is important but I miss out on a lot working this schedule. Plus, I am in a constant state of anxiety over sleep. Sleeping too much, sleeping too little, etc.

Not sure what the grown up thing to do is. What is a person's suck it up point and breaking point???

[RNMom2010]

My life, my family, and being able to watch my son grow up far outweigh the importance of my job. Yes, I could have made more in the hospitals, or continued on for a BSN or MSN and made even more money, but money is not everything. I work M-F 8-4, occasional weekend admit and on call. My husband and I are home every night with our lil guy (18 months) and I wouldnt trade it for a huge pay raise! If I was younger, single, or even married without a child then I probably would have worked whichever position could offer me the biggest income. That lil boy has changed the way I think about everything!

[Jules A, MSN]

I am a new/er nurse. i don't even have a set days or nights schedule or really much to look forward to outside of work. I still feel like now that I am making this much money ( less than you!), it would be very difficult to go back to a lower standard of living and I don't know if I would be happier. "life" takes a back seat in MANY professions. Doctors for one. Managers anywhere. Corporate world. 60-80 hour work weeks are not unheard of for any of those people. When I was in the restaurant industry plenty of the managers were there from open to close which was more than 12 hour days. Would a three 12 hour shift job help?Is that possible at your hospital?

This is my take on things also. If I could find a way to cut back on my hours and keep my salary the same I might consider it. My plan is to continue living simply and make the money now so when I get old(er) and can't work I won't have financial worries. Like others have said nothing is guaranteed but I have a feeling if I didn't plan correctly I'd live to be 100. If I happen to croak in the meantime well so be it. Imo nothing is worth taking the rik of not being able to support myself.

[Aeterna, BSN, RN]

This is my take on things also. If I could find a way to cut back on my hours and keep my salary the same I might consider it. My plan is to continue living simply and make the money now so when I get old(er) and can't work I won't have financial worries. Like others have said nothing is guaranteed but I have a feeling if I didn't plan correctly I'd live to be 100. If I happen to croak in the meantime well so be it. Imo nothing is worth taking the rik of not being able to support myself.

You have a point, but I think it is a matter of finding the right balance between having enough money and having enough fun in life.

I love the flexibility of being part-time. If I ever needed benefits, I'd go full-time, but as it is I don't (I mean, all I really need is dental work so that's, what, $200 every 6 months? My eyes haven't changed much over the last 6 years, so I doubt I'll need to buy glasses for a while if I take proper care of the ones I own now).

I'm careful with my spending and cut corners where I can. I don't have cable and make do with Internet. My friend gave me her old TV while I saved up for a better (new) one. My parents gave me some of their old dishes (many of them slightly chipped but still usable) when I moved out. I never buy soap, shampoo, etc. unless it's on sale (after all, it's not like they expire!) I never pay obscene prices for regular clothes, such as tops or jeans, and am very picky with what I buy and if it's on sale, even better!

As a result, I'm not saving as much as I could if I worked more but I am still saving a modest amount and enjoying life at the same time. Granted, I am still young, single, and don't have children so it may be a different story for people in other situations.

[Jules A, MSN]

You have a point, but I think it is a matter of finding the right balance between having enough money and having enough fun in life.

I love the flexibility of being part-time. If I ever needed benefits, I'd go full-time, but as it is I don't (I mean, all I really need is dental work so that's, what, $200 every 6 months? My eyes haven't changed much over the last 6 years, so I doubt I'll need to buy glasses for a while if I take proper care of the ones I own now).

I'm careful with my spending and cut corners where I can. I don't have cable and make do with Internet. My friend gave me her old TV while I saved up for a better (new) one. My parents gave me some of their old dishes (many of them slightly chipped but still usable) when I moved out. I never buy soap, shampoo, etc. unless it's on sale (after all, it's not like they expire!) I never pay obscene prices for regular clothes, such as tops or jeans, and am very picky with what I buy and if it's on sale, even better!

As a result, I'm not saving as much as I could if I worked more but I am still saving a modest amount and enjoying life at the same time. Granted, I am still young, single, and don't have children so it may be a different story for people in other situations.

You make great points and sound very sensible although I would urge you to consider signing up for health insurance at some point. If you need a cavity filled or root canal your dental bill will really go up and as you get older the chances that you will need health insurance increases greatly and not having it could be a disaster.