artofthecoupon.com

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After graduating from law school, I was offered a $90,000 a year job at a law firm in California.  Instead, we moved back to the East Coast, moved in with a family member and I took a job that averages about $40,000 a year.  There were many reasons I made this decision, not the least of which was the desire to preserve my sanity (I would be miserable being a lawyer).  However, there are people who don’t understand this decision, so I want to take a hard look at what I really gave up, financially speaking (I’m not even going to consider the mental benefits here).  

My current job averages about 35 hours a week.  If I took the job at the law firm, to meet their minimum billable hour requirement, plus do all the other things that are expected of associate attorneys (continuing legal education, publishing materials, speaking at symposiums, etc.) I would be working an average of 60 hours a week.  So, I’d be working 58% more hours.  Thus, I can discount the possible salary by 58% because I am working extra hours to get that extra money.  So, I’m down to $52,200 a year.  

If I took the law firm job, I would have had to take the Bar Exam now.  This costs about $5000 after I pay all the fees, and pay for the course required to pass the bar.  For people who plan to work for a lifetime, this is a good investment.  The most I plan to work for is 5 years, until I have kids (who I then will be staying home with).  So this averages out to $1000 a year.  I’m down to $51,100.  

If I took the law firm job, I wouldn’t have time to cut coupons.  By couponing, I took our grocery spending from about $500 a month to about $200 a month (and will probably be able to get that even lower once I build my stockpile).  Thats a $300 a month difference or $3600 a year.  I’m down to $47,500.  

At my current job, I have the time to walk our dogs myself.  If I took the law firm job, we would have had to hire a dog walker.  Figuring $10 a day at least 260 days a year, thats $2600.  I’m down to $44,900.  

Right now, we don’t eat out at all.  I cook breakfast and dinner, I eat a quick homemade lunch at home, and I prepare lunches for Fiance to take to work.  If I was working 60 hours a week, I imagine I would eat out at least 1 night a week and 1 lunch a week (although in reality this would probably be more frequent).  Figuring $5 for lunch and $15 for dinner, on average, thats about $1040 a year.  I’m down to $43,860.  

So, I’m already down to only a $3860 difference.  I’m not sure exactly what it would have cost me to commute to the other job, but at my current job I have almost no commuting costs because I work out of my house most days.  So that probably brings me even closer to even.  And this doesn’t even consider the different tax implications of the possible job versus the current job (mainly since I’m very bad at understanding taxes and can’t figure them out).  I also didn’t include the difference in cost-of-living comparison of the original city versus where I’m living now, for a number of reasons (it would be too time consuming, I don’t know how to compute the value, etc.)

Now, the numbers might be different if I was planning to work long term, because there is much more potential job growth at the possible job than at my current job.  However, since I am bound and determined to be a stay-at-home mom, this doesn’t factor into the calculations.  But, I will note that although there would be much more potential for job growth in the law firm job, it would be much harder to reenter that field after taking at least 5-7 years off to raise my kids.

What’s the point of this (other than reaffirming to myself once again that I did the right thing).  A job that pays more isn’t always better, depending on your personal situation.  Consider both long and short term goals and plans before accepting any employment, and don’t be blinded by the shiny glow of a nice paycheck.