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How much would you.......?

I may be somewhat of a pessimist, but it seems to me finding a job where you're just having a blast and tons of fun is extremely rare. A "good" job to me is one where I'm engaged, interested, days go by quickly, and I'm not absolutely hating my life when I go home each day. Of course there will be the occasional frustrating day, but if it's fairly rare then you're in good shape.

I mean at the end of the day, it is a job and you are getting paid for it because you wouldn't be doing it on your own just for fun.

There are some people in the rare case that have a blast a majority of time at work and get paid for it, kudos to them. But expecting that is pretty unrealistic IMO. As long as you aren't absolutely miserable going to and leaving work everyday. A big thing for me is as long as I have a sense of accomplishment is what's big for me. Again, it is work at the end of the day. They are paying me because I wouldn't be there on my own just to have fun. But if I get that gratification that I did something good that day, it makes it much better.

But to the OP's question. I would take a pay cut to be able to leave the type of job where I'm miserable day in and day out. How much, it would really depend on how strapped for cash I was in the position. But I would much rather take a decent pay cut, not hate my life, and work on adjusting my lifestyle to allow for a lower paying job that doesn't make me miserable.

However, you mentioned one thing that is extremely important. Benefits. I would not take a "pay cut" that eliminated health insurance and other things that I feel are necessities. I'd rather be dreading going into work versus physically "dying" because I can't afford medication because my "happy" job doesn't offer health insurance and I happen to get sick.
 
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How much would you cut your current pay for a more enjoyable job?
I can't answer that question because I've never had a money-grubbing job in my entire life. I've worked to subsist (with many unpleasant jobs), and I've tried to work on jobs that I liked to do and/or were for the greater good. Most of my jobs have been "dot-org" or "dot-edu" type jobs, working for educational, religious and/or non-profit medical employers. I've never made much money that way.

I've had three main careers, and I haven't made a substantial amount of money out of any of them. If I had it to do over again, would I go straight into business school and devote my life to essentially wearing suits and backstabbing for big money? No, I would not. That's not the kind of person I am.

I think I should point out that I didn't try to get paid for playing. The work that I enjoy is productive work that does serve a purpose for many people other than me. There's no "professional sunbather" on my resume! My point is that things that you may do as an avocation aren't necessarily things that you can expect to earn a living from.

One thing you might consider doing is to change your focus in what you want, and to what others need. IJS
 
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How much would you cut your current pay for a more enjoyable job?
I don't know, as I loved both of my post-college jobs. :D

I'm in the situation right now where I have a very steady, reliable job with benefits (health care and vacation time) and am paid well. But, I'm about at wits end pissed and end up each day just physically and mentally tired.
Need to get back into something I'm more passionate about (bread baking) but knowing it's going to be a considerable cut in pay. My wife is very supportive about this decision as both she wants me to be happy and she can pull the lion's share in pay.
Can you get health insurance coverage through your wife's job? TRUST ME on this, you do not want to be without health insurance! (Ponder this: the bills for my brain tumor removal came to ~$250,000.)

We've no kids but are looking to purchase a place in a year or so so saving is key.
Would you consider delaying this job change for a year? That way you could sock away more money toward your goal of buying a house, THEN make the switch to the lower paying, more fulfilling job.
 
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Wow! I never knew there were so many people livin' the dream! I've always thought that if work were fun, they'd charge you to do it ;)

It's not that I particularly dislike what I do for work, but if they weren't paying me, I can promise you I would not be doing it ;)

Have to agree that no-one ever lay on their deathbed wishing they'd spent more time in the office - I'm just not sure that all career changes end up giving you more time off, though.

Having been through running a business and knowing just how demanding that is (forget time with the family or vacations .. or getting paid regularly when you have a payroll to meet), my own relatively happy medium has been to do something which I may not love, but I don't mind and that pays reasonably well, but doesn't infringe too much on life outside.

My partner, on the other hand, made a switch from something she enjoyed but that paid peanuts to a path that has led to an empowering and ridiculously well paid job .. that has taken over her life almost entirely. She works at least 12 hours a day - often including on her days 'off' - and even on the rare occassions she has time to do other things, she's often too exhausted to manage. Frankly, I'd much rather she let this particular dream go and move to something a lot less demanding, if a lot more poorly paid. It's not like we need the money.

Re the OP, it sounds to me like you're a year away from crunch time: unless your partner is making a lot of money, buying a house and following your dream could be mutually incompatible - owning a house is not cheap and also (assuming you're not buying outright) is not really compatible with the uncertain / irregular income of starting a new career.
 
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