I don't really like my job, but it pays way better than anything else I could get. What to do?

Jeezus, didn't get through half this. Man up. We're all miserable. Stick with it.

tldr.

There's a reason they call it work. The grass is always greener on the other side. Would you rather be poor?

I didn't read your post (way too long), but if work was fun, they wouldn't have to pay you to do it. Suck it up, be a man, do your job, and find fun, enjoyment, and fulfillment in your own time.

Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar. - Drew Carey

Can you expand a little on what the work is? Also, your tone changed to almost hatred when you started describing the type of people who inhabit your rural location. I understand having such thoughts is completely normal, but it is also very important to be tolerant, and perhaps more, to be able to appreciate or love, people who appear to be much different than you.

Having four months to yourself and drawing a really good salary is a very good state to be in. You seem to understand that. And I don't get the idea that you hate what you do, it just seems a waste and you hate some of your co-workers so you'd like to do something that seems meaningful and where you'll loathe fewer co-workers. That's what I took from this.

The question I think you need to answer is whether you know of jobs where you think it would be worth giving up a good salary and going to two weeks off from roughly sixteen is worth the trade off. LOTS of jobs seem like a waste when you're doing them and getting along with your co-workers is sort of a crap shoot though you can find kinds of work where you're more compatible with others who do it. But you still can loathe them. There's a reason Dilbert is popular.

You have a gig that a lot of us would kill for. That doesn't mean you need to keep it but it does mean that you could leave and find yourself doing work that seems as much a waste with co-workers that you loathe just as much and getting a lot less money and time off for doing it. So my advice is to find out as much as you can about anything you may switch to.

I think that's a good plan. I have a friend who did that and she makes $250k in her mid 30s. Don't listen to the old guys who say work is supposed to be hard and make you miserable. In America, there's no excuse not to work a job you love. The ones who do get stuck in jobs they hate are lazy, unambitious, and scared to take a little risk in life. What really makes this country the best in the world is we don't have to settle for jobs we don't love and be miserable. We have a choice.

As an example, I got my BA in Art History. Worked a few scummy jobs for a couple years and then got a job in finance. 2.5 years later I'm leaving to get my PhD in econ at a top 10 school. Might be the first Art History grad to pull this off. The point is, I figured out what I wanted to do with my life in my final year of college and I chased it. I didn't listen to people who told me I am doomed for a life of misery.

Didn't read it all, but I think I would advocate getting the breast enlargement. You're welcome.

Two questions:

1. What is the job?

2. Are they hiring?

Like everyone else is pointing out, work sucks; consider yourself fortunate that you only do it 8 months a year. Most people who feel unfulfilled with their profession think about what they would do if they had time to do other things. You already have that.

Also, consider that work is just modern day hunting and gathering. Do you think that our ancestors felt fulfillment when they were trying to find something to kill with a spear so that they didn't starve to death that week? Consider yourself fortunate that you get to hunt and gather without worrying about whether a lion is going to come out of the high grass and devour you.

Now, with all of that out of the way, I think that you do have a decent plan of socking away as much money as possible for a while and then considering your other options. I don't think I would spend a ton of money pursuing a degree (unless the intellectual stimulation itself is worth the money for you), but considering something less lucrative but more rewarding is great if you have the discretion to do it.

Two things to be sure to do: since you are so young still: reduce your expenses as much as possible right now, and sock away as much you can for retirement right now. Put the magic of compounding interest to work for you, and your discretion later on will be even greater.

Thank you for the replies. I'll add a little bit to address some people's posts.

Having 4 months off each year is awesome, yes, but it means I can't take any time off during my work season. I don't even get any holidays off. My weekends are Tuesday-Wednesday. Every year I work Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and usually Independence Day (depends on what day it falls on). I can never go on any trips or do anything fun with my friends 8 months per year because of the nature of my schedule. That part sucks. The 4 months off makes up for it in a way, but really, nobody needs 4 consecutive months off. I would traded one of those months for some time off in season in a heartbeat.

The reason I loathe the people so much is because I work very closely with them, and some of them are basically insane. There's a reason they live out in the middle of nowhere in a town of 100 people and it's because they're too crazy and out of control to exist in regular society. I have studied stoicism for a long time and try to practice it, and even I have ended up literally screaming at one of my coworkers on multiple occasions. It's like working somewhere where there's daily harassment and nobody is competent at their jobs, yet nobody will ever get fired because there's nobody else to replace them. It wears on you.

Finally, I do live very cheaply, always have, and save around 37% of my net income each year putting it into an IRA and other investments (company does not offer a 401k). That's why I'll have around $250k in wealth by the time I'm 35 if I stay in this job that long. I'll be a millionaire by sometime in my 40s if I stay in this job, and even if I don't and get something that pays little, compounding interest will take care of my long term wealth. BUT, there's more to life than accumulating money.

Finally, I'm definitely not looking to get married any time soon, but finding a wife with my current lifestyle and location would be very, very difficult. In fact, just finding people similar enough to me to be good friends with is difficult. I do have friends, but there's just not really anyone else like me out here, so I'm pretty isolated socially. It's not really conducive to long term happiness.

Again, I appreciate the responses.

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80s kid wrote:

tldr.

There's a reason they call it work. The grass is always greener on the other side. Would you rather be poor?

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Life Decisions wrote:

Thank you for the replies. I'll add a little bit to address some people's posts.

Having 4 months off each year is awesome, yes, but it means I can't take any time off during my work season. I don't even get any holidays off. My weekends are Tuesday-Wednesday. Every year I work Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and usually Independence Day (depends on what day it falls on). I can never go on any trips or do anything fun with my friends 8 months per year because of the nature of my schedule. That part sucks. The 4 months off makes up for it in a way, but really, nobody needs 4 consecutive months off. I would traded one of those months for some time off in season in a heartbeat.

The reason I loathe the people so much is because I work very closely with them, and some of them are basically insane. There's a reason they live out in the middle of nowhere in a town of 100 people and it's because they're too crazy and out of control to exist in regular society. I have studied stoicism for a long time and try to practice it, and even I have ended up literally screaming at one of my coworkers on multiple occasions. It's like working somewhere where there's daily harassment and nobody is competent at their jobs, yet nobody will ever get fired because there's nobody else to replace them. It wears on you.

Finally, I do live very cheaply, always have, and save around 37% of my net income each year putting it into an IRA and other investments (company does not offer a 401k). That's why I'll have around $250k in wealth by the time I'm 35 if I stay in this job that long. I'll be a millionaire by sometime in my 40s if I stay in this job, and even if I don't and get something that pays little, compounding interest will take care of my long term wealth. BUT, there's more to life than accumulating money.

Finally, I'm definitely not looking to get married any time soon, but finding a wife with my current lifestyle and location would be very, very difficult. In fact, just finding people similar enough to me to be good friends with is difficult. I do have friends, but there's just not really anyone else like me out here, so I'm pretty isolated socially. It's not really conducive to long term happiness.

Again, I appreciate the responses.

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Why don't you just find a job where they'll pay you to entertain you?

Seriously though, we've seen this kind of passive aggressive crap before where people have asked you what you do and you withhold the information, only giving what you want. And a skewed picture at that.

Is your company hiring? Seriously, unless your mental health is deteriorating you should consider sticking it out. I'm only 1 year older than you, work a job where my pay is fairly low ($12/hr without bonus), I had to start taking anti-anxiety drugs because of, and my schedule is unstable each week (only made the week before) with only a rare weekend day off. You should consider yourself lucky.

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sbeefyk1 wrote:

I think that's a good plan. I have a friend who did that and she makes $250k in her mid 30s. Don't listen to the old guys who say work is supposed to be hard and make you miserable. In America, there's no excuse not to work a job you love. The ones who do get stuck in jobs they hate are lazy, unambitious, and scared to take a little risk in life. What really makes this country the best in the world is we don't have to settle for jobs we don't love and be miserable. We have a choice.

As an example, I got my BA in Art History. Worked a few scummy jobs for a couple years and then got a job in finance. 2.5 years later I'm leaving to get my PhD in econ at a top 10 school. Might be the first Art History grad to pull this off. The point is, I figured out what I wanted to do with my life in my final year of college and I chased it. I didn't listen to people who told me I am doomed for a life of misery.

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While I don't buy the "I have to work some holidays if they don't fall on my days off and I miss out on trips with my friends" as a particularly good reason to quit, if you are truly miserable day to day, and you suffer through that for 8 unbroken months at a time, then you should figure out an exit plan as soon as possible.

Work doesn't have to be a path to self-actualization and enlightenment, but that doesn't mean it should make your life nearly unbearable either. Maybe you can use your 4 month break to try out a different job in an area that might be more bearable.

In any event, if you feel like you have done an adequate job of securing most of your long term financial security, get the hell out and don't waste your life being miserable when you have already attained the bulk of the security that you are looking for.

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Jumba wrote:

Your location seems to be the bigger issue here. It is NOT easy to be surrounded by morons ...sorry, morans...in a remote location in the US. I am also in a very remote area, and I think that the LRC crew is largely very urban. Take their replies of "suck it up" with a grain of salt. By and large, the posters here are from coastal cities, but love to pretend to be "real people." I suspect that the average LRC poster would survive for 6 months in a setting like you're dealing with. You seem like you're asking yourself very important questions at a critical juncture in your life, and I commend you for doing so.

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Life Decisions wrote:
I have a lot to offer the world, and I'm definitely not using my talents or making anyone's life better at this job. Also, the work is in a very rural location, and the people out there are extremely ignorant, backward, outspoken, and in some cases mentally challenged. Many people did a lot of drugs when they were younger and are now a total pain in the arse to deal with. Nobody has any ambition. Nobody sees any point to life beyond going to work, having kids, and drinking beer. I leave work on my Friday each week thinking I should figure out something else, but then I evaluate my options and remember all the pros to the job and accept it's the best thing for now.
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