What would you chose in my situation?

[Crazybean]

Me: In college about to get a higher degree in about 6-7 months

DH: FT college student taking on as many credits as possible to get done in the shortest amount of time and therefore can not work. Also acts as caregiver to DS when I'm at work

I have 2 job opportunities:

1. This job I'll call A. It allows me more freedom in my job and requires some travel but I can sort of make my own hours. This would be paycheck to paycheck but I'd also be home with DS about 4 hrs a day (when he's awake) and allow me 3 days off per week- chose my schedule. We would be able to avoid daycare 100% (he hasn't ever been in 1 yet and we can't really afford the added expense). I would have plenty of time to study. When I graduate in Jan, I can move up in this company.

2. The next job I'll call B. This one is a m-f 8-5 job that requires about 1.25 hr communte each way (in traffic, not really distance). I wouldn't get home until about 6:30 and DS goes to bed at 7:30. I would still have to cook dinner or else my family would starve. That would leave me with 30 min of free play time with DS during the work week and I'd see him all weekend long. This job would pay so well that we would be able to pay down our debt in 1 year, go on vacations and still have extras. We WOULD have to put DS in daycare because there is no way I'd be able to watch him while DH went to school.
Remember, I too am in school. I need time to study and once I graduate in Jan, I will be overqualified for this job and will most likely either 1, move up in the company or 2. have to start over somewhere else.

Also, I would like to add that this is only temporary. DH will be done school in 2 years and this would change- we would have his income too and things will be peachy.

In one way, I want to work hard for 1 year and pay down the hovering debt. On the other hand, I look at DS and I LOVE being hom with him and watching him grow. I don't want to look back when he is 20 and say "man.. was a few less years of debt worth giving up watching him grow up?" But then, I don't want to say in 2 years "darnit, we have even more debt because of unforseen life events and we are so in the hole it's stressing us out". I am SO TORN between the two and need to have an answer by tomorrow pm.

[kanga1622]

Honestly, I think I'd take job A. It seems like you'd have more time for studying, still enough to pay the bills, and get more time with your ds. If there is room for advancement after you graduate it sounds like your income could go up at that time and you wouldn't have to be starting over again with another company. If all else fails and you do need more income, having 3 days off a week would give you more flexibility to pick up a part-time job (assuming you have something available in your area) doing retail or waitressing or something that would be flexible in case you have to travel for your full time job.

[Caneel]

I will share my experience as I have had BOTH type of jobs you describe.

My Job A - this type of job sort of took over my life.

On the surface, the flexibility and travel (mine was 98% day travel, seldom overnight) seemed desirable to me but in the end, it required more time than expected.

There always seemed to be work to do, haunting me. I would have the best of intentions to work X hours a day so I could have the balance of the week (or day) work-free but things always seemed to croup up whether it was my own doing, the boss's schedule, client's schedule, etc.

So there I would be on Sunday afternoon when DH and the rest of our friends and family were relaxing (this was pre-DS) and I would need to attend to some work matter that was hanging over my head.

Had the job only depended on me, it would have been better but most of the duties entailed working with clients and I ended up being at the mercy of their schedules.

My Job B -this job I could leave at the office.

I ended up being out of the house more but when I was home, I was home for quality time. I also could do things on the way to/from work as well as over lunch - grocery shopping, studying (post BS studies), pay bills, etc.

Because I am comfortable with DS's daycare and financial stability is important to me, I would chose Job B. DS's bedtime is later so I had more time in the evenings than 30 minutes. Can your family's schedule adjust to accomodate more time together in the evenings?

We also did a lot of living on the weekends, very much quality time with just the family so I felt re-charged and satisfied with my situation. (I am now on to Job C.)

Would it be possible to take public transportation? That could be viewed as time to work on school studies, meal plan, etc.

Changing jobs as the result of obtaining a degree is fairly common. Not that you mentioned it as a concern but I wouldn't worry too much about how it will look on a resume.

Good luck with your choice.

[katie&micah]

I'd choose job A.

I made the decision after having DD that I'd rather be dirt poor than be away from her so much.

[caedmyn]

I'd chose A. It seems to fit with your life really well, and you can't ever replace the time you don't get to spend with your son. IMO if you can break even while you're both going to school and keep your son with one parent or the other 100% of the time, you're doing really, really well.

[1growingsprout]

Choose job B,
Cook on the weekends for all week, then just warm up meals or have DH warm meals for dinner. DH can be taught to cook, it can be done.
Possibly move DS bedtime a bit later as well.
Is there a reason you cant watch DS and study both? It seems silly to pay daycare to simply study. You can study after DS goes to bed, etc.

[WNB]

Originally Posted by 1growingsprout

Is there a reason you cant watch DS and study both? It seems silly to pay daycare to simply study. You can study after DS goes to bed, etc.

There's no way I could effectively study and engage in demanding material and watch my 2yo.

[Ruthla]

Hands down, Job A.

Your focus right now is getting both of you through school and enjoying time with your baby while he's still a baby.

[WC_hapamama]

I'd go with job B, and just ease the kiddo into a later bedtime. When my oldest was baby, I had to do that so he'd actually have "awake time" when DH got home from work.

[Novella]

Job A, definitely.

Funny, as I was reading through, I didn't really think I was just skim reading, but by the end of it, I had no idea why Job B was even in the running. It was only when I saw the further comments "Huh? More money?" and went back to re-read that I understood the benefit of it. Money's important, but as you've summarized it for us, money is the ONLY benefit of Job B and there are a lot of drawbacks.

[MonkeyPrincess]

Definitely Job A. It's only temporary, your dh will be out of school in two years. I wouldn't give that time up with my baby if I absolutely did not have to.

Good luck.

[phathui5]

If it won't put you in debt, I'd choose job A.