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Passed on a $12k raise to stay at a job with a 40 min commute and everyone thinks I'm nuts
Six months ago I got an offer from a company in Dallas for $12k more a year, and I turned it down to stay where I'm at. Everyone told me I was throwing money away, including my own brother who practically yelled at me about it over dinner. Here's the thing though, the new job was hybrid but the office days meant a 90 minute drive each way on 635, and my current place is 15 minutes from my house. I ran the numbers on gas, wear on my truck, and childcare since I'd miss pickup 3 days a week, and that raise basically disappeared. My old boss found out I had an offer and bumped me $4k without me even asking, plus I got to keep my 4 weeks of vacation. I know the standard advice is always chase the bigger number but nobody ever puts the commute and the life stuff on the spreadsheet. Has anyone else done the math and picked the smaller paycheck?
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phoenix_grant3d ago
I heard a guy on a podcast talk about this exact thing, he called it the "hidden pay cut" of a long drive. He said people look at the salary and forget they're basically paying themselves to sit in traffic. Your 635 drive is a perfect example, that highway is a parking lot most days. Adding up gas, tires, oil changes, and losing three pickups a week with your kid, that $12k probably turns into way less. Sounds like you actually did the math everyone else just skips.
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