Why not look for a job while working and then quit once you find a better job? There is no guarantee that after quitting you will find your "dream job". Could be even worser job and at that time you won't have E money to rely on.
What an interesting question. Right now I'm worried my boss is about to say FU and if she goes, then I'd have to give serious consideration to going as well cuz the rest of the bosses here suck. Anyway, I think financially first I'd have to be debt free and then I think I'd want at least 6 months of living expenses saved up. Unfortunately I think working at a univ. has ruined me for a private sector job, so I'd be limited to another job at the univ.
There isn't enough money in the world to make me walk off a job saying "FU". That seems to me like professional suicide. However, I have looked for another job, given my two weeks notice and walked away with my head held high from jobs that had some combination of the things you listed. Life is too short to stay in jobs that make you miserable but I know you work in a specialized field. Hopefully something will turn up for you soon.
Good point, Kate. I should clarify--I wouldn't literally say FU and walk out unless things were really, really bad. Fortunately, I've always had jobs (including this one) where I might disagree with upper management, but my direct supervisor and coworkers are good people doing good work. It would be two weeks notice, hugs all around, and keep in touch.
The main idea is that I'd be doing that without another job lined up.
I'm definitely not ready to take that step, and I still hope the wonderful parts of my job will win out. Today was another red-letter day, unfortunately, but I'm hanging in.
What great timing ... I'm starting to wonder if what I have in there right this very second is enough! Er, I'm pretty sure it's not, but I think that I would have to have about 20-25k cash before I'd feel comfortable walking away if I had nothing else lined up. Another red letter day for the both of us, hm? :P
Right now I would have to leave the US if I did that... I would also need to be financially independent as there are NO other jobs for me out there in my field and a shift to another career is high risk (I am a tenured professor at a top 50 US university). But I have years of expenditure lined up in non-retirement savings (maybe 8 years). And my trading business development is going well. So maybe soon after I finally get my green card I will do this. The main reason would be so that I can join my girlfriend wherever she finds a job in her upcoming job search. But soon I expect I will be able to make more money trading than from my current job.
I have seen this strategy both work well and be disasterous. A daughter-in-law quit her miserable job without another lined up, but found another, much better job, two weeks later. A friend left a miserable job and was out of work 9 months before he found a job he was overqualified for, but at least it was a job. I don't believe he has yet (5 years later) to match what he was making in that miserable job. So...... I'd plan for worse case and want at least a year's expenses in the bank. But, hey, I'm an accountant and Fiscally Conservative is my middle name.
Hahaha, it is to laugh. I earn minimum wage and have student loan debt to repay. Where do you expect me to come up with an FU fund or even an E fund?
Commenting by HaloScan
