Howdy Fellas,
I’ve been a web developer for almost 10 years. I worked for many years at a company that paid $27/hr. However I was laid off last summer.
After that, I ended up taking a maintenance/construction job where I was driving a work truck, at home Depot many times a week, using powerools and doing A LOT of carpentry. This paid $25/hr, but oh my god I loved it. I was a weekend warrior doing DIY stuff before only doing projects on a small scale, but I learned a lot about carpentry/construction/etc…
2 weeks ago I started a developer job that pays $41/hr, by far the most I’ve ever made. However, I am miserable. Financially it makes sense to pay off my student loans, and save money, but desk work is devouring my soul. It’s a 4 month contract, so I’ll likely finish that out and make a decision then.
Ive explored many pros and cons around keeping the desk job or going back to being on my feet and working with my hands, which I really love and almost need in order to meet my happiness.
Any advice, or avenues of thought/consideration, would be greatly appreciated.
Not sure if it matters, but I have ADHD (and maybe other nuerodivergencies) and struggle to sit still for long periods of time unless specific conditions are met. But when I’m moving around and working with my hands, I can work in any condition and feel at peace.
Thanks fellas,
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If it were me, I’d try to keep the job while using carpentry as my hobby. Build yourself a shed or find a space you can rent. Keep a small supply of wood around for small projects that will keep you busy when you don’t have to work. It honestly sounds like it would be a good outlet to ensure this job doesn’t burn you out.
I think finishing out the contract and then going and doing what you love is the right idea. This life is short, and you never know when it’s going to end. You spend a third of your life working, so you might as well do something you like and make less money than be miserable with more money. Worst case scenario, you can always go back to the big money job or do it as a part-time or side hustle
Idk if anybody can give you your answer on this one man. You either do what makes ya happy or ya do what you to meet your responsibilities in life.
It’s over $10k in additional income. Seems like the better choice. And maybe it’s a start at being a freelancer with better and better gigs in the future.
I’ve done both – save the money and your body. diy on the side to your hearts content.
My dad passed every promotion offered to him because he chose happy over money. He never regretted it.
Be honest. When you read comments telling you to do one option or the other, is there one that tugs at your heart? Go with that one, and fit everything to that.
Don’t die before you’re dead. I think you already know which one you want to do 🙂
You can only have your hands over your head for so long. You can keep your hands on a keyboard most likely to 65
Personally, I would use the high paying job as a means to do what I loved in my free time. I don’t live to work so I don’t need my job to give me purpose.
If the desk job is draining you, then long-term, it’s probably not sustainable for your happiness. Since it’s a 4-month contract, maybe use that time to stack as much cash as possible while exploring ways to make hands-on work financially viable. Maybe a mix of freelance dev work and carpentry could balance income and passion? Your mental well-being is just as important as the paycheck.
People would love to have a good carpenter/construction person. Such a shortage of good and reliable ones. If you are good at it and enjoy it, would think about this as a career, even if you need to transition into it.
Get your loans paid off and reasses
You can make a good living working for yourself doing this. The downside is that it will take a toll on your back,knees and hips by 50 ,so you need a backup plan for when that happens
Advice: Pay off your debt! I cannot stress enough how utterly empowering it is to be debt-free. Right now you have the perfect opportunity to pay off student debt, which I assume is huge financial burden to you, and you’re complaining about a desk job sucking your soul? How in the hell is student debt not sucking it more? Oh, and has your ADHD actually been diagnosed by a professional? It’s hard to tell since you also say "and maybe other nuerodivergencies". If not then maybe go and get that done.
Become a UPS driver and make $45/hr with the option to work "unlimited overtime"
You won’t be building anything but there’s never anytime to sit still except behind the wheel.
Do what makes you happy mate, if there’s less money in that then buy less shit that you don’t need. Life’s too short to be miserable
Make money doing what you’re good at and enjoy your hobbies as hobbies. Making a career out of a passion will take away from the enjoyment of that ‘hobby’ as over time it just becomes more work.
I used to be in operations and made well into six digits per year. Always had money but never the time. Even vacations were work filled. Was absolutely miserable to the point where I drank a lot, got super fat and got liver diseases. I quit. Took months off and reworked my life and got a job that made me happier and half what I used to Make. Learned the new budget. WORTH IT. don’t be miserable, it will lead you down a path that you don’t want.
2 years later, lost over 130lbs, take vacations when ever. And unpaid vacations too because 2 weeks a year isn’t enough for anyone.
Be happy and take care everyone.
They say that if you do what you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life. I’m sure that’s true, but you’ll probably have to work for the rest of your life.
Get as much money for tolerable work as you can. Do I love my job? No. Is it tolerable for the money? Yes. So, I do it knowing I won’t do it for ever.
Full disclosure: I know very little about career progression in the trades.
I would double down on the carpentry and physical skills. Your web dev job might be paying better now, but writing on the wall is that many computer based jobs will be made redundant by AI. Esp. if you are just creating basic websites, I expect this job market to shrink tremendously. Trade jobs have a longer time horizon.
I’d give a different answer if you liked programming but you just had a bigger passion for woodwork – not all dev jobs will disappear ofc. But you hate the programming and love the wood work, so it’s an easier question.
Edit: sorry I missed you have 10 years of experience as a dev. With that experience, I think if you can land some work paying much more, then you could consider toughing it out for a couple years to make hay while the sun shines.
I’ll tell you this as someone who is good at diy and loves working with my hands and is studying programming.
It’s so much nicer to make 75k+ a year or 90 or 100 and afford a nice hobby than get by with a physically demanding job that will eat up your body and have one bad incident potentially cost you your living or upset things.
> Any advice, or avenues of thought/consideration, would be greatly appreciated.
sounds like you’ve experienced enough, to already know the answers
My full package is around $100, and my pay on the check is around $65/hr.
I’m a union pipefitter/welder.
I love my job so I’m just going to let you know that it IS possible to both do what you love and also get paid a healthy wage for the work. This is going to depend on the area you live in to a certain extent, but if you want to work construction and make a liveable wage it is 100% possible.
If I were in your shoes I would take the programming job and work on getting into the high paying construction unions.
I hear mixed stuff about carpentry as a trade especially being on the lower end of the scale depending on the work you do. You can definitely get paid more depending on where you live too so also apply around and see.
I would skip the desk job and do something physical, your health will thank you in the long run. I just started a new job that is very physically demanding and I really enjoy it.
If you get good at carpentry/gc stuff you can make some decent money, and if you are having fun and making money you are winning! Don’t be miserable, do what makes you happy for real