CycleChic because this sounds like you are quite interested in the change, explore some options before you let the opportunity go.

For instance, can you negotiate like Tuckervill's DH did for a higher salary that will mean a lower signing bonus/profit share in the first year or two?

Or, can you restructure any of your debt to lower your monthly costs, even for a temporary period.

If the change in your career is something you want, sometimes you have to be creative to get there...

DH and I made significant changes to move to my new job. Yes, there are two sources of income, but there's also a lot of debt we've had to manage. Yesterday I just managed to transfer the last of my slightly higher interest rate credit card debt (10% or so) on a balance transfer deal at 2.9%. This will help us pay it down that much faster. We're still paying old debt off using our savings, but our current income covers our current expenses....just! My income did not decrease with this job, but the increase was minor. Our expenses went up - $100,000 more for the house we bought here than the house we sold! And DH went on EI (he could do that because he followed me to another city for a job) so he's bringing in less than 1/2 of what he used to. He's almost finished plumber pre-apprenticeship training and has one job offer already. We're not sure if the job will net us any more per month than EI. We hope it's not less!! In the long run, he'll make way more when he's a journeyman plumber, but for now we have to be very careful with our funds!

Now, with only one income I know this is different for you. And if you're already super smart with your money, have no consumer debt, and are just getting by on what you make now, then this advice is not very helpful. It's like the times I see a news report about someone who has lost 100 pounds and they reveal the way it was done was by cutting donut intake from 4 to 1 each day, eating less deep fried food, and not having a second dinner at midnight. That advice isn't going to help me lose 15 pounds, either!

Now, if you're interested in trying to run the numbers and see if you can do it...I bet all of the girls here have some excellent suggestions for reducing your monthly expenses. You might already know everything we come up with, but you never know who has the gem that will help out that little bit extra that you need....

Sorry for the long-winded advice.

What I know is that the regrest in life are always about the things we could have done, but didn't. I wouldn't want you to regret the decision!

Good luck!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~