Wow, I feel like I fell off the earth for a little while! This week has been a hot mess - I’m so glad it’s the weekend I could cry.

The quick version of what’s happening with my job:

• I resigned from my full-time job yesterday. My last day there will be July 29. My supervisor was very understanding - he said he hates to see me go, but he knows I have to do what’s best for me. I knew he wouldn’t offer me more money to stay, which is fine because no amount of money would have been enough.
• I will be increasing my hours at the part-time job. I’m not going over there as a full-time employee because I want the ability to take time off whenever I want, but I’ll be able to work full-time hours if I choose.

I have mixed feelings about my decision, though I think it will be a positive change overall. I feel guilty about leaving my job as a supervisor because I love my staff and the residents at the group home. I also worry about the extra responsibilities my coworkers will deal with until a replacement is hired.

As far as the new job goes, I’m kind of jumping without a parachute. I have to get my own health and life insurance. I only get paid for the hours I bill. I know from talking to the other therapists that the first month or two can be kind of rough; I may have to dip into my emergency fund until my caseload picks up. Then I’ll have to save money like crazy because I don’t get paid if I get sick or take a vacation.

There are lots of good things, though. If I can bill 20 hours a week (easy to do without even trying), I’ll make more money than I make right now. I won’t work on Fridays anymore. I won’t be on call. I’ll get to leave when my last appointment is over. I will actually see my son for more than an hour on weeknights. And those are the things that are most important to me right now.

The other therapists are bringing home about double what I do, but I have to pretend I have the same income I do now. Anything above that will go straight to savings - you guys will see my emergency fund grow substantially after the first few months. When I have a cushion of about $10,000 I’ll be able to relax a little and do some of the things I want to do, but I must build up enough money to survive in case I have a crappy week when none of my clients show up.

So that’s what’s going on with my job. I’m starting to feel a sense of relief, but it will take awhile to get over all the unknowns and what ifs. It’s extremely scary to take a job that doesn’t offer a regular salary! I truly believe the flexibility will outweigh the worries, but I won’t know for sure until I get there. I’ll try not to bore you all by talking about my job constantly, but it’s definitely going to affect my financial life for awhile.