Quitting job at 24. Advice appreciated.

[deragoku]

I'm not sure, but where the state of the economy, like others say. I think I will be at least worth saving before I left.

[NMD]

Yep, definately have a savings prepared and maybe even try to make sure you have something to fall back on. Who knows when you might find a new job. I know several people who have been out of work for several months, even more.

[elessar78]

I have been thinking about this for a few months now and wanted to get some outside perspective. I’m 24 and live in the suburbs of DC making almost $65k/year working for a large mortgage company. Besides renting a house and utilities ($1000/month) and gas ($100/month) I have no other expenses except food. My work life is pretty boring and the future at the company is bleak as the government might shut us down anyway in a few years. I’m tired of sitting in a cube and doing meaningless work that I don’t care about. I enjoy living in the area as most of my high school and college friends are here, but the lifestyle of happy hours and endless weekend barhopping shenanigans is getting repetitive. Since I still have no idea what I want to do with life, I’ve been thinking about moving down to Charleston, SC and living with a couple friends there. Rent would be about $500/month and my only expenses would be food. I could pick up a bartending gig and still bring in close to $3k a month. I do love working (I’ve had a job since I was legally allowed to) and would probably pick up as many shifts as possible because I’d be enjoying it. This would still let me easily fund my Roth as well as an IRA while I’m still saving extra cash. I’d probably do this for a year while I enjoy the sunshine and relaxed lifestyle of Charleston while hopefully figuring out what I want to do with my life. Whether it be open a bar somewhere or go back and get my MBA, I honestly just don’t have any clue. It seems that this would be the only time I’d every be able to do this and if I hate it, I can always move back and find another job. Does anyone have any advice, opinions, or suggestions that they’d like to share? Has anyone ever done anything like this? Thanks in advance!

Sounds familiar. I grew up in Fairfax, VA and I hear you about the lifestyle there. You have to be careful because you can look up and you're getting close to 30 and all you've done is party your 20s away. We used to do Fairfax, Arlington, Adams Morgan, Georgetown, and sprinkle in random house parties and random neighborhood bars.

I got out of there. I wanted to get out of Fairfax since I was a teenager and the best times of my life have been spent away from Northern Virginia.

It's funny you mention Charleston, SC because that's one of the cities in me and my wife's shortlist. We loved it there. But we just got back from Arizona to visit friends who also used to live in Fairfax and they say the same thing. He was a lawyer at a big time firm and he was making great money but ALWAYS working. He took a paycut in AZ but has a better quality of life and actually makes more now after bonuses. There are other places that actually believe in LIVING life.

Set a target date to move down to Charleston. Like right before winter hits would be good. Up until then save up and build a cash base. Start building contacts now in Charleston for work opportunities.

Life has a way of taking you in weird directions. Let it. But that's not a license to be stupid and frivolous. We go hiking a lot into the wilderness. It's dangerous, but we prepare for the worst and we bring stuff that will keep us alive. You could ruin your credit, but it's not impossible to rebuild. My wife spent her 20s destroying her credit by being careless, but now that she's 30 it's back over 700.

65K is a lot of money for a single guy. Reduce your costs and you could be sitting on a lot of cash in a few months.

[BrokeMike]

I quit my job at 25 where I was making about the same as you. I wasn't happy with the job I had. I wasn't "unhappy", but I couldn't see myself there forever.

The best thing I ever did was quit, because I left and went to work in the industry that I always wanted to be in. Given, I make less now and have to work a weekend job, but Monday-Friday I'm happy.

I would recommend getting a job to pay the bills, but be careful about bartending. I barback on the weekends, and I see a lot of the bartenders were in your boat 15 years ago and got sucked into that life.

[YLTL_Dan]

How would you know whether we "went for it?" I speak from experience when I say go for it. I arrived in a totally new place with just a back pack and knowing no-one. It was the most remarkable seven years of my life.

Very cool... I thought I read 3-4 posts in the previous page of people who said went for it and didn't themselves. Great to hear from people who did go for it and succeed.

However, I'm glad I haven't made the big leap yet and kept the well paying corporate job. I'm confident I've picked the right direction so far because the things I would have quit for wouldn't have directed me to where I ultimately want to go. I just would have been more unhappy and broke.

That being said, I'm still enjoying my life while doing work I'm good at and am ok with. I don't want to do it forever, but I'm continuing to pursue my dreams on the side. With my current salary and savings, it will *hopefully* ensure that I'll be able to succeed when I do make the big leap since the biggest reason small businesses fail is due to lack of capital.

[hokies2688]

Hey guys, thanks for all the input. Just wanted to provide you all with an update. I decided as for now I'm gonna stay with my current job for a bit longer. We just got our bonuses cut, but they were rolled into our paychecks so I just got a nice little 8% raise with back pay from January 1st. I'm not taking a major change off the table but just shelving it for a while.

[Wonga]

Ok, but let us know if you decide to change your plans later on, I'm curious about it. Good luck, bro!