Guest Post: When Should You Quit Your Job?

Folks, here is my first ever guest post! I'm excited about the article Heather wrote since I am thinking about quitting my job. I am planning on exploring my career options when I get back from vacation - including exploring the options at my current place of employment so this was a very timely article for me

It crosses your mind every morning as you lay in your bed right after your alarm wakes you up: I hate my job. This is not a good sign. Considering you spend about half of your waking hours each week at your job, it’s imperative that you don’t hate showing up each day. At some point you have to consider your quality of life. This is important. If you’re coming home after another day at your personal hell then the chances are pretty good that you’re going to bring home that negativity. If this is happening then not only are you ruining your life then you’re doing the same for your family. Here are five reasons you’ll know it’s time to quit:

1. You despise your co-workers. Refer back to the point that you’re spending half of your waking hours at your job. With this under consideration, if you can’t stand your co-workers then this is going to lead to dissatisfaction with your job even if you enjoy your work. Ask yourself if you are always complaining to your friends and family about your co-workers and if you are then you have to find a new job.
2. You’re a clock watcher. If you’re looking at the clock every ten minutes to calculate how much time is left in the day then it’s a pretty fair guess that this isn’t the place you should be toiling away.
3. You’re not being respected. If you’re the Rodney Dangerfield of the office then it’s time to move on. You work hard and this should be recognized. It’s not that you’re looking for a plaque or pat a on the back every time you do your job, but it’s human nature to want to receive some recognition every now and again.
4. You’re not being challenged. There are obviously times when you want to flake off all day and that’s normal. But, if you’re showing up each day and not using your brain then this is a cycle you have to snap. Either speak to your superiors about expanding your role or take your skills somewhere they can be better utilized.
5. You’re mentally exhausted every day. If you come home and can’t muster the mental energy to be a productive member of your family then it’s time to move on. You work to provide for yourself and your family and if you come home and can’t enjoy the fruits of your labors then you’re not working for the right reasons.

This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of Chase Reward Programs. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

Going on Vacation .. .

I'm going on vacation so expect sporadic posts from me for the next 4 weeks. Yup, that's right, I'll be gone for 4 whole weeks! While I'm not sure if I'm going to reveal where I'm going, let's just say that it's international. While I should have planned better and set up some posts for while I'm gone, I didn't get around to doing that! I do have my first ever guest post coming up, so stay tuned for that and let me know if anyone out there wants to guest post for me.

I'm super excited about my vacation, leaving for the airport in 40 minutes!

My Husband Was Upset That I Bargained at a Retail Store

Background
C has a fairly expensive watch ($300) that he needed repaired. The battery had gone out and the strap needed to be replaced. The watch was one of the few nice gifts I had given to C. I got it for him during our first or second year of dating. We have now been together for about 6 years - 3 years of dating and 3 years of marriage.

The watch hadn't been operational for about a year and a half since the strap broke. It was very hard to find a replacement strap. We ended up buying a replacement strap about 4 months ago when we were on vacation in NYC when we went to the retail store of the watch manufacturer. The store in NYC was the only retail store the watch manufacturer has anywhere. Unfortunately since we were on vacation, we didn't get a chance to actually get the strap replaced at the store since the watch was a home. The replacement strap was pretty pricey. We can't remember exactly how much it cost. I think it was about $50 while C thinks it was about $100. I'm not sure when the battery broke.

Bargaining at the Store
Last night we went to this fancy watch store since we know that they do repairs. We had went there before to see if they could repair C's watch, but they would need to order the strap which we didn't want them to do. We ask the serviceman how much it costs to replace the strap and get the battery replaced. The battery was $21.70 and the installation of the band was $15, so the total was going to be about $37.

Both my husband and I were hesitating, so I asked the watch serviceman if he could do it for $30 total. He first said that he didn't set the prices, then I frowned. He then said that he would go and check. While the serviceman was gone C told me that he didn't like bargaining for services that he would rather pay the extra $7 since he thinks people don't do as good of a job with a service when you don't pay as much. I completely disagreed since I thought it was pretty clear cut what he was going to do. Well the serviceman came back and told us that he could do it for $30!

It probably took an extra 2 minutes to save $7. Upon examining his returned watch, there was a minor scratch on the face that C didn't remember seeing. C thinks that the serviceman might have scratched the watch. I told C that I thought it was probably already there. Since we hadn't examined the watch before bringing it in, we couldn't be sure. I just don't think someone at a fancy watch store would purposely or accidentally scratch a watch. Since most of the watches in the store are $1000+, I know that those guys have a lot of experience dealing with nice watches.

I have realized the C and I have very different ideas when it comes to spending money. I always knew that we had different philosophies, but I couldn't believe that he disagreed with bargaining in this case. I think he is just uncomfortable with asking people to give him special treatment, whereas I am a big believer in asking for what you want. We agreed to disagree in this case, but I will definitely try bargaining in the future.