Hey people, long time no see… This is my first post in about two weeks, which is way off my target of a couple of posts a week. I am in the process of quitting my current job and wrapping up life in Delhi, to move back to my hometown of Pune.
I am however taking a pay cut of about ₹ 10,000 a month to make this switch.
Why am I doing this?
Listing out my reasons in order of importance!
The most important reason is that my wife has developed a very serious case of Clinophobia (To be fair she’s not scared of sleeping as much as she is of sleeping alone – hello, late night panic calls!).We have spent most of our first year of marriage long distancing. I’m not complaining, and she won’t stop.
This job was just getting waaaay too stressful. When I initially took up this job it was very interesting and I was going to bring a very innovative product to market. The company became so cash strapped, that they shelved this project after more than a year and a half of working on it. WTF!!The icing was delays in paying our pay checks, by more than three months!! I needed to jump ship…
I have been toying with the idea of starting a side hustle or some kind of passive income for a while now. The people I want to partner with are currently in Pune. In spite of all the technology we couldn’t get anything going while I was in Delhi. Hopefully, I will have some interesting updates in the not too distant future.
How am I going to make this work?
Let’s do the Math!
As I mentioned earlier my wife and I are living in separate cities. She is in Pune while I am in Delhi. This means that we are paying two rents, two utilities bills, two sets of grocery bills etc. etc. You get the idea.
I got an apartment through Nestaway within walking distance of office, and live with roommates who are a bunch of college or just out of college kids. (On a side note, I don’t think they have any idea they are living with a 30 something guy. Man! at the cost of sounding old, some of the conversations I hear are hilarious. Throwback to another time.)
I moved to Delhi in November ‘16 for the second time due to some unavoidable circumstances. It was always going to be a temporary gig for me after that. That, along with the fact that I have absolutely no social life in Delhi, means I pretty much live like a hermit.
Looking at my expenses from Settle Up and Money View incurred over the last month, this is how it breaks down for the major categories.
Delhi March ’17 Expenses
Rent: ₹ 6,500
Maid: ₹ 1,500
Utilities: ₹ 300
Grocery: ₹ 1,200
Food: ₹ 9,000 Internet/TV: ₹ 300
Laundry: ₹ 650
Mobile: ₹ 1,400
Travel: ₹ 5,000
Let’s see what I can get rid of by moving to Pune.
Monthly Savings moving to Pune
Rent: ₹ 6,500 – Gone
Maid: ₹ 1,500 – Gone
Utilities: ₹ 300 – Left it as is
Grocery: ₹ 1,200 – Left it as is
Food: ₹ 9,000 – Left it as is. Food expenses will go down but I am sure we will spend more in socializing
Internet/TV: ₹ 300 – Gone
Laundry: ₹ 650 – Left it as is
Mobile: ₹ 1400 – ₹ 700 Will reduce as I am living in the same city as my family and friends
Travel: ₹ 5,000 – Gone. I have considered a visit every other month. But we were averaging closer to one a month.
Final Words
Disclaimer, another factor I considered before taking up this opportunity, is I am getting some equity in this company. This has some value to it but it isn’t the primary driver for my decision. It doesn’t hurt, and might give me a decent payday 10-15 years later. But a lot of ducks need to line up before I might be able to cash out.
So the decision had to be made on the basis of it making sense today. I will be saving around ₹ 14,000 just by living in the same city as my wife.
It is a step back in terms of my salary if I do look for my next job. But I am looking at it as a mini risk for potentially big rewards in the future. It is a way to also scratch my entrepreneurial itch at a fairly established company and see if we can take it to the next level. It is a slightly long-term play.
But for all the financial reasons, I think for me what tipped the decision to shift was the opportunity to work in less stressful environment with people I know. It also doesn’t hurt that I will finally be living with my wife.
Not all of life can be analyzed through an excel spreadsheet. Working on something I like, with people I like will, I am fairly confident make up for the ₹ 10,000 difference in salary.