opinions on my job situation please!

BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET! I'm not on either side: happiness vs money; I think both are important. It's easy to say that money does not equal happiness but the reality is you need a certain amount of money to be comfortable and meet your needs.

The interesting part is that often, the amount needed is not what we thought it was.

I feel for you as I am experiencing a similar situation with totally different circumstances My husband and I were married 2 yrs ago, late in life for both of us. While neither of us were married bf, we did accumulate individual dept including a house I own (read as mortgage to pay) in a different state than we currently live. We were married in and moved from New Orleans to Laredo in Aug 2009 when I unexpectedly got a good job in Laredo. Prior the plan was for him to head to Laredo and me to stay in NOLA to finish my PhD, which I have been pursueing since bf we met. I anticipated graduating in Dec 2009 and then looking for work and moving to be with him. But I got a great full time position in Laredo only problem it started in Aug not Jan. So I put the PhD on hold and moved to be with him. 2 years later, we were making good money in Laredo and paying off those depts but no work on my ultimate goal, that PhD. This May, we moved again and we had to decide what to do. I could easily take a full time position like what I had in Laredo and was actually offered a position for the second time today but that is not what I want to do. I want to finish my PhD and that is what we have done.

It's been difficult and there have been arguements but BUDGETING has made a huge difference. Husband has a negative view of money but I force him to talk about it and check our account constantly to make sure we're on track. It's amazing that now we have half the income we did but with planning and budgeting there is nothing I need right now that I can't have. It can work and we will get to our goals. I will graduate in the spring and we can go back to filling the bathtub with dollar bills to roll around in-totally kidding. I started our planned budget in April and quit my job in May. It's taken until Aug to actually have our budget working for us but I am pleased to say that the Sept bills are ready to be paid, I am making progress with my dissertation, and we opened a joint savings account this month! (only $100 so far but it's a start).

If you want more specifics about our budget process, I'ld be happy to share but message me, this post is long enough! It's actually more complicated than you might think which is why I think most people dont bother.

Good Luck.

I actually had same kind of work situation than op, except that I had temporary contract. They did want to continue it, but kept pushing on selling more etc. When I started that job years ago, it was just customer support and I liked it. I continued working part time there while I was studying, and they started adding more and more selling to it. It just wasn't my thing anymore.
Luckily I found my current job, even though the pay isn't great and job is boring, but it keeps me sane most of the time. Plus the work hours are quite flexible, so it works nicely.
I do get more expenses from traveling to work (I was walking to my previous workplace) and it takes time. I actually had to move to smaller and cheaper apartment, but that's no big deal for me My situation is different cause it's just me, no husband, kids or pets, so decisions are easier to make.

Just talk with your husband and make a budget. Budget really makes it easier to survive and I have been even able to save some money for little vacation I had this month

I'd go with happiness also! I quit a job that I had had for 15 years in March and took a $5.20/hour pay cut - $200 a week less. I tweaked the budget and we won't be paying off the credit cards as quickly as I has earlier anticipated, but the stress level is so much lower and I love that. The world and responsibilities are no longer on my shoulders. I finish my job and go home. I don't have to stress about whats waiting for me when I go back in. It was definately worth it. Eventually I will quit my second job which I have had for 4 1/2 years and get down to a normal 8-8 1/2 hour day instead of 14 but at least I like the second job.