The Cost of Living

I was offered a job yesterday.

Hooray!

But the pay is less than what I think I deserve for it.

Booooo!

Now I have to think. It's a good opportunity, one that will hopefully lead to bigger and better things. I'm not completely blindsided by the amount offered, but I was still hoping it would be more. As it stands, it would be just enough for me to cover cost of living and maybe save a little every month. A cushion would have been nice.

Also, I try not to think about this fact, but it is a fact nonetheless: the salary offered is slightly more than what I made in my first year out of college--and, I just realized this, the salary is a little more than half of what I could have made if I continued my consulting work full time. In fact, if one were to look at my salary history, it would look like a roller coaster. It was up, then went down when I taught, then went up again as a consultant, and it looks like it will be going back down.

So now I have to decide. What to do, what to do?

Of course, we can't overlook the bright side: I was offered a job!