So I've had an unusual? situation come up. Not sure if I can call it rare, or commonplace.

So June 2022 I left my old job just due to being burnt out. I was experiencing stress from all sides (work, family, friends, etc). I wasn't a huge fan of the job, but it paid decently and I had a lot of good coworkers. Plus I pretty much never had a slow day as I was constantly busy.

Ended up moving back in with my parents 1000 miles away and helped them with their issues. I kept my house I bought in my old city and rented it out as I didn't want to sell it yet and the rent more than covered the mortgage.

Just before Thanksgiving, I got a new job near my parents house. The pay isn't what I'd like, but it's super low stress and I get to work from home 2 days a week (something that wasn't a possibility at my old job). I wasn't planning on staying at this job long anyway, but needed cash flow.

Starting a couple weeks ago, a whole chain of events started unfolding. Truck broke down, my house that's being rented out got broken into twice (yes, twice!), vet bills for my dog, plus I got a new puppy (I know this one was avoidable, but I put the deposit in before the other things started happening). Basically slashing my savings way below my comfort level (still enough for another small emergency, but anything big is gonna require a loan of some sort).

On top of that, my tenant is moving out early and the new tenant hasn't moved in yet.

But last week, a couple of my old bosses start texting me. Just casually asking if I'd be interested in coming back, what I've got going on, etc. One of them asked if I had time for a phone call and I told them I'd hear them out. They're offering me my job back (I left on good terms, never know when something might happen and I might have to come back). Some changes have happened at my old workplace (I've still got a couple friends I talk to on occasion there) that would take some of the stress off. Not all, but some.

So the question has become, do I go back? Or do I stay where I am now?

Old job Pros:

• better pay ($85k base plus $3500 moving expenses and bonuses)

• More active, interesting job. At least to me. This job is a mix of desk and field work which I've found suits me best. It's a construction based job though which I get isn't for everyone.

• Minimal readjusting since I already know my coworkers and the job. Pretty self explanatory.

• In my degree field. Well, kinda. This position is rather similar to a construction management role and my degree is in civil engineering which is common to find in the work force.

Old job cons:

• still a lot of stress

• Crappier hours (roughly 55 hours/week on average, plus about 1 Saturday a month)

• No work from home option (but my house is only 10 mins or so from where the job is so it kinda balances)

• Still need to figure out if I'd have to buy out new tenant since they're are already lined up to move in next week.

• Back to taking care of a household by myself.

Current Job Pros:

• Super low stress. It's basically an Excel IT/data entry job

• Awesome team. Super understanding and helpful, and we have fun and give each other crap at work all the time. Now my old job has some good coworkers there, but there's only a couple that I'd call awesome vs my whole team now.

• Consistent Hybrid schedule. Mondays and Fridays I get to work from home, only Tuesday through Thursday in the office. Pretty much set 40hrs/week M-F, no weekends unless EOM happens over a weekend (which hasn't really happened since I started).

• Minimal expenses for the most part since I'm still living with my parents.

Current job cons:

• Not the greatest pay (50k salaried). It's fine given my situation right now, but it doesn't leave much room for error once I get back into my own place. Not sure on the pay growth potential, but given the job duties I wouldn't bet on it being very high.

• BORING! Basically all the job consists of is working on spreadsheets. Which I don't have much trouble with it, but it doesn't push my skill set and I'm not learning much if anything at this point.

• Not much room for growth in department. The company is growing, but the needs for the department I'm in won't change much. They're expanding from their bread and butter core business, but the requirements for the new divisions aren't any different really from the core business and I'm pretty low on the totem pole in my department at the moment (only one guy has been there less time than me, but he's also 6 or 7 years younger than me). Could possibly work switching departments down the line, but my degree is in engineering and this is basically an accounting office for the company where I'm at now. So no guarantees.

• Currently living with my parents. Yes, I have minimal expenses because of this, but they stress me out and I'm more than ready to be back on my own already. I know this could change with time, but who knows how long it'll be with being a landlord already.

Now I could also stay at my current job and look for a different job here. But this feels rather like a grass is greener type of scenario except I already know what change of green the grass is on the other side.