The Costs of Working Too Much

When people think of costs associated with overwork, I would imagine they think first of the emotional and physical tolls it takes. I've thought about those, of course, throughout the years as my job responsibilities have waxed and waned. I'm not complaining to be in a "waxing" period now, but I've realized recently that there are many monetary costs involved as well. I was thinking about this tonight in particular as I stood in the grocery store line buying (pricey) prepared food because after a class that gets out at 8:00 p.m., I usually don't have it in me to fix a good meal. Not that the grocery food was good -- well, it tasted good, but it may not have been as healthy as a homemade meal.

Also, when I am working a lot and can't get things done around the house, I end up paying someone else to do them. In case you're wondering, despite the time I put into work, I'm not rolling in dollars over here. Mostly I've been working so much to pay for repairs and improvements to my house. (I'm supposed to finally get my last insurance check this week!) I make more than I pay people for their help (for the most part), but still it's an expense I really don't need.

Another thought I had tonight is that working a lot (when I do make a decent wage) puts me into a higher tax bracket, one that prevents me from writing off college tuition and other expensive I could write off when I made less money. I'm truly not sure it's worth it, but I'm not sure what else to do. I don't have anyone to pick up the slack if I can't pull things together (and I'm certainly not whining about that; I'm pretty sure it's not worth it to have a partner, at least not right now). My courseload will be much lighter in the first part of next year, and I'm even thinking of taking off the first half of summer (not that I've been offered summer classes yet anyway). Even though sometimes I think I thrive in an overloaded work situation, my deeper belief is that, in many ways, it isn't worth what it costs.