4 reasons staying in a job you hate will make you poorer

A very typical Singaporean thing to do, other than sending your kids for tuition, queuing for Hello Kitty toys or being obsessed with food, is to get a job you don't like because of the money. No wonder job satisfaction levels here are so low.

But the irony is that staying in a job you hate, even if it pays you a decent salary, could actually be making you poorer. Here are four ways that can happen.

Stress

Never underestimate the power of stress to make Singaporeans spend money.

Being stressed out and starved for time 24/7 prompts you to spend more in order to gain convenience and stop suffering so damn much.

If you just worked 16 hours in a job you detest, like hell you're going to duke it out on the bus and MRT instead of calling a cab.

Come to think of it, many of the things Singaporeans consider "necessities", like eating out every single day and hiring maids to be at their beck and call, are needs only because they spend such long hours at work and are too tired and stressed out to do anything for themselves at the end of the day.

If the idea of downsizing your luxurious lifestyle sounds like torture, maybe it's because you think you worked too damn hard for it.

Causes you to spend more on yourself to feel better

Many people work so long and hard in jobs they hate that they feel like they've earned the right to splurge on themselves, which has led to rising credit card debt, even amongst people with above average incomes.

We are some of the biggest spenders in the region on dining out, have a reputation for being inveterate shopaholics both online and off and take a huge number of overseas holidays compared to our peers worldwide.

This is one of the few countries in the world where many people on average incomes think nothing of splurging on designer goods, going for staycations in four or five star hotels or purchasing cars that are several times their annual incomes.

If your job makes you so miserable you need to compensate for it by spending on luxuries, excessive drinking, constantly treating yourself or indulging in retail therapy, what you need are actual therapy and a new job.

Stops you from bettering yourself and growing your money

When you detest every minute you spend at your job and your brain is constantly flooded with fantasies of flinging a resignation letter in your boss's face, don't be surprised if you feel unmotivated to actually get better at what you do.

Ironically, it's this failure to better yourself that could cost you more money down the road.

Let's put in this way-no leader in their field ever got to where they were without being good at what they were doing, unless you consider the incompetent heirs of family-owned SMEes.

If you just go through the motions at work without bothering to build skills of real value, you'd better hope that company you hate so much never retrenches you.

Lots of Singaporeans also say they're too busy working to bother to find out how to invest their money. When you've struggled through the week trying to keep things together without retaliating to your boss's sarcastic comments, the last thing you want to do over the weekend is to read up on investing.

This is a very sad state of affairs, especially for those who hate their jobs, because failing to invest basically means you'll be working that much longer before you can retire.

Might make you sick

Each time you complain about how sickening your job is, you might be on to something.

Singapore doctors have reported an increase in the number of patients who land in their offices due to work-induced stress.

Depression and burn-out from stress and long hours at work are a very real threat. And unlike a flu or sore throat, one visit to the GP isn't going to cure you.

Health problems with a psychological root like depression can take a longer time to cure and require repeat visits to the psychiatrist. You can't just pop a happy pill and expect all your problems to disappear.

Other than the fact that you'll have to fork out the money for doctors' bills, you might also be edged out of the workforce if your condition is particularly serious and you need some timeout, which then translates to lost income.

Your job might be paying you truckloads of money, but if it's also causing you to inflate your lifestyle and fail to manage your health and your money wisely, you could still wind up poorer at the end of the day.

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