think about the first scenario though..no debt and 25k a year...no child possibly not married...that's good money for the scenario, not successful persay, 35k in that same scenario, you can make good enough moves.

when you start making money in the 70-80k range you really start teetering w/ having only 5 day work weeks and 40 hour days...those kinds of jobs require more of their employees for what they are paying them, if you think about it. i'd take the first scenario at $50k/year after taxes