I am dealing with a situation for quite some time and I don't know what to make of it.
Six years ago I applied to a job for which I was under-qualified, however during the interview I was redirected to another position at a different team, for which I've got hired. For some reason, in the first years I've been doing exactly what I wanted. No stress what soever. I worked when I wanted, I did not have a fixed time for coming to work or leaving. I could WFH long before the global pandemic. And for the past 3 years I've been doing nothing “officially”. The job is full-time. The pay suits my lifestyle, but is generally under my colleagues with about 10%, but they are actually working (and hard for that).
The thing is, I actually enjoy it. I can never be bored since I fill my time with study. I enjoy reading and learning things. The time is spent on investing in myself and whenever I am not studying, I'm doing sports. So it's always my body or my mind. Basically my day is like ” i do what I want, when I want, how I want”. I'm software developer, and fill my time with writing open-source software, scripting, pretty much computer science.
As many people pointed out, the only way to increase your earnings is by job hopping. The yearly increase doesn't cover inflation and is next to nothing. But wherever I would go, probably it will not be like it is now.
The question is: should one value time over money?