work hours? what yall think?

I work at a factory where we make axles for 18 wheelers. We are really short handed and I have the opportunity to come in or stay 4 extra hours a day. I work 8 hour days 6 to 7 day weeks. I make $14 an hour and anything over 40 hours is time and a half $21 an hour, and Sundays are double time $28 an hour. My pay check is about $900ish a week. If I work the extra hours it can increase my pay to $2k to $2.5 extra a month after taxes. I really need the extra money to put my truck back together, but at the same time it will take away time from my wife and son. I lack a month from getting vacation, so what should I do? Take the extra hours and take vacation to spend time with them, or just stick with my usual hours, what yall think?

I know it hard working alot and not seeing your family......I work 12 hour shifts at a warehouse 3 days a week...and try and run a shop 7 days a week. I would definately talk it over with your famil. You have to look at both sides. More money and you can better provide for your family. Being financial stable is very important in a marriage. Living check to check sucks.....I would probably do it. Then try my best to spend time with the family. Maybe do it for a little while and then take a break from it. Just a thought.

Thats what I was thinking about. My wife is ok with it, she is tired of my truck parts piling up in the house. I planned on woking 12 hour shifts a month at a time, work 12 hours a month, work 8 hours a month kinda like a swing shift. Its just hard paying all the bills by myself and not having any money to finish my truck, on top of that i'm currently adding on a garage to my house so i can finish my truck.

its truely hard to work 12 hour days 7 days a week. right now i work 14-16 hour days mon-fri and whatever time i finish on sat-sun. and really its killing me all i do right now is work on trucks and the only people i see are my 2 roommates and whoever wants to come swing by the shop. i would say do the month on 12 hours, month off 8 hours thing itll balance your life alittle easier.

i only work 9's, but b/c i work an hr away, i'm out of my house for 12 hours of the day.. and i work on my truck for 12-16 hrs a day on the weekend. no free time blows.

Really, the truck should come second to the family. With that said, take the hours while they are there and help out the household, then take care of your truck.

Thanks for the thoughts yall have on the matter, i feel a little better now that I've heard some opinions.

yeah, definitely work extra if you get a chance. I work out of town and am gone 2-3 nights a week, so i definitely feel you on the family thing. On the other hand, if i had a job where i was home every night, i really think we'd be divorced, or one of us would be dead. I say definitely work it out where you can work some 12 or some 8 hour days. you would'nt have to do it a month at a time, just rotate weeks or something. Or if you had some kind of family thing, just plan on not working extra that day. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

Thanks man. Money is just tight around my house since my wife stays home with our son. i usually only have about $300-$400 left over a month to save or whatever, it just would be nice to be able to find parts and buy them right then instead of pondering on it a while till I get the money saved up. i added up everything, i lack about $2k - $2.5k from getting my truck 90% done and having it ready for the RA event, and a month of 12 hour days will cover that alone, and have a few extra bux to maybe buy some crap at the show.

You said you need the extra money to put into your truck but that it would take away quality time with your wife and child. Sounds like a "no-brainer" to me.

WARNING: SOME READERS MAY TOTALLY FREAK AT THIS IDEA!
Sell your project. That's right, Pay off some bills and and spend time with your family. Make your new mission to become debt free. Sacrificing your 'toy' in the short term and taking care of your family takes a real man. Then in the future when you got some change in your pocket, buying toys or parts or whatever won't strain your wallet.

If you're struggling with money, get control of it now so you can afford a project in the future. Part of the reason my project's for sale is because I'm sick of being ripped off by credit card companies and banks. Yes, it's all my fault I have the debt and now I want a better life. 2 years ago I had 16 bills I was paying on. Today I've got 3.

And since you have a decent income now, use that to bury your debts. If you only have $400 a month left after bills, then take it and pay off your smallest debt. Pay the minimum on the others until it's gone. Then take the next smallest, and work on it and so on. Write out a budget and know exactly where the other $3200 is going each month. And I bet once you've written out a budget you can find even more money each month.

Sorry to sound like I'm preaching, but I feel very strongly about this subject. Good luck.