"I've recently had the possibility to escape the constant mental treadmill that comes with working in most IT departments" You wrote some pretty prose but you

"I've recently had the possibility to escape the constant mental treadmill that comes with working in most IT departments" You wrote some pretty prose but you did not really tell us what you know or what you have been really doing with your life for the last ten years. When someone says "IT Department" I think large (or small) corporation supporting a group of people who actually bring in the money. The key reason these places are so soul crushing is that many times management does not know how to use them effectively to help the bottom line by making smart technology choices. You are just a cost center. The other reason they are soul crushing is that 2/3rd's of your colleagues are probably all kinds of incompetent and should have been fired or never hired in the first place. In any case the trick is to get out of there as quickly as possible. (It took me 10 years too and I'm still not recovered career wise or personally) Get yourself employed by a technology company working on their core products. All the sudden you are not supporting anyone (except maybe your customers.) and you may find it a much more pleasant experience. I would also suggest making friends with some people more successful than yourself and really try and learn from them how to manage you finances correctly. It's something that many families just don't teach. Finally I'd recommend reading "The wealthy Barber"[1] to get an idea of what a healthy financial situation and practices might look like. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Wealthy-Barber-Updated-3rd-Commonsense http://www.amazon.com/Wealthy-Barber-Updated-3rd-Commonsense