I turned down a $12k raise for a job with better hours and my old coworkers think I'm nuts
Honestly everyone in my office said take the money when I got the offer at a firm in Portland, but I'd be working until 8pm every night plus some Saturdays. I said no and stayed at my $58k job with a 4pm clock out. Six months later I ran into one of those guys at a coffee shop and he told me he's on his third vacation day of the year while I've already taken 11. The raise sounds great until you do the math on what your free time is actually worth. Am I wrong for picking my evenings over the extra cash?
How did your old coworkers not see it that way though? I get why they pushed the money at you because that's just how people are wired, bigger number equals better life in their heads. But 8pm every night plus Saturdays is basically giving up your whole life for a paycheck. You took 11 vacation days and the guy bragging about the raise has taken three, that tells you everything you need to know right there. Free time is the one thing you can't buy back later, no amount of money fixes that. You made the right call and you don't owe anyone a explanation for it.