Taking a large pay reduction also means that you will drop tax bracket(s), which slightly improves your take home pay. You really need to take stock of your spending. If you don't have much by way of savings, then it would indicate that you are spending most of what you earn. So how are you going to live on less than half the income? You should draw up a realistic budget ahead of time. Once you make the jump, it might be difficult to get back to your earlier higher income.