I've been looking at some of the previous posts from people who quit or are thinking of quitting, and I guess I would just like to vent and get some comments on my own situation.

I'm in my 2nd year. The first year had loads of setbacks and the project now looks nothing like the original plan. A few months ago I decided to quit because I felt I couldn't cope with all the problems as well as having to live away from my partner during the week. I'm not a quitter by nature, and have previously done very well academically so it was a very difficult decision to go to my supervisor and say I wanted to quit.

My supervisor was very understanding about this and gave me the option to move away to live with my
partner as I had already done a lot of practical work and can now write it up at home. This was great as I didnt want the first year of work to go to waste, and hopefully it will be a useful piece of research. I ended up saying I would continue with the PhD as it was a relief that my supervisor was so understanding and I was basically scared to make the final jump once there was some kind of lifeline given, even though I'd originally decided I would quit. However, the remainder of the project is something that I really am not interested in and was originally going to be a minor part but is now going to be pretty much the remainder of the project.

I am not motivated by the prospect of being a 'Dr' and have no desire to work in academia, so my current reasons for not quitting are: it would cause hassle for people who have been really helpful to me, and cause disappointment for me and people who had faith in me, given the current economic climate it might be better to stay with the small amount of funding rather than risk no work at all, I'm afraid I'll be making a decision I'll regret.
I have a wide range of 'transferable skills', and feel (perhaps naively) that I would be able to get a decent job as I have a 1st degree and an MSc, as well as other certs and diplomas. I work much better when I have set goals, and at the moment Im floating about far too much and feeling very unrewarded and unmotivated by the research Im doing.

So at the moment, I think I will write up the research I've already done over the next few months, and hopefully get an MSc out of it, and then move on. I've seen a few posts from people saying they quit and it worked out ok, which reassured me a bit, but I'd also like to know if people quit while maintaining a good relationship with their supervisor and not destroying any possibility of returning and/or getting a decent reference. And how do employers view an applicant who quit? Or even other universities should I ever get the urge to return? Am I naive in thinking I can get a decent job when I've been in a university bubble for the last 6 years and only have experience of summer jobs?

Apologies for the long winded post, it would be really nice to hear from anyone who's made a similar decision.

Sounds like you are making the right decision by leaving: The best piece of advice I can give is that whilst you are mulling over the decision to leave or not. Try not to let other people cloud your judgement too much ( friends, family, supervisor or who ever else that may be). I understand only to well the feelings of guilt: what will people think, who will I be letting down by leaving this? and so on... but just remember that you need to make the decision that is best for you, not for anyone else. If you are truly unhappy then leave and go get yourself a fulfilling and well paid job doing something else. If you can rescue a masters out of this then do so and then leave. If you feel you might like to return to academia at some point then you might want to think things through a little more before leaving....

I don't think dropping out of a PhD has had any negative consequences in my case but of course it is going to be different for every individual: it depends on the manner of your departure. No matter what happens I am sure you could get a good reference from someone in your department, if not your supervisor, then possibly your second supervisor.