DisneySteve - Good question.
For us, not really.
Quality of life is very important to us, so we prefer not to have a big commute. It's less about frugality and more about our personal preference.
However, on the flip side we live in a strange place where we are between so many big hubs that the further out you get the closer to the BIG cities you are. Thus, staying in the city is the cheapest option. The further out you go the more expensive it gets. IT can seriously cost twice as much to live in the middle of nowhere, because those people commute to the Bay Area. The east is filled with the vacation homes of the rich. The cheapest area of the entire state happens to be a relatively big city. So we luck out in that regard - all the city conveniences with more country prices.
Likewise, cost of gas prices matters little to my commute, obviously. BUT one of our main luxuries is the freedom to drive and visit family often, and to travel the state on the weekends. So that part we are cutting out more and more. That is the bigger bummer to me. Gas prices are significantly impacting our quality of life, in that regard. HAs for MANY years. Until 2005/2006 I used to drive home for lunch every day. Which is another reason I chose a small commute when job searching. It's been a moot point for a while since that has been hard to justify for years.
|