Your commute to work:how far, how much time, what means to you use?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

People think they are saving money by living further out, but then the cost of gas, tolls, car wear and tear, adds up fast.

Also, other costs like eating out more, buying more convenience foods, hiring someone to mow the lawn, stuff like that, because you simply don't have time to do everything yourself. And it has to take a toll on family time and relationships. If I was out an extra 4 hours/day, I'd never see my daughter except on weekends, when I'd probably be too exhausted to do anything.

[dmontngrey]

- Where do you live? along the MA/RI border and commute towards Boston.

- What transportation means do you and your spouse use to get to/from work? We both drive to and from work.

- How far away are your workplaces? 30 miles one way for both of us - NOT in the same direction!

- How much time on average do you and your spouse spend to get to your jobs and back? 45 minutes one way on a GOOD day, don't ask about the bad ones...

[stressedmama]

St. Louis MO
DH and I both drive cars
My commute is about 14 miles and takes about 20-25 minutes way DH's commute is about 12 miles one way and takes about 30 minutes.

LivingAlmostLarge said car costs add up when you move further out. I agree and would also add that I couldn't imagine giving up another hour out of my day to spend commuting to/from work. It already seems that my time is more valuable to me, at this stage in my life with 2 young kids, then having a bigger house and longer commute. Being frugal with time is of utmost importance with me right now.

[MonkeyMama]

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.

[feh]

- Where do you live? Madison, WI

- What transportation means do you and your spouse use to get to/from work? I drive/bike during the summer; wife drives. I try to bike at least 3 times a week from April->October, if weather allows.

- How far away are your workplaces? Eight miles for me; 5 for wife.

- How much time on average do you and your spouse spend to get to your jobs and back? About 10 minutes for each of us.

[Merch]

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- Where do you live? (city/state or if you don't to disclose your city, state is OK).

I live in MA - outside 128 and inside 495

- What transportation means do you and your spouse use to get to/from work?

I drive to the train station and take the T (commuter rail into Boston) ife doesn't work

- How far away are your workplaces?

Commute is 30 miles each way. It is usually 60 -70 minutes each way or 120-140 minutes a day.

- How much time on average do you and your spouse spend to get to your jobs and back?

I spend $210 a month for the T pass and $2 a day for parking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve, I kept going west from Boston until I could afford a decent size house.

[maat55]

If left to me, we would move to midtown Tulsa not far from my shop and my wife could get another job at a more local bank. But, she is not as frugal minded as I.

[prosper]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

I think it is a frugal mindset. We also picked a place we could afford nearby. People think they are saving money by living further out, but then the cost of gas, tolls, car wear and tear, adds up fast.

In the DC metro area, one of the reasons people choose to live in the suburbs is because they get more house for the money.

I commute 35 miles one way because homes are more affordable

[Gruntina]

[quote=disneysteve;170921]I'm noticing a trend. With few exceptions so far, most of us seem to live pretty close to where we work. Do you think that is part of the frugal mindset most of us share? I know we purposely shopped for a home close to where I was working. When I changed jobs after 7 years, I found a new job even closer to home than the old job.



disneysteve - I agree generally that frugal people live closer to work if they can. Especially, if they found the job before purchasing or locating a place to rent.

Our case is different… We live in the Santa Cruz Mountain and you can locate homes in the 500k range. However I work in Silicon Valley where homes are not badly affected as wealthy people lives here. It used to be around 900k as median prices but may have fallen down towards 700-800k but I am not sure.

It cost me 500 dollars per month on Gas for my work commute at the moment. There is no city transportation from the mountain down and pretty crazy to bike on a windy road with no shoulder. If we were to sell our house and purchase a place near my work, we end up paying way more than $2000 at least increase on our mortgage. Truth is - we are pretty blessed to even have a house we can afford as almost all of my friends are renting even though they have decent jobs. At the same time my husband and I are very handy when it comes to taking care of the house, firewood and etc. The culture in the Bay Area is pretty much the opposite as most people want the most convenience and easy way of living because we mainly work computers with overtime and commute hours
.

[Gruntina]

I forgot to add my commute details. I commute round trip 2 hours daily m-f.

However the first half of my commute (17 miles) the drive is through a national redwood Forrest with no city traffic. The rest of the commute is city/interstate driving with heavy traffic. One way trip is 28 miles.

I am trying to take the bus from the city part since I can park it, but been discourage because I only save 60 bucks a month and the commute becomes longer 4.5 hours roundtrip that way. It is not worth it for 60 bucks but will see how far the gas prices go up in the future and that might change.

[sounderella]

My commute drive is about 25 mi one way and it takes me about 30 mins. When I worked in Atlanta, I drove about 36 mi and it took me 2 hrs and all of my sanity. I'm just going the other direction now

[cashqueen]

Right outside of Memphis, TN

Both of us drive as there is no public transportation where we need to go. DH commutes about 36 miles each way, a few more if he drops off or picks up the kids. I drive about 15 miles each way, a few more if he drops off or picks up the kids.

It takes him about 45 min each way and takes me about 25 min each way. I had two job offers recently and opted for the one that paid a bit less but had an easier commute because I didn't want to spend an extra 20 min each way sitting in traffic.

[ScrimpAndSave]

- Where do you live? (city/state or if you don't to disclose your city, state is OK). PA

- What transportation means do you and your spouse use to get to/from work? CAR


- How far away are your workplaces? 8 miles

- How much time on average do you and your spouse spend to get to your jobs and back? 20 minutes



Rock on.

[cantretire]

Staten Island, New York and I work in Manhattan, distance about 10 miles 'as the crow flies.'

Take a bus, the Staten Island Ferry, then the subway one stop or I walk to the office

Total time: 90 - 120 minutes. Double that in a snowstorm.

[Onwards]

I'm in Salem, OR.

I work from home. Up until a month ago I was working at a farm, commuting 35 minutes (approx. 30mi) each way in a Toyota Matrix (30-32mpg). When I was doing that full time, I worked four 10 hour days rather than five 8 hour days so I could cut back on time and $ spent commuting. That didn't work out, though, for other reasons and now I telecommute with an editing job.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I'm noticing a trend. With few exceptions so far, most of us seem to live pretty close to where we work. Do you think that is part of the frugal mindset most of us share? I know we purposely shopped for a home close to where I was working. When I changed jobs after 7 years, I found a new job even closer to home than the old job.

Interesting.

I know that when I first purchased my home, the commute was like 7 miles to/from my then place of work. But when that dissolved, I actually travelled a much greater disance one-way (like 40-45 miles one-way -- long time ago).

We all would prefer to live closer to where we work, but I didn't really have a choice at the time. Luckily the price for gasoline was no where near as expensive as it is today. My current commute of 8 miles one way I am very, very grateful for.

But like others have said too, in almost every place I have worked, there's usually one or two people making very long commutes of almost 2 hours one way. I don't think they really have a choice either. If you ask them why they make the commute rather than move closer, you will usually get a very reasonable excuse.

Some cannot afford to live any closer because the pricing of houses nearer work is outrageous.... that's the number one reason I hear. And another that the places here are too small for their rather large families... or the "bigger places" are too expensive. But again, it boils down to price.

Some people across the country are re-thinking this. Some have moved to live closer to where they work, to save gasoline costs. I know DH would love to have a smaller commute, but a bigger priority for us is to save for retirement. We will not be moving before then.

[rduell]

Originally Posted by aida2003

In the morning while preparing to leave for work, I got these questions in my head . I've heard that it takes HOURS to get to work for folks working in NYC. Then other stories that people cannot afford to pay for gas to get to work these days, etc. etc. So, what about your and your spouse's commute to work?

- Where do you live? (city/state or if you don't to disclose your city, state is OK).
- What transportation means do you and your spouse use to get to/from work?
- How far away are your workplaces?
- How much time on average do you and your spouse spend to get to your jobs and back?

I live in PA and both DH and I drive to work. We are in a rural area where there is no public transportation available. We both live 20 miles from where we work, but we work in opposite directions from home.

Right now we are spending about $350 a month on gasoline. That includes all of our driving, but we really don't make many trips anywhere other than work and church.

DH carpools with 2 other guys. I am looking for someone to carpool with, but so far no luck.

[markusk]

Originally Posted by aida2003

- Where do you live? (city/state or if you don't to disclose your city, state is OK).
- What transportation means do you and your spouse use to get to/from work?
- How far away are your workplaces?
- How much time on average do you and your spouse spend to get to your jobs and back?

-The Bay Area, north of SF, California
-Hybrid, approx 45miles per gallon, wife drops me off (we only have one car for now) and does errands, taking our child to the gym, music classes, etc.
-2.5 miles, thru a lot of hills.
-7 minutes by car, one way. Wife is a SAHM. Thinking of riding a bike or buying a scooter -- I'm leaning toward a scooter because there are alot of hills in the commute; not sure what to do when it rains. We shall see.

When we lived in Philly, I walked to work (about 5 blocks) and loved every minute of it -- really appreciated saving a lot of commute time. For us, time (with family) is the most important factor. Saving money on gas is a plus.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I understand that you get more house, but how much more house do you need? Why not live closer, dump a car, or a smaller/beater car and afford more house?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

I understand that you get more house, but how much more house do you need? Why not live closer, dump a car, or a smaller/beater car and afford more house?

I think there are a lot of factors. It isn't just how much house but also what kind of neighborhood. As I've mentioned, I work in a very poor area - high crime, lousy local services, lots of drug and alcohol problems, terrible schools. There is no way I would ever consider living very close to my office even though I could do so at a fraction of the cost of living where I do live. Fortunately, where we live is only 8 miles from there but is worlds away. Instead of congested row homes built in 1918 with no land, we have a modest single built in 1964 on 1/4 acre with a nice yard and garage. We have excellent city services and very good schools. Low crime rate. Lots of good shopping and dining.

So in many cases, moving a little distance away doesn't just get you a bigger home, it also gets you a better neighborhood to go with it.