The cost of commuting

[tripods68]

I had an interesting conversation with a coworker of mine. Their combined income gross $75K a year. He told me (just on him) spends on average $500 a month gas alone (or $6000 a year) commuting 125 miles per day. He drive a Nissan Murano 04 (bought it brand new) which takes high premium gas. Add his wife gas prices, she spends an additional $4000 a year. That represents about 13% of their gross income on gas alone. I said why not buying a more fuel efficient car which could save him roughly 30%-40% on a car that take regular gas and high fuel mileage than his what currently getting. He said, "we'll see". We'd had this conversation for over 2 years now and nothing new.

They don't have any children and rent only. But they are getting ready to retire in 2 years. Personally I would rather save as much as I can but that's just me. On the other hand, he still owe money on this car around $19K on a 7-year car note paying $500 a month; has another 3 years left. He also thinks the DOW JONES could reach 500 in two years. All i can say

I don't really care how much they spent on gas, but i can't have fuel cost dominating our household expenses like that other than rent or mortgage. We would rather move closer to work and spend more than its necessary.

[maat55]

I think no matter what happens with fuel costs, that it is better in the long run to live close to your jobs. I drive 35 round trip and would like to cut that to 10 tops.

[disneysteve]

What always amazes/confuses me is that at rush hour, the local roads are packed in both directions. Why don't the people who work in the north and live in the south change places with the people who work in the south and live in the north? Everybody would save a ton of time and money.

Personally, I live 8 miles from my office. I hate commuting and hope I never have to do it over any significant distance.

[tripods68]

True. We commute a total 30 miles per day. It's saving us $$.

This bring to the topic "wants versus needs". It cost $$ to keep a certain "lifestyle" displacing common sense sometimes. We don't live our lives that way, it has to make financial common sense before anything.

[Gruntina]

I think no matter what happens with fuel costs, that it is better in the long run to live close to your jobs. I drive 35 round trip and would like to cut that to 10 tops.

I used to live one block away from my work and that was so nice! It was an apartment complex. I had so many hours in a day to relax and do my own thing after work and I was single at that time!

Now, on average I pay between 400-500 dollars a month in gas for commute. I live up in the Santa Cruz Mountains and work in the city which is an hour drive one way.

Why I do this? Main reason is that my husband brought the house before I met him so not much choice there.

Also Silicon Valley is expensive, for us to sell our home and purchase a home near my work; I am looking into median home prices around 800-900K. The difference in the ‘would be’ city mortgage from my current mortgage comes no where near what I pay in gas. It would be at least 2000 or more per month higher than my existing mortgage with no yard, higher property taxes, the cost to sell and close and etc. So the homes near my work are way more expensive in my area. Again it is Silicon Valley! (Not the norms with suburb and city pricing differences in general)

I live in Paradise! We have a large yard with several trees and garden plants, two fireplaces, privacy and not many houses too close to our house. The drive is worth it to me because it’s home and not just a house. I do not want to live in a condo, apartment, town houses or the like.

There is a chance my husband and I as a team that we can afford to have me be a stay at home mom if we decide to have children. If that happens, my current home is where I want to be by choice and I live in a small town where there is a strong community that helps each other and so many outdoor activities. Unfortunately this small town does not have jobs! There is not even a street light in town as that is how small it is.

That being said, I do not have the right to complain what my commute is costing me because it was a choice that I made even though I hate allotting that much money just for gas itself. My husband work 45 minutes away from home down on the other side of the hill.

[Exile]

I think no matter what happens with fuel costs, that it is better in the long run to live close to your jobs.

My first job as a self-supporting adult over 40 years ago entailed an 18 minute walk from home. I had no wheels and didn't feel like shelling out the bus fare that wouldn't have made much difference in my commute time anyway, considering the walk to and from the bus stop. My wages were very low, but I believed then--and still do, that as a result of $0 commuting expenses, I was able to get by and even managed to put away a little money each week as well.

My last job before retiring was 60 miles from my residence and took about 1 1/2 hours each way. It included a 25 minute drive to the park- and- ride, a 45 minute train ride, and a 10 minute shuttle ride from the station to my job site (the other 20 minutes or so was waiting time for the train and shuttle). On my late-shift days, train service was unavailable, which meant driving in all the way. That took up to 2 hours each way.

The point of this long-winded narrative is that we don't always have the luxury of choosing our commutes, especially those of us in the lower echelons. We go where the money is. In the case of my last position, there were no decent paying jobs in my field in the general vicinity where I lived. They were in the financial centers of another county and in a locale where most of us who worked for my employer could not afford to live. That included a couple of department managers who rode the same train as some of my co-workers and I. (Which by the way was an advantage. If the train was late, these supervisors were our insurance against a reprimand for tardiness).

Needless to say, commuting this way was very stressful and expensive, but there was just no practical alternative.

[rebeccae55]

From Disney Steve:
"What always amazes/confuses me is that at rush hour, the local roads are packed in both directions. Why don't the people who work in the north and live in the south change places with the people who work in the south and live in the north? Everybody would save a ton of time and money."

I have wondered this for years!

For example, I know a young man who works at a chain grocery store 14 miles from his house yet there is another store in the same chain in WALKING DISTANCE to his home. Why doesn't he work at that one?

I have a neighbor who works as an RN at a hospital about 20 miles from us. Yet there is a highly regarded hospital about 3 miles away. Why doesn't she work there?

I work in a bank where 3 of our 4 tellers drive at least 45 minutes each way to get there. While I can appreciate that they don't want to work at just any bank, I'm sure they pass several good options on the way. In fact, 2 of them pass another branch of the very same bank. They'd save 8 miles each way on a very traffic heavy 4 lane. It's 8 miles that takes about 30 minutes on even a good day! Why don't they post for the vacancies there when they come up?

I live not quite 2 miles from my office. It typically takes me about 5 minutes to get there. This short commute probably does as much or more for the qulaity of my life than anything else I can think of.

All this being said, I do appreciate that some folks are highly specialized and can't just decide to find a job with a short commute. Some people LOVE their jobs but can't afford to live close to them. In other words, I accept that not everyone can live close to work. But I do believe that if the ones that could actually made the change, we'd see a great improvement in rush hour traffic.

[disneysteve]

Some people LOVE their jobs but can't afford to live close to them.

This is certainly a factor in big cities like New York, Philadelphia, Washington, etc. Living in mid-town Manhattan is phenomenally expensive. Many people commute to NYC from 60-100 miles away. My cousin lives in Woodbridge, CT and works in Manhattan. I have friends in Cherry Hill, NJ who work in Manhattan. They can't afford to live in North Jersey close to NYC. But they pay the price in lifestyle, spending 4 hours or more per day commuting and never seeing their families.

[stressedmama]

While my husband and my commutes are not to bad (~15 miles one way for each of us) we live right in between where both of us work. I work further north and he works south of where we live. It's a compromise that works well for us and may be what others do too.

Another reason I would never move real close to where I work is the crime factor and public schools. Although housing costs near where I work are very low....there is a reason why, the crime rate and public schools are terrible. Since I have kids, I could save a little on gas by working closer but I would want to put my kids in private school. In my mind, financing a couple of private school educations and having the added costs of driving them a ways away everyday to private school isn't worth it. I can live a little further out, spend a little more for a nice house in the suburbs with low crime rates, great public schools, and a plethora of stores/shops etc. and still be close enough to a downtown city to enjoy the ammendities there when I so choose. To me that is financially better and eases my mind as a parent then living close to work.

[disneysteve]

Another reason I would never move real close to where I work is the crime factor and public schools.

Another good point. I work in a very poor, crime and drug-infested area. I would never move to the town where I work.

[bjl584]

I commute about 50 miles round trip per day. I drive a 05 Hyundai Elantra that gets around 34mpg. That works out to around $5.88 a day at $4.00 a gallon. I could live closer to work, but if I did my property taxes would be at least 3 times what they are where I live. That would work out to a difference of several thousand dollars a year. Plus, i couldn't buy the house that I have now cloe to where I work without spending at least $75,000 more for it. I live in the panhandle of West Virginia and commute across the line into Pennsylvania to the suburbs of Pittsburgh for work. The cost of living between the two is like night and day. Gas would have to be well over $10 a gallon before it would be advantageous for me to even consider moving.

[Gruntina]

Another point I wanted to add...

I love my job and that is why I continue to do long commute, but my home is more important to me than my job.

If I had to, I could get a lower paying job somewhat closer to my home and break out even since I would not be missing out on the money that was spent on gas form the job with a much longer commute. It would probably mean not taking on a professional job though. That is just a back-up plan when a push becomes a shove in personal finance or job lay-off and the like.

So it is not always about the money! But when it is about the money, you got to do what you got to do and life goes on.

[feh]

Last year I started biking to work when the weather allows (I live in WI). I made the change in conveyance for the sake of exercise, not saving gas, but that's a nice side effect.

I last filled my gas tank 7 weeks ago.

[cptacek]

I live 162 miles away from where I work. I drive in Monday morning and leave Thursday night. I hate being away from my husband that much, but I can't find anythign closer and he farms and you can't move the farm. I got offered a job closer to home (20 miles from home) but they wanted me to take a $40,000 pay cut. Driving and staying down here only costs $20,000 a year, so I couldn't justify it.

[Like2Plan]

What always amazes/confuses me is that at rush hour, the local roads are packed in both directions. Why don't the people who work in the north and live in the south change places with the people who work in the south and live in the north? Everybody would save a ton of time and money..

A centrally located home was one of our top considerations when we were house hunting. This has allowed us to stay in the same centrally located home over the years. Both DH's and my job locations have changed several times.

DH's 1st job in this area was 25 miles east while my first job location was 44 miles NW (my job moved closer after 9months thankfully).

Both DH's and my 2nd job locations were both north: DH's 14 miles and mine 16 miles from home.

DH's 3rd was 10 miles southeast while my 3rd location was 22 miles northwest.

They are proposing another job location move for me which would about 35 miles west of home. I plan to retire if and when that happens. (Commuting to work is one thing I will not miss).