<p>I didn’t end up taking the bus today, mainly because I just forgot and didn’t have any singles for the fare. </p>
<p>I’m 23, just started here in the beginning of January. Most of the people I’ve met and become friends with are about the same age, generally 23-29. </p>
<p>As for what’s around where I work? Nothing. It’s the only major employer in a mostly residential community where people generally either work for the same employer or commute into the city (as annoying as my commute is, it’s noticeably worse in the other direction). But most of the people I’ve met and become friends with also live either there or on the far outskirts of the city much closer to work. I actually live about 15 minutes from all my friends here and they all live relatively close to each other, all about 10 min from work. They all just deal with paying much more for rent. (I think they all pay in the range of $650-$1200 each)</p>
<p>It’s not the Minneapolis area but it’s got about the same weather here (checked on Wikipedia, the average temps are about the same) but a much smaller city. If that gives it away, please don’t say the name of the city (or what city you think it is) on here though. But yes, summer will be far different from winter. </p>
<p>I probably should have led with this, but doing the math out, the break-even of switching is to value my free time at about 3/4 of my post-tax wage, which I think is probably above what I should consider my break-even should be. Since I’m salaried it’s not as if I can just work those hours instead of commuting and make up for the difference there. For those who moved or considered moving to save on commute, what was your break-even point as a faction of income? </p>
<p>At most an hour each way IMO. If you complain about anything less you should try living in New York. To get to my high school it was an hour by bus compared to a 15 minute drive.</p>
<p>My switch from a 25 minute commute to a 10 minute commute had more financial implications than just the value of my free time. For me, I was switching to 25 minutes by freeway to 10 minutes by side streets, so there was a major cost difference in gasoline and wear and tear on my car. I went from needing to get gas every other week to needing to get gas every six weeks. I went from driving 50ish miles a day to 15-20ish miles a day. Something else to consider if it’s relevant to you. </p>
<p>I would not be making the decision this complicated and would instead ask myself if I can afford both options and if so which one makes me happier. Commuting is stressful, if you can afford to make it less stressful (and to move closer to your friends, it sounds like), I don’t know if you need a mathematical equation to justify the expense. </p>
<p>Our choice was to live exactly where we wanted to live. If a commute was involved…so be it. For the first seven years I was out of college, I drove at LEAST 30 miles to work each day. But I sure loved my house, friends, and neighbors. My husband has never commuted less than 25 miles, but again we love our town,our neighbors and our house. </p>
<p>If it were my choice, I would choose the commute if it meant living in a more desirable place.</p>
<p>The question is, how long do you want your commute to be? I was in a similar situation and decided to buy a house closer to my work. Cost me more money but totally worth it.</p>
<p>Your commute is so short and your living circumstances so affordable that you should simply live in the place you enjoy more. If you move out of town, you may find yourself spending far more time and money driving into town and parking in order to have a social life or entertainment, or simply cutting way back on both and becoming more isolated. </p>
<p>In the end I decided to move. I was able to find something not quite as close to work as I wanted, but still closer for $485. Shaving 8 miles and about 10 minutes each way should save me about $60 on gas and 7 hours of my time a month. Considering my rent here was going to go up to $402 soon that $60 is almost all of the difference. I’ll be rooming with a friend of mine from work. Plus it’s a nicer apartment, The only real downside is that it’s in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>I am glad you found something, we all make compromises with where we live and how long we want to commute. People in the NYC area commute into the city from the suburbs and a lot of us have commutes that on a good day are 1.5 hours door to door, but we live where we do because of the benefits of doing so, like having a house with a yard and garden we can affford, it is quiet, etc yet is close enough to the city that when we want to do things there, it is easy to get in (my morning commute has been averaging 2 hours, in large part thanks to route 3, which is a disaster area). By my nature I am a city person, but the cost of living in NYC in a decent area and have some of the things I want would be ridiculously expensive, even if I rented…I don’t drive, I take a bus, so at least I can sleep or read. </p>
<p>One thing about driving, factor in not just gas, but maintenance and insurance, when you drive to work your insurance is higher than if you use public transit and drive to the bus or train station. I think for tax purposes the cost is like 60 cents a mile (that could be out of date), so keep that in mind, too. </p>
<p>On the other hand commutes take it out of you in ways more than time, it is tiring the longer the commute, and it does get old. I still look back fondly when I lived in the northeast Bronx and had a 20 minute train ride to Grand Central, and a 5 minute walk to work…but I have a lot of things where I live now, that make it worth it. One of the reasons I don’t get a job closer to home is even with the cost of commuting and taxes,comparable jobs don’t pay anywhere near what I make in NYC, it is a lot lower, so that factors in, too…plus people who live and work in NJ groan about how bad the roads are at rush hour and a 20 minute drive can take an hour, so that isn’t so great, either…</p>