Complainypants Commuting Friend

[lsaurus]

My best friend is broke. She complains about it frequently. She is supposedly so broke that she can't buy food the last couple of days before she gets her paycheck. She recently started a second job at a home improvement store on the weekends which I thought was a great idea and it shows she is trying. This week she quit her main job and started a new one at the local university.  She texted me outraged that they charge $400/year for parking!! The horrors! The university has been taking out parking lots and filling them in with new buildings for years.  They recognize this problem so the give students and faculty free bus/train passes.  She lives a 10 minute walk from the train and a 5 minute walk from a bus route that each run every 15 minutes and would drop her off closer to her new job than any of the available parking lots.

She got really defensive when I suggested she take transit instead of paying the $400.  "Hmm... that might be fine while the weather is good...I don't want to get sunburned walking to work in July and August... I have to balance the time/money/hassle ratio on all this...I don't want to leave at 7 to get there at 8...I don't want to worry about getting sweaty and stinky..." her complainypants statements just kept coming!  I feel a little bad because I think she texted me looking for sympathy but she doesn't totally grasp a huge life change I have made.  Last year I sold my car and have been walking 10 minutes to the bus or riding 4 miles to work everyday for the last year. Yes we live in Utah, it gets cold and hot and snowy and rainy. That is what clothes and coats and umbrellas are for!! Plus, nobody gets a sunburn walking 0.5 miles before 8 am and after 5 pm.  Did I mention this girl is broke? It makes no sense.

[BigRed]

Anytime you suggest a significant change like that to someone it's going to encounter initial resistance.  People don't generally completely change what they're doing based on a single conversation.  That's not the way humans work. 

You say you have made a similar change.  Talk about the positive things it's done for you.  Over time she'll see the possibilities and let go of the negatives.

[frugalecon]

$400/year for parking? Wow, cry me a river. That is less than $2/day! Not that she shouldn't take the free transit (I receive free transit benefits, which save me a fortune on parking (try $15/day where I work), gas, aggravation, oh, and needing to have a car period), but that is pretty modest. From what you have described, it wouldn't surprise me if she has a daily cafe latte habit. Perhaps giving up one thing like that could offset the parking.

[enigmaT120]

It seems like a lot of people think the same way, and change is impossible to consider.  It makes me wonder what I am considering essential that really isn't.

[Erica/NWEdible]

You could just respond with this:

[GuitarStv]

Talk about the positive things it's done for you.  Over time she'll see the possibilities and let go of the negatives.

+1

Say that you enjoy the fresh air, talk about how much less stress you feel not having to drive through traffic, and focus on the money saved as just a nice side benefit.