Long commute for free housing, good trade-off?

[jodon]

My family has recently been given an opportunity to live rent free on a farm in exchange for about 3 hours of work a week. The problem is that the farm is outside of town, and moving there would turn my current 4.5 mile bike commute into a 19 mile commute. Some details: I am a grad student in the final year (or two) of my Ph.D. My primary income is from freelance web-design and technical writing work.  My wife stays at home with our 3 year old son and has a budding photography business on the side. We currently pay $850 a month for a small house that has a decent-sized yard for the boy and dog. We've been here for four years. The location is great: I can easily bike to campus, the grocery store, farmers market, playgrounds, friends, downtown entertainment, etc. The only problem with the house is excessive utility bills due primarily to poor insulation and an undersized HVAC unit. We've paid bills as high as $375 to keep the 1000 sq. ft. house cooled to 78 degrees in the Florida summers. Our average bill is $260 (this includes electricity, water, waste water, and trash collection). We have a single car ('02 Honda Cr-v) that is paid off. Our gross income this year will be ~$40k.

We've been offered a 1500 sq ft barn apartment on a 25-acre farm with horses, ponies, goats, blackberries, and grapes in an idyllic rural setting. We'd like to move there because we think it would be great for the boy, and we'd like to simplify and slow down a little. My wife and I have always wanted to live on a small house with some land so we could have a nice garden and maybe some chickens and goats. This seems like a good opportunity for a dry run. Also, did I mention it's free? We would still have to pay for internet and electricity (which we're told peaks at $150/month) though.

At first I thought this was a no-brainer, but after reading "The True Cost of Commuting" I'm not so sure. I'm done taking classes so I don't technically have to be on campus every day (although my adviser does prefer me to show my face in the lab regularly). But even if I don't commute to campus daily, we will still be driving into town pretty regularly for groceries and to visit friends/family. And it seems we would probably need to buy a second car so that I don't leave my wife stranded when I do go to campus. So my question is, does this sound like a beneficial trade-off or are we better off staying put and paying rent in a central location? Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated!!!

[Emg03063]

It sounds like a beneficial trade off to me.  You didn't mention if your commuting distance was round trip or one way, but even a 19 mi each way commute 250 days/ yr at $.50/mi is only $4,750, which is less than half of what you're paying for rent, and you should be able to hack that down to <$2k with an appropriately selected car (or motorcycle).  19 mi is also a very ebike-able commuting range if roads are conducive, so financially, this sounds like a winner, but ofc that's not the only consideration.  How's traffic between the proposed place and your town?  If it were me, I'd go for it.  Maybe put a gas engine on my bicycle for about $200 and enjoy a 300mpg commute in <30 min.

[jodon]

19 miles each way,  38 round trip. But $4,750 per year commuting cost doesn't factor in the purchase price of a second vehicle,  the lost time (although I'm not this applies since many of my working hours are unpaid writing/research), or additional driving my wife may do to get into town...

Financially it may be a wash... unless I suck it up and admit that we don't need a second car if I bike my ass 38 miles to campus and back 2-3 times a week.

[Gin1984]

19 miles each way,  38 round trip. But $4,750 per year commuting cost doesn't factor in the purchase price of a second vehicle,  the lost time (although I'm not this applies since many of my working hours are unpaid writing/research), or additional driving my wife may do to get into town...

Financially it may be a wash... unless I suck it up and admit that we don't need a second car if I bike my ass 38 miles to campus and back 2-3 times a week.

Can you get a scooter?

[dilinger]

Any chance you can bike part of the way, and then take a rideshare/pub transit/cheap taxi/etc the rest of the way?  10mi each way is a perfectly doable ride; hitch a cheap ride on a bus/train/whatever the rest of the way, and you should be fine without a second car.  Plus, you'd be getting *more* exercise than your current bike ride.   Alternatively, maybe your wife is heading in the same general direction, and can drive you part of the way?

If you prefered the urban setting, I would immediately nix the idea. However, given that your family wants to be on the farm, and transportation is the only sticking point.. I bet you can figure something out.

[Emg03063]

$4,750 includes the capital cost of ownership of a typical American (non-Mustachian) vehicle at $0.50/mi.  (That's ((purchase price+finance charges- resale price)/years of ownership) aka depreciation.  You should be able to hold your full cost to $0.20/mi with the selection of an appropriately Mustachian vehicle and a little luck, keeping your cost closer to $2k/yr.  It doesn't factor in the value of your time, which is certainly worth something, but how much longer does it take to drive those 19 mi than to bike 4.5?  Like I said, if the roads are bike conducive, and you're halfway mechanically inclined (or willing to learn), you could toss one of these on your bike http://www.bikemotorkit.com/?gclid=CKmHken3k74CFYcDOgodyDQAkA, and your annual commuting cost would be about $250/yr (2.3 cents/mi for fuel; less if you pedal), or add a battery trailer and an electric motor with a bionic controller if you're not a fan of 2 cycle engine noise.  The benefit of gas is higher speed potential.  Scooters, mopeds, motorcycles, carpools, and public transportation will all put you money ahead of that $2,000/yr estimate.  Financially, this is a no-brainer.  The only question is do you really want to live that far out from your social life?

[former player]

How firm is that "about three hours a week" of work? 25 acres with horses, ponies and goats takes a great deal more looking after than just 3 hours a week.

Currently your wife and you have on your plate -
*a PhD,
*a primary income source of web design and technical writing,
*a secondary income source/new business of photography, and
*full-time care of a child.

You are looking at adding to this -
*a nice garden (takes a lot of time, particularly if you are establishing it from scratch and/or growing fruit and veg)
*chickens and goats, and
*a regular 19 mile commute.

So I'm not so concerned about the finances here, which don't look to be much different, but about the additional demands on your time.  Personally, I'd suggest try to complete the PhD first.  Any chance you could negotiate for this opportunity to be open to you when you have finished the PhD?

[macarose]

Florida is a cheap car capitol. Buy a well kept unpopular $2500 car and you should be fine.

Second, does your partner want to handle the goats and garden?

19 miles of commuting is not hard at all. However, if your bills are already high at your current place, I would encourage a look at last summer's utility bills. I think there is a thing or two you're not being told about.

[jodon]

How firm is that "about three hours a week" of work? 25 acres with horses, ponies and goats takes a great deal more looking after than just 3 hours a week.

Three hours a week is probably an underestimate. They don't need help every day, only when they travel to their other house every other weekend. The animal care (my wife is the animal expert and would be handling this) involves feeding and moving them between pastures in the morning and evening. They also need some help with mowing. So the total work probably averages more like 5-6 hours per week.

Your point about the extra load on our time is well taken.

[SunshineGirl]

Can't you just keep doing what you're doing and do weekends at the farm?