shorter commute?

[LAL]

How much more would you value a shorter commute? We rent for $2400 (not sure talking to landlord now if he'll raise it when lease is done next month) now and commuting is 1+ hour driving and probably closer to 1.5 hour public transit.  Moving in would be $3200-3500/month but 30-45 minute driving and 40-50 minutes public transit.

I'm leaning now to moving closer.  It's an area we'll likely buy if it matters but we aren't really ready to buy right now.  But are now willing to spend more to move in closer since we have a better grasp of traffic.

[rubybeth]

If moving closer would mean you could go down to one vehicle, that would also help. I live within and mile of work and it's amazing.

[nereo]

Just thought I'd throw this out there:
http://lifehacker.com/5855550/the-true-cost-of-commuting-you-could-buy-a-house-priced-15900-more-for-each-mile-you-move-closer-to-work

Personally we've guestimated that living close enough to not need a car to commute is worth about $1,000/mo for us. If we needed 2 cars for double-commutes we'd need to earn at least $2k more + fuel costs per monthfor us to feel it was 'worth it'.

[LAL]

We'd likely keep 2 cars so he could go to the park and ride but if it were really close 1 car would be a consideration.  Just the savings in time and costs I was thinking would be worth it. 

Someone suggested telecommuting but it's a new job and I wonder if it's something that is feasible at first?  Just say I don't want to come into work.

[mozar]

At the beginning of a new job is a good time to bring up telework. Say that you are evaluating your commute and you prefer certain days at home. Does anyone else telework? Ask them which days they have and how they asked for it.

[ender]

Just thought I'd throw this out there:
http://lifehacker.com/5855550/the-true-cost-of-commuting-you-could-buy-a-house-priced-15900-more-for-each-mile-you-move-closer-to-work

Ugh that math is so bad and simple. It's good to think about but... ugh.

Your time is only worth money if you can fungibly convert it. Most of us can't at our hourly rate (you can get additional savings for more time though through more DIY/price optimization). And there are other factors than simply time to work that your location affects.

But the general idea is good, just too simplistic.

[LAL]

Maybe but DH loves us and work life balance so moving and paying more is always his vote.  He wants to work but he wants to love what he does, and will take a significant paycut for it.  He'll also pay more to live closer and have a shorter commute. We've done all these things to support our lifestyle we've chosen.  But for once we're in a bind. it's getting to the tipping point where we probably should buy but want to rent just in case. And it's a lot of rent money to be "throwing" away.

He's not interested in retiring and living life on what we have.  He's not interested in retiring early.  He does completely embrace being able to say FU to any job and we can.  But other than that he's not interested in retiring before I think around 50-55.  So we aren't frugal.

[Choices]

30-45 min is still a hefty commute. Could you downsize a bit more and get it down to 10-20 min?  Renting has tons of benefits: less house to clean, less landscaping to maintain, less to heat and cool, no property taxes, not responsible for repairs, etc.

If you're going to pay significantly more to live closer, make sure that the time savings are very significant as well.

[LAL]

Turns out the public transit is closer to 1 to 1.5 hours where we are.  And moving puts us 30-45 minutes. Closer in means not good schools.