Author Topic: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher  (Read 4542 times)

zsmith

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Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« on: November 26, 2014, 05:34:58 PM »
I have a good friend from college, but lately it's harder and harder to relate. She is a school teacher (and really awesome at it). She is bummed about her salary, but so far hasn't looked for other jobs that would pay more. She lives far away from her school because she doesn't want to commute to see her friends. Lives alone. Buys new clothes all the time. Has a car payment and student loans and wonders why she has no money. No savings or anything. She is a great cook so she does pack her lunch a lot. Just a different way of looking at the world to me.

fartface

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2014, 07:11:46 PM »
My friend - recently divorced - is the same way. Now that she's moved out of the house she and her husband shared one hour from her job, I said, "Find a place REALLY close to work."  She said she's going to stay in the same community b/c of her friends.

I said, "WTF. You see your friends once a week COMMUTE to them when you must. You see your JOB every day. Find a place within walking distance."

I even sent her MMM article on 'Curing your Clown Like Car Habit'.

Can't say I didn't try.

"So oftentimes it happens, that we live our lives in chains, And we never even knew we had the key." -Eagles

MoneyCat

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2014, 08:02:47 PM »
I have a friend with a PhD in Geology who was offered a really high paying job that would have required moving to another state.  Instead, he chose to stay where he was because of his friends and he works a job making about 25% of what he would have made from that other job.  Also, he commutes an hour and a half each way to work because he wants to live in the middle of nowhere with his friends and I saw a shutoff notice for his electricity on his coffee table the other day.  There are some men that you just can't reach.

surfhb

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2014, 03:04:14 AM »
I drive 100 miles a day because I want to surf before work.    Worth every penny!

bigalsmith101

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #4 on: November 28, 2014, 05:02:59 PM »
I drive 100 miles a day because I want to surf before work.    Worth every penny!

Man, this is totally irrelevant. You don't commute to the surf break because it pays you your wages that in turn allow you to plan for FI. You also don't complain about the cost of your surfing hobby, as it clearly benefits you.

How close to you live to where you work? I'm guessing that you don't live near the surf break due to the cost of living associated with living on/near the coast (in that area), nor would you want commute 50 miles to a job from where you live. Imagine you got hurt and broke your foot. You can actively choose to NOT surf if you broke your foot, thus eliminating the need to drive 100 miles to enjoy that hobby for the time being. However, you'd still drive to work every day. Thankfully it's not 100 miles round trip to work because you chose to live near the ocean that you can't enjoy with your theoretically busted foot.

I can understand someones need to be near friends and family, but can't accept illogical thinking as an excuse. Commuting to see friends once a week sounds much better than commuting to a job 5 days a week. Most of my friends agree as well.

My wife and I are moving 800 miles away from our home this Sunday for a month, for a contract we'll be working over the holidays. We'll miss Christmas. We almost had to miss Thanksgiving too, but the contract got pushed back a week. Both are very important holidays in her family, however, I'm not willing (nor is my wife) to miss the $4k paycheck that week for Christmas day. However, in the past, this has affected her family ties (mainly her sisters), on other important dates. Oops. Not sorry.




clarkfan1979

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2014, 06:58:35 PM »
I drive 100 miles a day because I want to surf before work.    Worth every penny!

Man, this is totally irrelevant. You don't commute to the surf break because it pays you your wages that in turn allow you to plan for FI. You also don't complain about the cost of your surfing hobby, as it clearly benefits you.

How close to you live to where you work? I'm guessing that you don't live near the surf break due to the cost of living associated with living on/near the coast (in that area), nor would you want commute 50 miles to a job from where you live. Imagine you got hurt and broke your foot. You can actively choose to NOT surf if you broke your foot, thus eliminating the need to drive 100 miles to enjoy that hobby for the time being. However, you'd still drive to work every day. Thankfully it's not 100 miles round trip to work because you chose to live near the ocean that you can't enjoy with your theoretically busted foot.

I can understand someones need to be near friends and family, but can't accept illogical thinking as an excuse. Commuting to see friends once a week sounds much better than commuting to a job 5 days a week. Most of my friends agree as well.

My wife and I are moving 800 miles away from our home this Sunday for a month, for a contract we'll be working over the holidays. We'll miss Christmas. We almost had to miss Thanksgiving too, but the contract got pushed back a week. Both are very important holidays in her family, however, I'm not willing (nor is my wife) to miss the $4k paycheck that week for Christmas day. However, in the past, this has affected her family ties (mainly her sisters), on other important dates. Oops. Not sorry.

It doesn't seem irrelevant to me. If surfing is your hobby it makes sense to live closer to the beach. Assuming your work is 50 miles inland, you don't have to wake up an extra 60-70 minutes early to go surfing in the morning. Yes, commuting to work is 5 days a week. However, when the waves are good it would be easy to exceed surfing more than 5 days a week. In the summer he can surf before and after work and doesn't have to commute to the beach twice. Good for exercise and state of mind.   
« Last Edit: November 28, 2014, 07:00:34 PM by clarkfan1979 »

bigalsmith101

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2014, 03:28:49 AM »
Quote
It doesn't seem irrelevant to me. If surfing is your hobby it makes sense to live closer to the beach. Assuming your work is 50 miles inland, you don't have to wake up an extra 60-70 minutes early to go surfing in the morning. Yes, commuting to work is 5 days a week. However, when the waves are good it would be easy to exceed surfing more than 5 days a week. In the summer he can surf before and after work and doesn't have to commute to the beach twice. Good for exercise and state of mind.   

Rereading my post, it's easy to see where I was misunderstood.

I agree. Surfhb obviously has his priorities in line also, and doesn't bitch about his surf hobby, but is rather happy to acknowledge his vice. Better surfing/exercise/nature than something else less sustainable, that's for sure.

And you make a good point. If you are committed to your sport, then living closer to it may easily be worth the trade off.

surfhb

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Re: Friends spends $500 per month on gas as a teacher
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2014, 10:25:05 PM »
I live a mile from the water.   Believe me......you would have to surf to understand where I'm coming from.    I'm taking years of my FIRE date with a smile 😃

But I have a roommate and I carpool.....That's pretty mustachian!

Btw....surfing is not a hobby nor a sport ;)
« Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 04:44:34 AM by surfhb »