The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: The Wire on November 09, 2015, 01:54:05 PM
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So my landlord increased my rent putting me now within price range of some other apartments closer to work. My current daily commute round trip is 30 mins at 8 miles and the new place would be 6 mins at 2 miles. So simply put on a monthly basis I will save 8 hours in time driving and 120 miles on my car. My car is old and reliable so depreciation is almost a non-factor so it’s mostly just gas and maintenance.
I’m not sure if moving even makes sense and it’s better to bite the bullet on the rent increase since
- The rent is still $200 cheaper
- By moving I put an extra risk on yet another security deposit.(meaning I have to get my current one back and then at some point in the future my new places security deposit check back.
- Current place is a ‘cooler’ spot. Walking distance to bars/restaurants. The new place is a cookie cutter apartment community(high rated though)
- The current place has no noise from neighbors do to the unquie setup of it being attached to another building(meaning nobody above me or to the sides. I risk this in the new one apartment.
- Time/risk/money spent moving. Don't have much stuff but will need to rent small moving truck for things. High risk item like plasma tv is very risky in transportation compared to other tvs
In summary moving is a pain
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Start riding your bike the 8 miles to work. Sell the plasma TV (and cancel cable if you still have it).
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I am not a fan of moving, so I'd stay (plus $200 is substantial).
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8 miles is not that far. If you like your place, then stay.
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I would kill for an 8 mile commute; I would ride my bike every day that wasn't covered in ice and snow.
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Start riding your bike the 8 miles to work. Sell the plasma TV (and cancel cable if you still have it).
Road is too dangerous to ride a bike.
Not selling the TV if I'm staying put.
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Start riding your bike the 8 miles to work. Sell the plasma TV (and cancel cable if you still have it).
Road is too dangerous to ride a bike.
Is that true for every possible route? (Be honest, because it almost certainly isn't.)
If so, move, but move to an apartment that is bikeable but that doesn't cost more in rent than you're paying now.
Also, just to clarify: we're talking about an 8-mile round-trip commute (so 4 miles each way), right?
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Start riding your bike the 8 miles to work. Sell the plasma TV (and cancel cable if you still have it).
Road is too dangerous to ride a bike.
Is that true for every possible route? (Be honest, because it almost certainly isn't.)
If so, move, but move to an apartment that is bikeable but that doesn't cost more in rent than you're paying now.
Also, just to clarify: we're talking about an 8-mile round-trip commute (so 4 miles each way), right?
Yes, right now it's 4 miles each way. New place would be 1 mile each way.
There was already a girl killed at my company not long ago and her bike ride was much less than 4 miles(probably less than 2). It just takes one driver to swerve on the side for just a second and you are either dead or never walking again. If you bike ride every day for a few years on this road your chances creep up too much IMO on getting killed or seriously hurt.
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Well, it depends what kind of gas mileage you get and how much you value your time, but lets assume a fuel-efficient car and say $0.20/mile in gas, and $20/hr for your time. In that case, living closer saves you (8 hrs X $20/hr) + (120 miles X $0.20/mi) = $184, or a little less than the extra $200/month. If you consider your time to be worth more, you might come out ahead by moving, but you also have to factor in that you like your apartment and your neighborhood and the costs of the move itself (renting a truck, the time you'll spend packing & unpacking, potential property damage, etc).
I'd say you're probably better off staying put.
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Start riding your bike the 8 miles to work. Sell the plasma TV (and cancel cable if you still have it).
Road is too dangerous to ride a bike.
Is that true for every possible route? (Be honest, because it almost certainly isn't.)
If so, move, but move to an apartment that is bikeable but that doesn't cost more in rent than you're paying now.
Also, just to clarify: we're talking about an 8-mile round-trip commute (so 4 miles each way), right?
Some places just aren't bike friendly...
My commute via car, according to Google:
6.8 miles, 14min
My commute via bike, according to Google:
14.9 miles, 1hr 28min
:(
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My commute via bike, according to Google:
14.9 miles, 1hr 28min
:(
Google maps are full of shit wrt to bike speed. Have you actually timed a ride?
My commute's 11 miles each way, and google maps predicts an hour and five minutes. I usually do it in just over 40 minutes door to door. It took an hour once, but it was in the winter . . . was snowing heavily . . . and I had 60 kph headwinds to fight. :P
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Honestly you should just stay. I am sure some mustachians would freak out but an 8 mile commute to work is pretty good and it seems like your apt is pretty good and cheaper.
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Well, it depends what kind of gas mileage you get and how much you value your time, but lets assume a fuel-efficient car and say $0.20/mile in gas, and $20/hr for your time. In that case, living closer saves you (8 hrs X $20/hr) + (120 miles X $0.20/mi) = $184, or a little less than the extra $200/month. If you consider your time to be worth more, you might come out ahead by moving, but you also have to factor in that you like your apartment and your neighborhood and the costs of the move itself (renting a truck, the time you'll spend packing & unpacking, potential property damage, etc).
I'd say you're probably better off staying put.
Yes this is pretty much what I calculated as well. I think my figure was exactly $195 ($11 Gas + $160 Personal Time + $24 Misc car maintenance). Logically you are right, staying put makes more sense. The place I am at is extremely hard to come by in my town(own parking spot). I guess I was really annoyed that my landlord raised my rent and that prompted me to want to get the heck out. Considering I always pay my rent early and almost never call him for maintenance.
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Yeah 4 miles each way isn't too bad. I reckon stay... and lobby for better bike infrastructure in your area :)
No viable public transport options?
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No viable public transport options?
Nothing that would be close to logical. This is the US suburbs which means they expect every human to drive.
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I would rather stay in a real neighborhood than move to a more-expensive cookie-cutter development, even if it keeps your commute time higher. I take public transit to work and it takes over 30 minutes on the train, so the time doesn't seem killer to me. Plus you can listen to NPR or audio books.
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There was already a girl killed at my company not long ago and her bike ride was much less than 4 miles(probably less than 2). It just takes one driver to swerve on the side for just a second and you are either dead or never walking again. If you bike ride every day for a few years on this road your chances creep up too much IMO on getting killed or seriously hurt.
The distance is irrelevant; what matters is the character of the roads. Is there not a longer-distance "back way" you can take that avoids the danger?
Also, it sounds like you might be dwelling too much on one incident. How do you know it was an indication of actual (statistically-significant) danger and not just a freak accident?
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I'd move.
Moving is a one or two days of pain.
Commuting 30 min a day adds up to 120 hrs time spent in commuting per year.
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So the new place would cost $200 per month more than where you currently are? Since you are already there I would not move because, to me, the hassle of moving doesn't make it worth it.
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Don't underestimate the noise factor. It sounds like you have a pretty great setup right now, and based on the responses so far, the cost / benefit of moving is mostly a wash. DW and I love our current apartment, except for one thing: noise from our upstairs neighbors. It's something that annoys us every single day. At the very least, I'd try to spend some time in the new apartment (when your potential neighbors are around!) to get a feel for what a normal day would be like.
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If it would really cut 48 minutes/day out of your commute, that's something like 190 hours/year you would save. That's 7.6 entire days each year. But, if you find any enjoyment in your commute, maybe that doesn't matter. It's obviously different for different people.
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Move - one mile commute means you can do it in 20 minutes walking (without even having to walk quickly)!
I really hope you are not talking about starting your car to drive one mile and stop it - it is not good for the car.
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There was already a girl killed at my company not long ago and her bike ride was much less than 4 miles(probably less than 2). It just takes one driver to swerve on the side for just a second and you are either dead or never walking again. If you bike ride every day for a few years on this road your chances creep up too much IMO on getting killed or seriously hurt.
The distance is irrelevant; what matters is the character of the roads. Is there not a longer-distance "back way" you can take that avoids the danger?
No. There is only 2 roads from my direction. There is a major 4 lane road that separates this all so there isn't backroads that lead across. I need to stress there aren't real shoulders for most of this commute and would involve crossing a dangerous intersection.
Also, it sounds like you might be dwelling too much on one incident. How do you know it was an indication of actual (statistically-significant) danger and not just a freak accident?
The girl who got killed probably had the safest commute IF you were to ride a bike to my work which is probably why she did it for a few years. Thats why I mentioned that one incident. If she rode her bike one time and got killed that would be a freak accident. If you do it everyday then it starts to become less and less of a freak accident.
I personally wouldn’t have done it even where she lived since I err on the side of caution when it comes to high risk things like my life. You couldn’t pay me to ride a bike to work where I am now.
I have no idea what the statistics are since so little people ride bikes on these roads. Once in a while I see people do it and I shake my head as I am force to swerve my car to avoid hitting them.
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Can you post a google map route for where you would be bike commuting? There are a number of experienced commuters here who might be able to help you find a better route.
Side note - Why are you driving in such a reckless manner that you need to swerve to avoid hitting someone on a bike?
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Based on what you described I think you should say. You have a few things in your factor
1. Rent is still $200 cheaper
2. Place is cooler
3. Your place is a known, whereas this other place isn't. For all you know, your new place could have the worst landlord, crappy neighbors and the like. Yes I know the odds are low, but if you are currently happy at your place...
4. You are already living there, no need to pack up and move
5. Since you aren't biking, the distance isn't a big of a deal at least to me
Any chance you could negotiate your with your landlord? As it stands, he/she is going to increase rent. Could you bring up that
a. You are a good tenant (I'm assuming this)
b. If I move out, then you will have to find someone else which can take time and vacancy means lost money
c. That new tenant might be a disaster
Who knows, they may still raise rent, but maybe not as much. I know a few people that have lived at the same place for 6 years and not have their rent change because they are perfect tenants and the owner doesn't want to risk losing them or having new tenants that are a pain.
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Can you post a google map route for where you would be bike commuting? There are a number of experienced commuters here who might be able to help you find a better route.
Side note - Why are you driving in such a reckless manner that you need to swerve to avoid hitting someone on a bike?
I appreciate the help but I'm not going to ride a bike either way so I don't want to get down that path(no pun intended).
Why would you assume i am driving reckless? Speed limit is 40 mph and when you go over a hill and then you come down if there is someone riding a bike partially in the car lane you need to swerve to make sure you give them enough room.
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Yes, right now it's 4 miles each way. New place would be 1 mile each way.
There was already a girl killed at my company not long ago and her bike ride was much less than 4 miles(probably less than 2). It just takes one driver to swerve on the side for just a second and you are either dead or never walking again. If you bike ride every day for a few years on this road your chances creep up too much IMO on getting killed or seriously hurt.
For this, I would stay, but I hate moving.
I like riding my bike to work, but even in my bike-friendly location, I have several friends who have been hit. This is in an area with a lot of bike lanes.
I grew up in a rural area, and I'm very familiar with areas that are "suburbs" with 40-55 mph speed limits and no shoulders. I would not ride my bike to work in either of those areas.
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Based on what you described I think you should say. You have a few things in your factor
1. Rent is still $200 cheaper
2. Place is cooler
3. Your place is a known, whereas this other place isn't. For all you know, your new place could have the worst landlord, crappy neighbors and the like. Yes I know the odds are low, but if you are currently happy at your place...
4. You are already living there, no need to pack up and move
5. Since you aren't biking, the distance isn't a big of a deal at least to me
Any chance you could negotiate your with your landlord? As it stands, he/she is going to increase rent. Could you bring up that
a. You are a good tenant (I'm assuming this)
b. If I move out, then you will have to find someone else which can take time and vacancy means lost money
c. That new tenant might be a disaster
Who knows, they may still raise rent, but maybe not as much. I know a few people that have lived at the same place for 6 years and not have their rent change because they are perfect tenants and the owner doesn't want to risk losing them or having new tenants that are a pain.
I agree on all points. The new place is rated extremely high for a community but you are right in that I still don’t know my neighbors.
Yes I am a good tenant. Rent is always early and I rarely call him for anything that needs to be fixed. I think it’s been over a year since I contacted him about anything. It’s basically a maintenance free place except when I pointed out major things like the roof starting to leak.
I think my biggest thing at this point is he wants me to sign a 2 year lease term to freeze the rate which I don’t like. I am currently on a month to month since my original lease was for 1 year and that was a few years ago. I don’t think he would raise it within the next 2 years honestly so signing a 2 year lease at this point doesn’t logically make sense to me especially given the unstable job market(my job is pretty stable but you never know).
Ideally I would keep the month to month as it’s the least commitment and gives me a chance to get into another apartment if one happens to open up. It’s basically impossible to get a good apartment when your lease is up since you have a limited time window…I would need months of searching and waiting for a better one to open up in order to move which the month to month option gives me. 2 years seems stupid since I don’t think he wants to risk losing me by raising it again. His last tenant was so bad he let him out of his lease early just so he didn’t have to deal with him.
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I'm not sure why people put a monetary value on time spent commuting unless the commuter is missing out on paying work opportunities, or is spending extra money on things like food because of the lost time. Yes, long commutes do waste time and do cost money in extra miles driven if you take a car.
I work a salaried job so I can't work more hours for more pay. I value my commuting time at zero dollars per hour. If I reduced my commuting by moving I don't gain or lose any actual cash for the time gained. I do save money on miles driven. I am currently thinking hard about commuting via bus to save on driving expenses, but it will actually lengthen my commute time due a transfer. Nobody talks about monetary costs for extra time taken when commuting by bike, but biking is mustachian so I guess that doesn't count. (Yes, I understand biking increases fitness.)
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Yes, right now it's 4 miles each way. New place would be 1 mile each way.
There was already a girl killed at my company not long ago and her bike ride was much less than 4 miles(probably less than 2). It just takes one driver to swerve on the side for just a second and you are either dead or never walking again. If you bike ride every day for a few years on this road your chances creep up too much IMO on getting killed or seriously hurt.
I'm very familiar with areas that are "suburbs" with 40-55 mph speed limits and no shoulders. I would not ride my bike to work in either of those areas.
Yes you understand exactly what I am talking about. Biking is not an option for me even if I was paid for it. I'm not going to do it voluntarily on roads that are not designed for bikes.