Author Topic: Commute question: Is a 1.5 hour commute (1 way) worth it?  (Read 64906 times)

Melody

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Re: Commute question: Is a 1.5 hour commute (1 way) worth it?
« Reply #50 on: February 14, 2014, 11:05:54 PM »
IMHO $100K in order to avoid a 1.5 hour commute is a bargain. Here's why:
-You anticipate to work for an additional 8 years. Assuming your train ticket is $10/day, 4 days a  week, 50 weeks of the year that's $2000 extra in transport costs each year. I'm assuming you can borrow $100K at 3% rate - so you pay an extra $3000 in interest but save $2000 in transport costs . So you only save $1000 /year - 2 hours a day of commuting for a year and it looks like you are only valuing your time at $2.50 an hour. (And every year the equation tips further towards buying the city house, as your principal is paid down, interest expense is decreased and train tickets go up) I would challenge you to spend the extra $100k, find a way to make up that $1000/year from your budget by using some of your time on a side hussle - almost any side hussle will net you more than $2.50 an hour (or just work a small amount of useful, process improvement targeted overtime to increase your bonus/pay grade.) Then at year 8, sell up and leave the city (so you can pay off that outstanding $100k on the loan).