So I just read the below MMM post about embracing hassles to save money. It encouraged me to finally calculate the math of moving and breaking my lease (expires early December).
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/04/24/unleash-your-inner-hasselhoff-for-greater-riches/Using a lot of the math at the bottom of that post, these are my #s...
Currently: 919 Rent + 700 driving = 1619
60 min round trip X 20 working days = 20 hrs/month
20 hrs/month X $25/hr* = $500/month of commuting time
+ driving costs of 20 miles round trip** X 20 working days X .50 = $200 per month of commuting costs
Total: $700/month for commuting
*rough estimate based on MMM's guess of $22/hr after taxes for a 60k salary (I'm at 70k)
**yes, it takes me 30 minutes to drive 10 miles. Why? A bazillion stop lights and no good highway alternative.
New #1 WALK 1 MILE: 1005 + (breaking lease 919 + 250 fees divided by new 12 month lease = 97) + 100 = 1202
The walk will be enjoyable, so no cost of commuting time. Obviously no driving costs. Washer and dryer included.
Estimating I would drive 1 day a week for bad weather or needing to do errands quickly at lunch or go somewhere after work. I'm going to call this $100.
New #2 WALK/BIKE 2 MILES: 935 + (919 + 175 fees + 200 washer/dryer divided by 12 = 108) + 100 = 1143
Same as above, no costs other than 100 for driving occasionally.
New #3 BIKE 5 MILES: 803 + 112 + 100 = 1015
Same as above, no costs other than 100 for driving occasionally.
The result of the maths looks like I would save anywhere between 417 and 604 each month, so obviously the earlier I moved the more I would save. If I moved next month, that would be 6 months of savings, or around 3k. Is there anything I missed? Incorrect calculations? I spread the one-time costs (breaking lease, fees, washer and dryer) over 12 months. There's a decent chance I would be there for more than one lease if the place was acceptable, so those one-time costs would spread out even further. I wouldn't work more if I had a shorter commute, but I do value that time driving at about the same rate as I make at work. Even if I spent the same amount of time biking/walking (one hour a day), I wouldn't consider that a time cost, as the time is spent doing exercise and enjoying the ride. I don't like driving and I don't really want to debate that commuting time cost ($ value of not driving and saving time). Options 1/2/3 each have a few alternatives in the same neighborhood that are slightly more expensive, so I picked the cheapest one for each group.
Other factors...My work is moving locations to a nice area. Obviously, the closer I live to that area, the more $. I acquired a free POS mountain bike and I'm a complete biking noob. The further away (#3) areas get progressively shady, but I'd still call it a medium quality apt and area. I've been waiting to move offices before seriously considering moving apts. We are moving offices at the end of the month. I have to give my current apt 30 day notice that I'm leaving. I currently get a washer and dryer included in my rent. These are not in most apts, so if I moved to one without, I'd need to buy a used w+d, cruised CL and estimated 200 total. Cable and internet is paid to my apt as a part of my lease (additional 88); pretty good deal. When I move I'll have to set those up on my own and the cost would be around or a little more than 88 (considering no cable or cheaper Sling/YouTube TV/whatever). I didn't consider that cost as it's too hard to guess right now. Not cost related, but I live on the first floor and am tired of listening to the above loud af family and their kid. Oh, and the loud af barking chihuahuas on the third floor.
Main ?s: how do ya'll calculate the value of living closer to work? Similar to MMM's math that I used above? Which option above would you prefer? Is the hassle of moving too much to pay for breaking the lease? Would you just wait until December?