Poll

For a twenty percent raise, what is the longest *additional* commute would you accept?

>60 minute increase
1 (3.1%)
>30 minute increase
4 (12.5%)
>15 minute increase
13 (40.6%)
<15 minute increase
14 (43.8%)

Total Members Voted: 32

Author Topic: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?  (Read 2243 times)

obstinate

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I’m trying to think about the value of moving further from work from a different angle. Because of the extremes of housing cost in my area, I could effectively get a 20% raise by moving 15 minutes further from work. The commute would be by train rather than by foot. I could phrase this in terms of housing costs, but I think it’s useful to reverse the effect and think of it as an increase in income. I’m curious what everyone else thinks.

Laserjet3051

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2019, 04:57:21 PM »
I would do it in a heartbeat. However, where I live, an extra 15 min commute means I would only be moving 2 miles away (given the usual rush hour gridlock). In this case ,houseing prices do not change one iota 2 miles away from where I live now.

obstinate

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2019, 05:06:43 PM »
In my particular case, we are talking about the difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn. But I am curious what people would do in the hypothetical.

Cranky

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2019, 05:07:48 PM »
20% of what, and 15 minutes longer than what?

I guess I can be bought, but it has to be pretty significant.

robartsd

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2019, 05:10:29 PM »
My current commute is typically averages about 40 minutes by bike or bus (including changing for bike and walking to and waiting for bus). At 40 minutes each way, a typical 8 hour workday with a lunch break has me away from home for about 10 hours. Treating this as a simple trading of time for money, I would be getting about the same money for the time if my commute increased by 1 hour each way. Of course, I already get enough money and feel pressed for time, so simply trading 20% more time for 20% more money would be a bad deal. I think adding about 30 minutes to my commute would be marginally worthwhile for a 20% raise.

BicycleB

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2019, 05:13:43 PM »
Supposing an 8 hour work day, the question reads would I accept a 6.25% increase in hours to get a 20% raise. Sure!

At 30 minutes (12.5%) the calculus begins to include value of free time, the question of whether the commute time can be used for something, the question of whether I'd rather get better at my job by working on the job instead of wasting time in a commute, etc. At 30 minutes I might say yes grudgingly, 45 min probably no.

I'd also consider the impact of the "raise" (the savings from lower cost) on my time to FIRE. I suspect that perspective leads to "Yes", too.

Brother Esau

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2019, 05:25:25 PM »
My gut reaction is always to reduce commute time. However, I know several folks that commute by train to their jobs and they say they like it because they can chill and do work/social stuff while on the train. I guess it's better than sitting in a car in traffic.

Tuskalusa

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2019, 05:28:20 PM »
I turned down a huge raise because the commute was one hour each way. I’ll stick with my 15 minute commute and keep my life low key and simple.

obstinate

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2019, 05:30:54 PM »
20% of what, and 15 minutes longer than what?

I guess I can be bought, but it has to be pretty significant.
20% increase in your current salary. 15 minutes longer than your current commute, whatever that is.

I'm a red panda

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2019, 05:31:41 PM »
20% of what?
If I'm making minimum wage, probably no.
If I'm making 100k, sure, I'd add 15 minutes for 20%.


Current salary, current commute, yes, I'd do it.
Heck, I added 5 minutes and lost $13k when I added daycare last year...
« Last Edit: January 04, 2019, 05:33:24 PM by I'm a red panda »

Laserjet3051

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2019, 05:53:21 PM »
In my particular case, we are talking about the difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn. But I am curious what people would do in the hypothetical.

I commuted from Brooklyn to Manhattan for years. 15 min extra on the F train? no problem

obstinate

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2019, 06:43:34 PM »
In my particular case, we are talking about the difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn. But I am curious what people would do in the hypothetical.

I commuted from Brooklyn to Manhattan for years. 15 min extra on the F train? no problem
That's more or less what we're talking about, although it might be 123 or ACE. I currently live in Chelsea. The extra commute time would pay back on the order of hundreds of effective pre-tax dollars per hour (probably a 3x multiple on our "hourly" rate, although we are salaried). For the first few years we lived here, I wanted to be on Manhattan. But I'm finding that we don't really do Manhattan stuff (eat out, shop, go to shows) all that often. In fact, we might do more of those things if we had all that extra money in our pockets that would be saved by taking on a slightly larger commute while keeping our accommodations and school district quality roughly the same.

I have some time to think about this, fortunately. Our lease is not up until August. But it came across my mind lately as something we need to decide on some time in the next three to four months so we can start pounding the pavement to find a good option out there.

BikeLover

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2019, 01:46:11 AM »
I voted more than 30 minutes, but that is only for a commute by bicycle, as I love biking and it has a lot of health and other benefits. By car it would be a max of 15 minutes for me.

JLee

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Re: If you could get a 20% raise by accepting a longer commute, would you?
« Reply #13 on: January 05, 2019, 08:02:53 AM »
The commute time would end up effectively getting paid at over triple my hourly rate, so I'd do another 15 minutes in a heartbeat.