Months ago, I was inspired the MMM's true cost of commuting article which made me realize how stupid my long daily commute was. Since I like my home, and my husband already had a 3 mile commute, I started looking for jobs in our area. It took several months, but now I've finally settled in my new job and would like to share the improvements.
Old Job New job
Commute/day 60 miles 7 miles
Cost of commute ($.34/mi) $20.40 $2.38
Hours working/week 45 hours 35 hours
Hours commuting/week 7.5 hours 1.75 hours (longer if by bike)
Total dollars/year $5100 $400
Total work hours/year 2625 hours 1764 hours
So it appears that I will be saving $4700 in theoretical car related costs (more if biking) each year with this new job. However, the real benefit in my opinion is the time saved. I will be gaining 861 hours each year that I used to spend working/commuting, which is like an entire month! My true hourly rate has now increased by 60% as a result, even though my annual salary is nearly the same.
I have biked to work several times so far, even though I'm a very fair weather bike commuter at the moment. It increases my commute to about 1 hour per day, to allow for additional time cleaning up a bit at work.
There is a big caveat with the new job: it will be a 3rd shift (night position), which is obviously undesirable for many people. However, this position will allow me to only work 7 x 10 hour days every 2 weeks, which will give me every other week off.
