Did ditching your commute improve your life overall?

[Anonymous]

I have a two hour total commute every work day. I hate it in general, but especially so in the winter, when traffic is horrendous, or when I have something going on in my personal life after work and I just want to be home. I also hate the money I spend on gas every month.

I have the opportunity to take a job that’s 5 minutes from home. The caveat is that I’d be taking an initial pay cut, which would involve some minor spending changes (in the area of $1000 a month), but would also be offset slightly by the savings in gas (around $250 a month.)

In my mind I feel I’m willing to make these changes because I’m currently spending all of my waking hours either at work, or driving to/from work. But then I wonder, will gaining those 2 hours (or more, when there is weather, traffic, etc.) truly make me happier overall?

So please be honest with me and tell me if ditching your commute truly made you happier overall, and why.

[Anonymous]

Several studies have shown the enormous link between a short commute and happiness. And, unlike other things like money, where your happiness goes up temporarily and then goes back to baseline, a shorter commute has a long term impact on your happiness.

https://lifehacker.com/ditching-your-commute-is-the-happiness-equivalent-of-a-1679698849

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/commute-times-unhappiness-carpooling-productivity.html

[Anonymous]

is 1000/month before tax or after tax?

[Anonymous]

100%. I had an easy commute— 35 mins walking and metro but doing wfh has given me that time back and I exercise and make dinner and other things.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I used to commute about an hour each way, then went to 25 minutes each way and now work full time at home. It's a total game changer. Everything is less hectic, you are getting two hours to do whatever you want to do - whether that is not totally rush making dinner or reading a book or working out or whatever. Five minutes seems ideal because it's actually nice to have some transition time between the workday and home, which you have to fake if you work from home.

The field I work in has many large clients in the metro area where I live but they are in the distant suburbs and I refuse to commute again in any meaningful way. It wasn't a huge deal when I was doing it but now I see how much better my life is without that car time.

[Anonymous]

PP here - I didn't do a good job explaining the clients in the area. I get headhunted on the regular but won't even consider because of the commute. I've also found I drop in at things at my kids' schools occasionally that I wouldn't have been able to do if I was an hour out.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t taken a pay ct, but drastically downsized my house (which also increased my mortgage so sort of a pay cut) for a very short commute. 100% worth it. Especially if you have kids. Once you no longer have the stress of a commute looming over you, you’ll feel a weight lifted. I remember just waking up in the morning and dreading bad weather, an accident, etc. The drive home was a slog. It felt like the entire day was taken up by my job or commuting to it and I only had to do it 2-3x/week so I can’t even imagine 5 days.

You’re talking about getting back 10 hours of time per week. X 4 weeks per month that is like an entire extra work week back. X 12 months = nearly 3 months of personal time back only at the cost of 12k/year. You are with that OP.

[Anonymous]

*worth that

[Anonymous]

Yes. And in my case I saved a lot of money including in paying “convenience taxes” that weren’t obvious when I initially reviewed the budget.

[Anonymous]

Very worth it, especially if there's opportunity for growth.

You'll save on gas, and you'll have 2 more hours in your day, every day. You could pick up a side gig and recoup that easily in a month, or use that time to work on your health, or do any number of things.

[Anonymous]

I would do this in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

I used to metro from Falls Church to DC- an hour because I still had to walk a mile from the metro to work.

I got a new job 7 minutes from my house and it truly was life changing. I don't think I could have had kids having to metro to work. I had fears about going into labor at work downtown. How would I pick up sick kids from school? Attend parent teacher conferences? My kids would have been in aftercare until like 6pm every night. Driving to work and parking is the best.

I bet your salary will increase every year, so I'd take the job.

[Anonymous]

I never wanted a commute so bought a house within a 10 minute walk of my job. The house was considerably more expensive and smaller than what I could have gotten in the suburbs, but it has been totally worth it. I have been at my job for 30 years. My office moved 15 years ago, but still within a 15-minute walk. My office moved again 2 years ago and now I have to walk to metro and metro downtown. But still only a 30-minute one way commute. I feel very fortunate but I purposely made trade-offs in my home location. I couldn't be happier with my decision.

[Anonymous]

An extra $1000 a month is less than $50 of pay per workday. Your time isn't free. Is that 2 hours a day in the car worth $50 of your time?

We ended up moving to get a shorter commute, and while the house was far more expensive, our quality of life increased dramatically.

[Anonymous]

Oh yes. I go for an hour-long walk each morning before work the four days I work from home. Then I get in, grab a bottle of water, and rehydrate while I check email in my sweaty clothes. Also, when I finish work at the end of the day, I have energy to do things. But on the one day I go to the office when I get home I'm exhausted and just collapse on the couch to decompress (introvert).