My lease and parking are up for renewal, which led me to re-do the math on the worthiness of my commute. Trying to get some outside opinions on if this longer commute is worth the savings. There's a TLDR at the bottom because I gave a lot of unnecessary extra information but let me know if there's anything I may have left out.
For some background, I am 24 and work in finance making 79k. I have no debt, a 15k emergency fund, and I max my Roth + 401k + HSA. Because I save so much, things are a little tight but not completely uncomfortably so. For example: I just got back from a vacation with my friends that I saved for, but I cook all my meals and only eat out when with the boyfriend. So I'm not deprived but my budget is very tight and all non-emergencies must be budgeted for to afford them.
Current Living Situation:
I currently live outside DC in a studio apartment paying ~$1500/month (rent+utilities) and $85/month for parking. This is the first time I've lived alone and it is so nice. I'm a bit neurotic (horrible morning person, and I hate excess noise) so I've definitely become accustomed to living alone, but I recognize that this is a luxury and my biggest expense. If I was going to cut back, this would be where it would be.
However, my commute is only 20 minutes each way and while I can't take public transit into work, I am close enough to it that I can visit my friend in the city occasionally. I wake up at 5:15, go to the gym at my work, then I'm at my desk by 7. I leave around 4:30-5 (but I have flexible working hours so I can basically go and come as I please). My situations really nice right now, I just feel like I am wasting a lot of money on this rent.
As a side note, Amazon just decided to move in here so its possible my rent may skyrocket very soon. Also a concern.
Potential Living Situation:
I could move-in with my boyfriend of 5 years who lives and works in Maryland. We've wanted to for a while, but the problem is that if we moved in together our commutes would become very hard (darn you, DC traffic).
I get up early enough to avoid morning rush, so I would drive 45 minutes in the morning (which I've been doing Monday and Friday mornings for a long time and its fine). But the afternoon is terrible, even if I leave as early as 3. I'd probably wait until 6 most days to leave, and it would take around an 1.5 to 2 hours each day.
However, I'd be saving a ton of money all together. He lives in a much lower cost of living area. On just rent and parking alone (and accounting for the gas I'd need) I'd be saving just under 10k a year. Wowzers.
Second Alternative:
I could try to find a roommate around my current area. This is not as economical as moving in with the boyfriend since rent around here is much more expensive. I'd estimate I could save about 4k a year if I moved in with a roommate. I did this calculation when I first moved to the area and decided that since I was being so frugal in other areas, it was worth it to me to spend more to live alone. But it also probably didn't help that I couldn't find a good roommate in my time frame back then.
TLDR: I currently have a 20 min commute each way but I pay $1585/month. I could have a 140-170 min commute (50 minutes there, an hour and a half to two hours back) but pay $700/month. Resulting in savings of just about 10k a year for the commute. Is it worth it?
Submitted November 20, 2018 at 09:30AM by thawowtso https://ift.tt/2FuFnKw
