Would you Drive an extra hour+ a day for an $10K a year more

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Jan 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: BigJ
That'd be what, approximately 60 miles extra per day?

So that's 300 miles per week, or 15,000 extra miles per year.

The average cost to you driving is what, $0.40 a mile?

So that means you'd expect to put $6,000 into your car as a result of the increased commute, leaving you with $4,000. But that wouldn't be a true $4,000 because that extra $10,000 is taxed. We'll use a 30% tax rate to get a nice even number, so you're left with $7,000 after taxes. Leaving you with a net gain of $1,000.

If those numbers are correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong), then I definitely wouldn't do it.

:) exactly what I was thinking.... thanks for doing this for us...

You could also factor in increase probabilities for accidents, rising fuel prices, and traffic tickets and soak up the whatever is left over.
 

Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
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I wouldn't. That eats in a lot to my free time which would add to being much more valuable than 10k gross a year. Time is far more valuable to me than money though.


*EDIT*

BigJ also made some nice estimates which at least come close enough to justifying why it's not worth it. One additional thing he left out is that you would be spending more money on maintenance on the vehicle per year due to the increased number of miles.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: Xavier434
I wouldn't. That eats in a lot to my free time which would add to being much more valuable than 10k gross a year. Time is far more valuable to me than money though.


*EDIT*

BigJ also made some nice estimates which at least come close enough to justifying why it's not worth it. One additional thing he left out is that you would be spending more money on maintenance on the vehicle per year due to the increased number of miles.

The $0.40 per mile estimate is a number given by AAA which includes things such as gas, maintenance, tires, etc. for a small sedan.

That figure would obviously be higher now though due to the increase in gas prices. The original number was when gas was around $2.40 a gallon.
 

darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
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Originally posted by: BigJ
That'd be what, approximately 60 miles extra per day?

So that's 300 miles per week, or 15,000 extra miles per year.

The average cost to you driving is what, $0.40 a mile?

So that means you'd expect to put $6,000 into your car as a result of the increased commute, leaving you with $4,000. But that wouldn't be a true $4,000 because that extra $10,000 is taxed. We'll use a 30% tax rate to get a nice even number, so you're left with $7,000 after taxes. Leaving you with a net gain of $1,000.

If those numbers are correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong), then I definitely wouldn't do it.

You forgot the depreciation cost of the car/year by slapping an additional 15k miles on it. Then you also have to consider other things the increased chances of traffic, risk of accidents for being on the road for 1 more hour/day, especially if you live in location where it snows during winter.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: darkxshade
Originally posted by: BigJ
That'd be what, approximately 60 miles extra per day?

So that's 300 miles per week, or 15,000 extra miles per year.

The average cost to you driving is what, $0.40 a mile?

So that means you'd expect to put $6,000 into your car as a result of the increased commute, leaving you with $4,000. But that wouldn't be a true $4,000 because that extra $10,000 is taxed. We'll use a 30% tax rate to get a nice even number, so you're left with $7,000 after taxes. Leaving you with a net gain of $1,000.

If those numbers are correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong), then I definitely wouldn't do it.

You forgot the depreciation cost of the car/year by slapping an additional 15k miles on it. Then you also have to consider other things the increased chances of traffic, risk of accidents for being on the road for 1 more hour/day, especially if you live in location where it snows during winter.

http://www.pacebus.com/sub/vanpool/cost_of_driving.asp

Look at small sedan, 15,000 miles. Obviously it's going to be more now due to increased gas prices.
 

Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
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At the very least, it can't hurt to apply and interview and turn down the offer if you decide it's not worth the commute. Might irritate the person who offers you the job for wasting a little of their time, but that's business.
 

Gunslinger08

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
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No. 5 to 7.5 hours of my time per week isn't worth an extra $192. That's $25.60 to $38.40 an hour, not counting gas, wear and tare, or depreciation. At 25 MPG and 30 extra miles each way, that's an extra 12 gallons of gas per week or about $48 at current prices. That brings you down to $19.20 to $28.80 per hour for those 5 to 7.5 hours of time. Even without including wear and tare, depreciation, or just general loss of time, that's not worth it.
 

Megadeth

Senior member
Jun 14, 2004
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I had a similar decision to make except in my case I currently own my house which is located 1 mile from my job. So 10K wasn't worth it. If I had been renting, then I probably would have made the move though.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
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Originally posted by: JohnCU
how the hell do you survive on 25k?

More than likely mom and dad or roomies.

Now I believe most are saying their time is worth more than $10k for an hour a day out of wishful thinking rather than reality.

To some an extra hour of WoW a day with mom and dad picking up the tab is worth more than anything to them.
 

Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
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Originally posted by: alkemyst
Originally posted by: JohnCU
how the hell do you survive on 25k?

More than likely mom and dad or roomies.

Now I believe most are saying their time is worth more than $10k for an hour a day out of wishful thinking rather than reality.

To some an extra hour of WoW a day with mom and dad picking up the tab is worth more than anything to them.

Or maybe he doesn't live in an area where the cost of living is outrageous? Possibly he's a bit smart with his money and doesn't buy crap he doesn't need. It's really not hard to survive on that amount when you don't live in an area where rent and property values are ridiculously out of control. (i.e. NYC & SoCal)
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: alkemyst
Originally posted by: JohnCU
how the hell do you survive on 25k?

More than likely mom and dad or roomies.

Now I believe most are saying their time is worth more than $10k for an hour a day out of wishful thinking rather than reality.

To some an extra hour of WoW a day with mom and dad picking up the tab is worth more than anything to them.

Or maybe, when people do the math, that $10,000 really only turns out to be substantially less. I know it would in my case because an extra hour of commuting is an extra 60 miles each day. I already did the math showing it was a net gain of approximately $1,000 using costs from several years ago. $4/hour is not worth my time to drive an extra hour.

From the calculations I threw together before, with current gas prices, it would really be more like $0.49 instead of $0.40. So redoing the numbers yields $7,350 in driving costs. After taxes, you could come very close to actually losing money.
 

brandonb

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 2006
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Nope, I wouldn't do it.

I make $60k/y now, and I live 3 minutes from work. I used to make $75k/y at an older job and it was about an hour each way. The amount of time I save during the day doesn't pay the extra $15,000, not to mention the wear and tear on your car, plus oil + gas + tires, etc is not worth it. Not one bit. :heart: my job.
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
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Originally posted by: Injury
Originally posted by: alkemyst
Originally posted by: JohnCU
how the hell do you survive on 25k?

More than likely mom and dad or roomies.

Now I believe most are saying their time is worth more than $10k for an hour a day out of wishful thinking rather than reality.

To some an extra hour of WoW a day with mom and dad picking up the tab is worth more than anything to them.

Or maybe he doesn't live in an area where the cost of living is outrageous? Possibly he's a bit smart with his money and doesn't buy crap he doesn't need. It's really not hard to survive on that amount when you don't live in an area where rent and property values are ridiculously out of control. (i.e. NYC & SoCal)

You hit the nail on the head.

Between me and the wife to be, we do fine. We live in a part of the country where 25k isn't some restaurant wage. I don't live beyond my means either.

Plus if I wanted to work private sector I could get a nice boost, but I have a lot of benefits working where I do.

If you look up the data, it's not that bad a pay for this area. I came from an area where I could of made substantially more, so I know that some of you do the same job I do and get a large amount more, but it's the way the world works. =)
 

TXHokie

Platinum Member
Nov 16, 1999
2,558
176
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Originally posted by: KB
I would gladly pay 10K/year to have an extra hour of free time added to each day.

I would take the job if I could commute the extra 30 minutes by train but not if by car.

I did this 3 yrs ago - took a pay cut and lesser position to be closer to home. The extra hour gained to spend with my family each day and not feeling road rage by the time I get home is worth way more. I've worked my way back up since.
 

TwiceOver

Lifer
Dec 20, 2002
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Assuming 40min = 40 miles and ~15% taxes this comes out to just over $100/wk extra in my paycheck and 400 minutes of roadtime. I don't know, doesn't seem worth it to me. $20k? Maybe.
 

Rudee

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
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How many of you people would be willing to take a $10k/year paycut if your employer allowed you to work your job fulltime from home? i.e. no commute at all.
 

paulxcook

Diamond Member
May 1, 2005
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So you have to hoof it out to your job so that your GF doesn't have to be bothered with traveling more than 2 minutes to hers?
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
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Originally posted by: Rudee
How many of you people would be willing to take a $10k/year paycut if your employer allowed you to work your job fulltime from home? i.e. no commute at all.
I wouldn't....but that's just because I can work from home sometimes if I want to... The problem though is working from home can sometimes decrease the chance of you getting a promotion...meaning, as your coworkers that show up get bumps in pay, you're more likely to get passed over.

If I made a lot more money and had kids, I might consider taking a $10k paycut, but it would be too large of a percentage now to do it. Working from home is STILL working and can sometime be more grueling if you can't separate personal life from work life.
 
Nov 7, 2000
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depends on what percentage increase it was
depends on the type of commute for me, a nice peaceful longer drive is better than a shorter distance + traffic

if you are starting your career, base pay becomes more important. a bump now will get compounded into every future % raise you get
 

SpunkyJones

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2004
5,090
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Originally posted by: Rudee
How many of you people would be willing to take a $10k/year paycut if your employer allowed you to work your job fulltime from home? i.e. no commute at all.

I would, I spend about $80/week in gas now, I probably wouldn't notice a 10k cut in pay with that money staying in my pocket. :)