How far do you drive to your job??

I'm wondering how far you guys drive to your job. I'm looking to buy a house that about 55 minutes away from my wifes work. I'm a rep on the road so it really doesn't matter that much. It's farther away from my territory though, but I like the house. I know the gas is gonna suck.

If you can, I'd avoid it. That's an hour one way.....and your wife would be doing that twice a day, 5 days a week (depending on her schedule). I live 55-60 miles from work and it takes 60-75 mins. Sometimes longer if there's a wreck. I've been doing the drive for 2 years, and I'm SICK of it. Gas is 200+/month (that's just me, my wife spends about $150). In reality, the biggest problem I've had is that it's damaged my willingness to be involved with people/friends at work. All of our friends are about 1.5 hours away, and nobody wants to come visit because of the drive. Likewise, we don't want to go see them because it's a PITA. Sorry to be Debby Downer, but think REAL hard before you move there. Your relationship with your wife could become strained

Debbie Downer is right...(Sorry Steve... I couldn't resist...)

I live 32 miles from the city and we don't get many visitors for the same reason...which, if you like it that way is not a bad thing.

If you're on the road a lot then I would opt to move closer to where the wife works this way there's one less problem that may arise in the future.

Good luck.

12.6 each way. Takes about 2/3 of a gallon round trip in my old 10 year old Saturn wagon. 20 minutes on a good day, 35 on a bad one.

I never appreciated it till I worked 7 minutes from work before. The closer you are, the quicker you have access to a home brew.

5 miles round trip, all back roads for me. Don't think of your commute time as per day. Add it up for a month and think about that. That's 40 hours a month. An extra work week per month. F that.

4 miles each way. It takes me just as long to walk from my parking garage to to my office at work as it does to drive to said garage from my apartment.

My wife and I used to live 13 miles away in a nice house...but that 13 miles would sometimes equate an hour and half commute (that's an hour and half each way).

Wasn't worth it.

20 minutes each way for me.

I would not want to live further away than that. Gas prices+full sized truck = lotsa money down the drain.

20 miles each way ... but I go in fairly early so I beat a lot of the traffic. Plus I work from home one day a week so it's not so bad.

Bobby_M said:

5 miles round trip, all back roads for me. Don't think of your commute time as per day. Add it up for a month and think about that. That's 40 hours a month. An extra work week per month. F that.

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Yeah, but that is like almost 42 hours/year for your commute. How do you handle it?

I live in a small town, so everything is within 2 miles for me. I'm also going to start working from home, so I won't have to leave the house most days. My husband commutes 40 miles each way, though. We have a small corolla that gets 35 mph, but even so the gas adds up. And of course, it's going higher. And his friends and coworkers from work rarely (if ever) come over this way, unless they make a weekend out of it and stay at our cottage. We can't have beers with them, because of the drive.

Bob likes the commute, though. He listens to NPR and drinks his morning beverage while he drives. Still, I like the way Bobby M mentioned it- and it got me thinking: two hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year is 13 full work days each year spent just commuting. Life is too short for that to me. I would never put myself in that situation. But, I don't live in an area where that is usually required.

I drive 8 miles, each way... but I only do that 4x a month... so 64 miles a month!

1/2 mile each way.

13.4 miles each way which kinda sucks but the money is good so whatya gonna do.

10 miles each way takes me 15 min, i used to drive 32 miles and traffice made it 45-1hour 30min.


my life has gotten so much better, the closer to work you can even go home and check on the dog or bring you buddies over on lunch for some bbq and homebrew. plus you save money and time, and if your budget gets tight you can eat lunch at home.

A mile from my front door. It's just as quick to walk as it is to drive to the parking lot, which is a bit further. On days when I don't have to pick up my daughter from daycare I need to get up a bit earlier and start walking instead of being so damn lazy.

50 miles one way for 3 more days! It's not the drive that I hate, it's the time. Sometimes I'm at work for 12+ hours and factor in the commute and it's up to 14. I didn't make enough money for that. Gas has gone up more than $.50 a gallon over the course of the year since I've been there which made a tough financial situation even worse. Like I said though, only 3 more days of that and then I start a new closer job with better hours and more money. Can't beat that. Should be about 15-20 miles now depending on which office I'm at. Bottom line, I wouldn't reccomend taking on a commute like that. Just too much time lost in your car instead of being with the fam or whatever else.

Short Drive said:

1/2 mile each way.

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Ah, so that's where the name comes from.:cross:

I have about 10 miles each way. If I am out before 8am or after 9:30 it takes 20 minutes. If I go during rush hour, it could take 20 minutes or 1 hour, that is how Atlanta works.

I am about 1/2 a mile from door to door but it really sucks being that close. I am the poor bastard that gets called in at 2am because I am so close

I'm about 8 miles from work. I live in a pretty small town. I live on the south side of the county and work on the north side of town and it typically takes me 10-12 minutes. Traffic is not a factor.

25 minute ride, but it's a country drive. In a company vehicle. I don't mind it at all. I installed an XM radio in the vehicle so it's a little precious alone time for me.

150KM round trip for me. Fortunately I only have to do it twice a week as I work from home the other three.

15 minutes/10 miles each way. Me and my work are both right off the interstate so it is usually pretty quick. The occasional accident can really put a wrench in things though.

63mi each way for me (2hrs each). But I work from home 4 days a week unless a problem comes up (I'm in I.T.)

I am 30 miles from work... started car pooling with a neighbor, and it is working out well...

I counted 3 stop signs and 1 yield to get to work... all HW miles .. I catch up on music and some great comedy on XM..sometimes listen to basic brewing radio

winter commute is a drag though.

3 miles away - I don't like commuting here (S. end Seattle) and this keeps me out of the worst of things. Although, from Thanksgiving to Christmas it takes 30-40 minutes to get the 1st mile.

5 blocks, eight minute walk from door to desk.

Believe it or not, when I first moved to my current apartment my job was 500 km's away. After quitting that job I was headhunted into my current position 5 blocks away.

I have never once driven to work. No matter the weather I can suffer for 5 blocks!

[edit] I forgot to mention that I work from home 1-2 days a week. Yeah I know, whats the point?

Short Drive said:

1/2 mile each way.

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Best username/post combo ever!

I usually drive about 12 miles each way. My stepdad commutes 60 miles total a day in a pickup truck. My mom and stepdad figured out that if he telecommuted one day a week, even with paying the extra $40 a month for satelitte internet (they live out in the sticks) they'd still be saving money. Even more now that gas has gone up 50¢ in a month.

'bout a mile. 5 minutes on my bike, 15 on foot.

I work 43 miles one way and have to deal with heavy traffic. My last job was 12 miles yet my bosses were crazy. I love my job and they let me work from home 1-2 days per week.

5 miles for me, but I take the bus that's free and picks me up right next to my place.

Walk from house to train: 12 minutes
Train ride: 27 minutes
Walk from train to work: 12 minutes
Not having to drive: priceless

I work from home a few days a week. On those days when I do go in, there's no way I'd drive. It's a 14-19 mile one-way trip depending on what route I take, but any route would take longer than the trip listed above...a lot longer...and cost $25+ to park. Train costs me $5.60 roundtrip.

I'm wondering how far you guys drive to your job. I'm looking to buy a house that about 55 minutes away from my wifes work. I'm a rep on the road so it really doesn't matter that much. It's farther away from my territory though, but I like the house. I know the gas is gonna suck.

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Really no blanket answer to that one, Lots of factors come in.

Some of the things you need to look at are:

Can you afford the equivalent house closer?
To some the size of house and neighborhood are worth the Commute. I Currently live in the DC area with a 35 min drive to work, I'm Lucky I work at a base South of the Beltway and it is a nice drive on country roads. Some of my neighbors work in the Beltway and it is worth it to them to deal with the traffic when a similar house would run $2mil+ in a safe neighborhood, and for the same Money instead of 3k sq foot 4 bedroom on a big lot in a small suburb, they would be getting a 1 bedroom condo, or living in an area where it isn't safe to walk the streets day or night.

What Kind of drive? Is it 55 min on crowded highways or country roads?

Why are you looking in that area? neighborhood? Schools? Price?
You have to decide which is more important, the area/house or the drive

Is there public transportation? If I took a job up in the Beltway, I'd most likely use the Park and ride lot a mile from home and look at the bus/train as time to catch up on reading/studying

You mentioned you are looking at it and like it, what does your wife think of the drive? Sounds like she is the one that will have to live with it, is the house worth it to her? If she is stuck with a miserable drive in a house she is not in love with, it's going to suck for both of you. If she too loves the house you are probably fine.
Don't know how much you do around the house, but I can garuntee you if she is spending 2 hours on the road every day you are going to be doing more housework than you do now

Right now, about 25 feet. On the other hand, it's 6 miles to town and 35-60 miles to any city.

When I moved to Silicon Valley 15 years ago, I picked my neighborhood based on commute patterns. My commutes varied from 5 to 45 minutes. Some people I worked with had 1.5-2 hours commutes to a nice house where they never did anything except sleep.

9 miles for me. Anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes depending on lights. SWMBO works four blocks from our house.

5 mi each way - Was burning 2 gal of gas each day on my commute with my Truck, but my little gas saver Nissan is great! Now I can drive to work and back, and the fuel needle stays in the same place!

I leave at 7:35 to drop SWMBO off in front of her work at 7:50 and be in my parking lot at 7:55. It's all in-city driving, I would prefer highway but we're nowhere near one.

My dad does 58 mile each way though, for a graveyard shift job to boot. He's trying to get on with a more local manufacturer to solve that problem... He's done this commute for 13 or 14 years now... That's like 6760 hours of driving since he started there... or 845 "work days" (8hour)... or a little over 21 "40-hour" work weeks. Yeesh.

I live 25.3 miles from work. I also work 3rd shift so the drvie is not that bad. what is killing me is the same as most people the gas prices.

I've got a 26 mile drive each way - about half on the highway and half on winding country roads. About 18 months ago, the university gave everyone free passes to ride public transportation which totally rocks! Right now I drive 20 miles to the train station then ride 25 minutes to a stop one block from my office. I know, 6 miles doesn't seem like much of a savings but there are two advantages - parking on campus costs $50/month, and the garage is further from my building than the train station! I really appreciate the time on the train to listen to tunes and read. They know me by name at the library now

With the cost of gas rising, I'll probably start driving 10 miles to a Park-and-Ride lot, then catch a bus to the train station. I'll have to leave a few minutes earlier but it will be a significant savings in wear and tear on my Honda in addition to gas...

I have to drive about 11 miles each way. Cost me about $4.00 a day to drive to work and back. Not bad, but I just bought a new scooter...it only cost me about 30 cents a day instead. It gets 90-100 miles to the gallon. I love it so far. I finally had to put gas in it. It cost me $4.12 to fill it up.

BlatzBeer said:

I'm wondering how far you guys drive to your job. I'm looking to buy a house that about 55 minutes away from my wifes work. I'm a rep on the road so it really doesn't matter that much. It's farther away from my territory though, but I like the house. I know the gas is gonna suck.

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Being in a related situation now, I really think this is a bad idea. I live 15 miles from my office, but my wife has worked in NYC and parts of North Jersey. This equals out to a bare minimum 1 hour commute each way on a clear day and worse when it rains. People don't know WTF they're doing as soon as it starts drizzling. When she was in NYC it was about an hour and a half on a pretty solid basis.

Like someone else suggested asking, can you afford to live closer to where she works? If it's an option, even with a slightly lesser house, I think it's well worth it in the long run. What's the point if she's always pissed off about sitting in traffic or the long commute. She can say she doesn't mind it, but all it takes is one bad day sitting in traffic in the rain or snow.

my job sucks, but it's only 8 miles from house as opposeed to 28 miles plus tolls from my last job @$3.49 a gallon and rising for gas.