So I'm at a crossroads. I just moved to a smaller city, about 50 miles from the nearest large population center. I still have a job in said population center making 110k. This results in a commute of about an hour<p>The problem is, if I take a job locally, I'm looking at a pay cut of 10-15k.<p>I really can't judge if that's worth it or not. I've done long commutes before and there are pluses and minuses of course. But I really am struggling to decide on what's the better choice: more money, or more time...<p>Thoughts?
Gas is costing you $3k per year already, plus the mileage and upkeep. That 10k is really like 7k after tax so your extra income is $4k which is $333 per month. Plus you are using 2 hours per day of your life to the commute. This is 40hrs a month for the $333 or about $8.32 an hr.
I've commuted 1hr by car for 2.5yrs. Don't recommend it. I'd happily take a 15k paycut if my company relocated within a 15 min drive. The driving became so mind-numbing after a few months. And I shudder to think of all the lost sleep from the early mornings.
personally im not that averse to commuting, i use the time to read and listen to music, its probably different if youre travelling by car rather than train though