Investing In A Better Home

You have just landed your dream job. The problem is that your dream job is located far away from your current home. So the answer is obvious: sell your current home and purchase a home that is reasonably close to your new workplace. Unfortunately, none of the homes for sale that are nearby your workplace are at the price point you are looking for, and you simply are not in love with any of them. Eventually, you find your dream home, but it is too far away from your dream job. The question is, should you commute to work? How far is too far?

Monetary Costs

Commuting to work carries with it three costs. First is the monetary cost of the commute. Driving to and from work will force you to refuel more often, will place more miles on your car, and will force you to perform more maintenance on your car. Fortunately, there are many ways these costs can be mitigated. You can carpool to work, or you can rely more on public transportation.

Time Lost

A second cost associated with a long commute is the lost time. If you are regularly commuting to and from work, you may lose hours of time from your week. It is difficult to put a price on the extra hours that are lost and that could have been spent with friends and family members. 

Health Costs

The final cost is the cost that your commute has on your health. Commutes are very stressful. They also force you to sit for longer periods of time, which is bad for your health. While the impact of a commute on your health can be measured in sick days and medical bills, there is a degree to which the price on your health cannot be measured. However, you may be able to mitigate some of the effects that your commute has on your health by staying healthier overall.

Fortunately, you may be able to reduce your commute, have your dream job, and have your dream home. Study your commute and think of ways you could improve your travel time. Sometimes leaving as little as 15 minutes early will shorten your commute time. By getting to work earlier, you can take time to better prepare for the day and spend less of your life stuck in traffic. Things will be even better if you can negotiate with your employer and perform work earlier so you can leave sooner, avoid the commute, and get more of your life back.