How much is working close to home worth to you?
Discussion
Currently working 35 miles (+-1hr each way) away from home, spending around £250 a month on diesel to do so.
I'd consider a role closer to home as long as it was no more than a £5k pa drop in salary, any greater drop than that and it's just not worth it, I might as well carry on commuting.
What I'm hoping to do though is to move to London for the next role and rent an apartment close to the job location, from the research I've done given the uplift in London salaries I should be able to keep my financial position the same overall.
I'd consider a role closer to home as long as it was no more than a £5k pa drop in salary, any greater drop than that and it's just not worth it, I might as well carry on commuting.
What I'm hoping to do though is to move to London for the next role and rent an apartment close to the job location, from the research I've done given the uplift in London salaries I should be able to keep my financial position the same overall.
Been working at home for a long time now, more than 17 years and three different companies, although I will have periods were I work away for a week or two at a time during that.
I could do with changing jobs, already been in my current role slightly longer than I planned simply because I know my next role would mean working from an office more days than not. Very difficult for me to balance my ambition against my happiness at this point as I have always been focused on moving up and either changed jobs or been promoted every 3 years at most, but I've now got to the point were I need to decide between the future growth and my current happiness with having zero commute.
I could do with changing jobs, already been in my current role slightly longer than I planned simply because I know my next role would mean working from an office more days than not. Very difficult for me to balance my ambition against my happiness at this point as I have always been focused on moving up and either changed jobs or been promoted every 3 years at most, but I've now got to the point were I need to decide between the future growth and my current happiness with having zero commute.
louiebaby said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Or......Some of us have managed to get to a comfortable standard of living well below that, and value their time very differently.
As an open discussion of how other people value their time, I think this thread has merit, and certainly not as some kind of willy waving exercise.
I value my time differently to others, I don't want to work 60+ hours per week and commute an additional 20 on top of that, for me that's a waste of life.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Didn't the comment that you quoted mention the amount and just that scenario. I don't think it's a case of people getting upset, just answering the OPs Q from their own perspectives... which for many would be the choice of extra money & a London commute. Perhaps you're reading the responses and reading too much into them ?
I would happily take a salary cut of a certain percentage if it meant I could live closer to work.
I would also even more happily relocate to a cheaper area to work if there was work in those areas.
Sadly, the work that I do and the chances I have to progress are sporadic and largely in the South East near unis and within reach of certain areas like London, so the chance to move away and do that kind of work is rare.
I am not a skilled worker but have valuable experience that people can use, but finding a job in a cheaper area is obviously harder as there are fewer places.
It's a real tough one if you don't have easily transferable skills.
I would also even more happily relocate to a cheaper area to work if there was work in those areas.
Sadly, the work that I do and the chances I have to progress are sporadic and largely in the South East near unis and within reach of certain areas like London, so the chance to move away and do that kind of work is rare.
I am not a skilled worker but have valuable experience that people can use, but finding a job in a cheaper area is obviously harder as there are fewer places.
It's a real tough one if you don't have easily transferable skills.
As a counterpoint, I think - depending on your job - there is an optimal distance from work.
I am at the just-senior-enough-to-be-useful level where I could be expected to pop in to work on a day off if something kicked off, or the alarm went off in the night, but being 35-40 mins away, am safe.
Also, however foul mood I leave work in, it's very hard to sustain it for more than half an hour.
So actually, I reckon that 'Goldilocks commute' is about 30 minutes.
I am at the just-senior-enough-to-be-useful level where I could be expected to pop in to work on a day off if something kicked off, or the alarm went off in the night, but being 35-40 mins away, am safe.
Also, however foul mood I leave work in, it's very hard to sustain it for more than half an hour.
So actually, I reckon that 'Goldilocks commute' is about 30 minutes.
The question only the op can answer is how long will it take to unplug and leave work behind.
When commuted around 15-20 miles mixed roads, and mixed traffic by the time I got home, work was no longer with me.
Changed roles, different office, 10 miles country lanes or one junction on motorway, and still have some thoughts of work by time I'm home.
Specially as new car has decent phone connectivity for calls carrying on after escaping.
Takes longer when I get in the house to unwind than it did before, different job stress has some of this as well, but I wonder if a longer commute would have the same effect.
Occasional commute into London on train more relaxing than the drive, specially as can doze on train or read a book and wake up at the end with a 10minute cycle.
Though this is likely a sign of busier roads and my increasing levels of cantankerousness with age. :-)
Depends on commute overall as much as distance or time I think.
Your mileage may vary and all that etc.
When commuted around 15-20 miles mixed roads, and mixed traffic by the time I got home, work was no longer with me.
Changed roles, different office, 10 miles country lanes or one junction on motorway, and still have some thoughts of work by time I'm home.
Specially as new car has decent phone connectivity for calls carrying on after escaping.
Takes longer when I get in the house to unwind than it did before, different job stress has some of this as well, but I wonder if a longer commute would have the same effect.
Occasional commute into London on train more relaxing than the drive, specially as can doze on train or read a book and wake up at the end with a 10minute cycle.
Though this is likely a sign of busier roads and my increasing levels of cantankerousness with age. :-)
Depends on commute overall as much as distance or time I think.
Your mileage may vary and all that etc.
Johnnytheboy said:
As a counterpoint, I think - depending on your job - there is an optimal distance from work.
I am at the just-senior-enough-to-be-useful level where I could be expected to pop in to work on a day off if something kicked off, or the alarm went off in the night, but being 35-40 mins away, am safe.
Also, however foul mood I leave work in, it's very hard to sustain it for more than half an hour.
So actually, I reckon that 'Goldilocks commute' is about 30 minutes.
Valid point. I like the concept of the Goldilocks Commute...I am at the just-senior-enough-to-be-useful level where I could be expected to pop in to work on a day off if something kicked off, or the alarm went off in the night, but being 35-40 mins away, am safe.
Also, however foul mood I leave work in, it's very hard to sustain it for more than half an hour.
So actually, I reckon that 'Goldilocks commute' is about 30 minutes.
Is it a job move for life?
Are you more interested in developing your skills and experience at this stage of your career?
Depending on the above, on one extreme i would travel ANYWHERE, including abroad, to learn the right skills and pick up the right experience. On the other extreme, if I'm happy with my current station in my career, and developing my family and personal hobbies/interests is the most important thing, then working home closer to home is more important. Obviously, you often need a fairly decent paying job to have a good personal life so you get the grey area in the middle.
I recently commuted 600 miles a week for a period of 18 months, rarely working from home. It was tiring, sometimes gruelling sitting in your third traffic jam because a lorry has toppled over on the M42. The job was worth every penny because I picked up priceless skills and experience. My next job paid double. In total, I'd tripled my salary in 18 months. I now have a tonne more options to play with so in a sense it's given me greater long-term security than a low paying pension benefit.
It boils down to how risk averse you are. Most people are very averse in reality. I have a wife and 2 kids by the way. One fundamental requirement is that you and your partner are fully on the same page. You can't achieve squat without a tight family unit -- unless you want to live alone (begs the question, why work? My family motivate me....)
Are you more interested in developing your skills and experience at this stage of your career?
Depending on the above, on one extreme i would travel ANYWHERE, including abroad, to learn the right skills and pick up the right experience. On the other extreme, if I'm happy with my current station in my career, and developing my family and personal hobbies/interests is the most important thing, then working home closer to home is more important. Obviously, you often need a fairly decent paying job to have a good personal life so you get the grey area in the middle.
I recently commuted 600 miles a week for a period of 18 months, rarely working from home. It was tiring, sometimes gruelling sitting in your third traffic jam because a lorry has toppled over on the M42. The job was worth every penny because I picked up priceless skills and experience. My next job paid double. In total, I'd tripled my salary in 18 months. I now have a tonne more options to play with so in a sense it's given me greater long-term security than a low paying pension benefit.
It boils down to how risk averse you are. Most people are very averse in reality. I have a wife and 2 kids by the way. One fundamental requirement is that you and your partner are fully on the same page. You can't achieve squat without a tight family unit -- unless you want to live alone (begs the question, why work? My family motivate me....)
Edited by silent ninja on Thursday 12th October 19:17
Chris Type R said:
For a London commute, an additional £25k is soon eroded by 40% tax (plus NI) plus the cost of an annual rail/tube pass, station parking, etc
If its £100k vs £125 then you'll lose 62% of most of that, which is not much fun.....One job i was looking at was about 60miles from me and I nearly rejected it out of hand, until I realised it took less time than most central london jobs
wsurfa said:
If its £100k vs £125 then you'll lose 62% of most of that, which is not much fun.....
One job i was looking at was about 60miles from me and I nearly rejected it out of hand, until I realised it took less time than most central london jobs
Yes, quite. My simple example also excludes the impact of losing any Child Benefit.One job i was looking at was about 60miles from me and I nearly rejected it out of hand, until I realised it took less time than most central london jobs
Chris Type R said:
Yes, quite. My simple example also excludes the impact of losing any Child Benefit.
I just checked the cost of train & parking for me to central London - c £5.5k. So an additional c£15k gross if you're in the fun 62% bracket, and for that you're no better off, but do get the joy of c2.5-3 hrs travel a day often standing. Assuming everything in on time.Ouch
London does profoundly skew any answer to this question. As has been indicated above, depending upon your tax level then the cost of commuting into London from outside the M25 in itself costs the equivalent of £10-15k on gross earnings. Even the cost of parking at a station can blow the minds of people not already familiar with it. It also generally adds an hour each way minimum to most journeys on top of a typical 15-30 min local commute, so if your time both matters to you and you do not desperately need the extra money to make ends meet (and couldn't make it by overtime or anything like that locally) then you are adding what : 20%+ to your working day for someone on conventional hours. If someone was making even £50k close to home in a job that they liked and was able to comfortably live within their means then even at that point there is a base for arguing that a 50% gross pay rise would be needed for it to make sense for them to commute to London.
20 years of commuting to London led me to give plenty of thought to the value proposition...
The numbers can however get distorted further as if you could work from home a couple of days per week the economics shift much more than you would think.
But as for the length of a non-London commute then the whole question becomes much more personal and pivots around whether you need the time more or the money. From my experience I would also put age as a significant factor though. Towards the start of my working career I did a horrible commute, but it set my career on a lucrative path and money in the bank (and indeed pension pot) at a young age has proven a solid move. Today though I am not sure that I could even do that journey daily and still be productive at the end of it on a long term daily basis, even if I did desperately want the extra cash for something. I'd thus totally agree with the sentiment earlier in the thread that the older you get, the more you would nominally look for to travel further.
But as a rule of thumb, if the commute is sub 30-mins then it is inconsequential, up to an hour then reasonable but over an hour: stop, run the numbers and have a solid think about how much you really need the money. Life is short, and when you run out of it then no amount of money can buy you more. What you are going to do with the extra money is important - are you going to see the world, chase your ambitions and passions or just buy stuff that you don't really need and will chuck in the bin within a couple of years?
This whole subject is actually a pretty deep question isn't it.
20 years of commuting to London led me to give plenty of thought to the value proposition...
The numbers can however get distorted further as if you could work from home a couple of days per week the economics shift much more than you would think.
But as for the length of a non-London commute then the whole question becomes much more personal and pivots around whether you need the time more or the money. From my experience I would also put age as a significant factor though. Towards the start of my working career I did a horrible commute, but it set my career on a lucrative path and money in the bank (and indeed pension pot) at a young age has proven a solid move. Today though I am not sure that I could even do that journey daily and still be productive at the end of it on a long term daily basis, even if I did desperately want the extra cash for something. I'd thus totally agree with the sentiment earlier in the thread that the older you get, the more you would nominally look for to travel further.
But as a rule of thumb, if the commute is sub 30-mins then it is inconsequential, up to an hour then reasonable but over an hour: stop, run the numbers and have a solid think about how much you really need the money. Life is short, and when you run out of it then no amount of money can buy you more. What you are going to do with the extra money is important - are you going to see the world, chase your ambitions and passions or just buy stuff that you don't really need and will chuck in the bin within a couple of years?
This whole subject is actually a pretty deep question isn't it.
In my experience, 45 mins is about my limit driving, much prefer 30 min.
Train - up to an hour door to door, 45 mins is ok.
Driving depends a lot on traffic - my current commute is about 25 km, but it's reasonably light traffic and usually low stress.
Working from home is a whole different discussion.
Train - up to an hour door to door, 45 mins is ok.
Driving depends a lot on traffic - my current commute is about 25 km, but it's reasonably light traffic and usually low stress.
Working from home is a whole different discussion.
My workplace is very much fixed and there is zero prospect of it moving so when we were looking to buy a house we basically drew a circle around work and could buy anywhere inside. We preferred some areas 30-45 mins away but I just could not be bothered with it. Many of my colleagues commute about 40 miles each way and come shed dragger season when the old folks take their chemical toilets down to Devon for the weekend and flip them over on the A31 those colleagues have to allow well over an hour for that commute. So our circle got smaller until we concluded that the simplest solution was to stay within a few miles of work.
Our commute takes 7-10 minutes, never at rush hour, it's bliss and it means when I buy cars I don't have give a second thought to economy.
To answer the OP to give that up I'd want a five figure sum, net. To get me onto public transport for a couple of hours a day I'm not sure any amount of money would cut it.
Our commute takes 7-10 minutes, never at rush hour, it's bliss and it means when I buy cars I don't have give a second thought to economy.
To answer the OP to give that up I'd want a five figure sum, net. To get me onto public transport for a couple of hours a day I'm not sure any amount of money would cut it.
Trexthedinosaur said:
I cant fathom how people spend 90minutes e/w on a train, 5 days a week, that's 15 hours a week, 60 hours a month and 620 (ish) hours a year accounting for holidays, or 25+ FULL days, what a waste of life.
Many people who live in the South East don't have much choice (well depending on the industry I suppose). I live in a flat in Braintree, North Essex and am (fingers crossed) moving soon to South Essex and a small bungalow. I couldn't have done this without working in London. I work in the insurance industry and you just cannot earn anywhere near as much outside the city unless you get very lucky. My commute will reduce to 55mins / 1hr approximately once I've moved and I am very excited about that!
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