[Exhaustedbuthapp...]

Would you take a drop in salary (around $3000 per year) to be 15 minutes closer to home?

[Jenflea]

yes.

[Jenflea]

I'm trying to get my husband to get a job closer to home now we have a child so he's around more to see her.
To me 3k isn't much less that you'd miss it.
But that does depend on your wages now and travel costs I guess. Would shorter travel time save you money as well?

[NotBitzerMaloney]

We just had this conversation at our house this week!

It comes down to this - for me, commuting time is the work of the devil and I would take quite a large percentage cut in pay to be close to home (or do a job I don't really like very much) so I can either spend more time with the kids OR more time at work.

My DH is far less concerned about it and will look at jobs much further away than I do.

If $3k would cause a significant issue for us financially, then probably not. However, I would make the swap if $3k reduction was doable without putting Us under too much financial stress.

Because I am a relatively high income earner, I would do it in a heart beat.

[roses99]

Absolutely. That $3000 is more like 2K after tax, which equates to less than $40 a week. Or $8 per work day. Definitely worth it for that extra half hour (there and back) a day.

[mum2five]

I took a paycut and lost any chance of promotion. In return I no longer have a 90min commute.

[countrymel]

Does this make it 5 minutes instead of 20 or does this make it an hour instead of an hour and fifteen minutes?

[Goggie]

Yes. You would save on petrol (maybe parking too?) and get 30 mins back in your life. I'm assuming it's doing the exact same job? If so, then yes but if the job is significantly different you would need to weigh up everything else as money shouldn't be the main factor for changing jobs.

[mpjp]

Does this make it 5 minutes instead of 20 or does this make it an hour instead of an hour and fifteen minutes?

This.


And also it would depend for me on what % the $3K represented of my salary! If it was 20% then I'd think hard about it - especially if that $40 meant my child would need to give up swimming lessons or something. If it were a small % and the money wassn't critical - then absolutely.

I moved from being 45 minutes from work to being 10 minutes....and it's changed my life! Would definitely be worth $3K!!!

[haras1972]

I'm in the process of moving from one job which is an hour door to door, to one that is 10 minutes door to door.

Yes there is a pay cut, probably about $10k for the year, but the payoffs will be worth it...

We often end up with takeaway midweek, because by the time we get home, we're stuffed.

I'll be riding to and from work, so the health benefits are there, and I'll be saving all the public transport costs.

Less stress about trying to make daycare cutoffs etc, our evenings will pan out so much more smoothly. Effectively, I'm gaining back 1.5 hrs in my day - that's massive.

In the future, I'll be a 5 minute walk from DD's primary school, and about a 10 minute walk from her secondary school.

My parents and MIL live locally and are aging, so being able to drop in at lunch, or quick check before work when it's needed etc...

We know there is a monetary loss, but the non-monetary gains are what count for us.

What do you see you and your family gaining, instead of losing, if your commute is shortened?

This post has been edited by haras1972: 23/02/2013, 08:45 AM