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interesting dilemma. I'm a greedy bastard. I would take the higher paying job and continue to live at your parents' home. That's worth $20K in my town. Other markets outside Detroit, commute times are more likely "40 mins" vs "2 hours" worst case scenario.
If you're planning on getting married, or having a kid soon, you'll def want your own place then. But for the short run, I'd live at your parents.
I find it hard to believe the two jobs are totally equivalent in work conditions. After you work at either place for a year, you'll find out if that one offers flex hours, or work at home options, or better equipment. But good luck either way.
Bank the "overage" between the two jobs you've been offered into a savings account for a year, minus a stipend of rent to your parents for letting you live there for one more year.
After that year, if you hate the commute and/or are not liking the company/job, look for another job closer to home, knowing you can now command a higher salary thanks for your year of experience at the higher-paying job. AND you'll have a lot of $$ in the bank to then allow you to move out of your parent's house.
After that year, if you like your company/job, consider using the $$ you saved to help you move a bit closer so your commute reduces.
I have been fortunate enough to receive two job offers after graduating college. The first offer has a better salary, but has a longer commute, while the second offer has a lower salary, but a much more doable commute.
I don't have any current things holding me back financially (except for the good ole student loans), as I live at home with my parents right now.
I have done some "test drives" if you will, to see how the commute to the better paying job would fare, and it wasn't so good. At least 45 minutes to an hour in the morning, and 55 minutes, to 1 hour and a half pending on traffic and accidents.
The better paying job would be at the very least over half the time of the longer commute, (20-30 minutes), but the lower pay is making me hesitant.
Both jobs are good opportunities in the IT field, although the lower paying job is around 10-15k less in terms of salary. Obviously most people have said to take the higher paying job despite the commute, but having a good chunk of my day being taken away from commuting might not be worth the extra pay.
So please, any unbiased opinions about what actions to take.
Thanks!
What is the number of miles that you would cover? Because where I live, 15 miles in the peak hour takes an hour and I can also cover 50 miles in an hour.
And remember Parents are permenent, jobs and girlfriends are not.
For a wife I would do the halfway thing. For a girl friend I wouldn't.
Great point. Girlfriends come and go, mostly go. Wives do too, but they go less than girlfriends. Commuting sucks OP, especially since it never ends. I suggest you take the lower paying job with the shorter commute. There are a lot of hidden expenses involved with a long commute: the extra time out of your life, which you never get back, more wear and tear on your car, tolls, if you have those, and the longer commute often takes longer than you think if you get caught in a traffic jam.
Commute be damned.
Take the job that is going to benefit you the most.
If one is with a more prestigious company offering better experience and opportunities for advancement, that's the one you take.
If that happens to be the one with the long commute, then you suck it up and do the commute, and save money at Casa de Mom and Dad until you can afford to move closer.
The girlfriend's opinion doesn't matter at this point, no matter how much you love her.
Expenses with commuting would be fuel and vehicle maintenance. If the longer commute has reasonable expenses and you have the opportunity to increase your income, this would be the better option.
Have you tried the commute during the hours you'd be driving if you took that job? Actually experiencing it might help you make the decision.
I've had the long drive for higher pay. It looked great on paper, but was miserable after working an 8 hour day and sitting in frustrating traffic for an hour plus. Had I tested it a few days in a row, I never would have done it.
I'd take the shorter commute. Can you negotiate hours or telecommute with the high paying job? I nearly turned down my current job because it was 9-5 hours. I was able to keep the decent salary be able to work 11- 7 with telecommuting options if I had to work after 7pm. Time spent in commuting is time not spent with family and friends. You can always make more money later. You can't make more time.
I used to commute 4 hours a day (drive to the station, then take 2 trains) to be at an 8 hours job. I did it for over a year. It was more pay than what I can get at a local job.
I took it because I wanted to move out and saved enough to move out when I felt financially stable. I purposely looked for a job that far though...because like I said, I wanted to move out.
Now that I'm older, if I had to choose between less pay and less commute, I'd take that over more pay and more commute, but this is because I've reached my personal goal and I just want to take it slow (I sound like a retiring person lol).
One thing I can say, commuting that long is so draining. When I got home, all I wanted to do is be in bed lol. I did what a lot of these comments said. If I'm that age again and had the same dilemma, I'd do it all the same, all over again.
My parents luckily are pretty accomodating for letting me stay at home.
My girlfriend is the one who is pushing to move out, which then affects where to move to and thus what job to choose.
The commute would get old but the higher paying company is more well known than the low paying job's company.
So it slightly complicates things.
You are young and should choose the company/ job that offers the most career upside (either at that company or elsewhere). Also, remember when you jump to a new job, they will base your new salary on your prior one. So the $10-$15K gap could be widened.
If you are concerned about the commute, look into living in that area or different work hours for the job or leaving home early/ work late by going to the gym or taking a class near work.
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