Long commute Big house or shorter commute small house/condo?

[RCLL]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

The shorter commute without question. Here's why:

--Long commutes have hidden costs such as buying another car more often, buying a more expensive car than you'd otherwise get because you need something comfortable since you're practically living in it. You'll also replace your car sooner because you'll need something super reliable for that long commute wherease if you lived closer, you've probably hold onto your car another year or two before replacing it. You are more vulnerable to high gas prices.

--It is more dangerous. The more you drive, the more likely you are to be in a crash. You'll also pay higher insurance if you drive a lot.

--Long commutes make you less likely to exercise and eat right, leading to weight gain and bad health and higher health care costs down the road. (While this isn't inevitable, I think it increases the likeliehood of the above scenario).

--Long commutes take away time from family, friends, and community, and these are the things that actually make people happy! Once you have a basic roof over your head, having a bigger house doesn't necessarily make you any happier. The big house will also take more of your time to clean and maintain...time which you don't have much of because you spend it commuting.

--If you are commuting more than 1 hour per day one way, you won't actually spend much time in that big house anyway.

Good post, I faced the same situation and opted for the shorter commute for those exact reasons.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by RCLL

Good post, I faced the same situation and opted for the shorter commute for those exact reasons.

I live a block away from my job and I walk to work every day. I can't tell you how nice I have it now compared to my previous 20 minute commute (door to door). The difference between no commute and even a modest 20 minute one is very significant. I can't tell you how much having no commute adds to my quality of life

[Azmordean]

I don't live in this area (yet?) but this is universal question. The answer is easy.

Small House, Short Commute.

As others have said - in my mind - this is one of the keys to happiness. Commuting is a waste of life. Say your commute is an hour each way. That's 2 hours a day in a car. 10 hours a week. Think about that for a minute - you could live next door to work, and work 6 days a week and STILL have more personal time than with that commute.

What can you do with 2 hours a day? Hit the gym, time with friends and family, the list is endless. It also means, if you have to work some overtime on occasion, you can do it without impacting your home life quite so much.

The *only* time I might recommend the bigger home is if you work from home and only go into the office once a week.