Commuting, how long is too long?

hotpot

In all my working life I  never had a job that was more than 5 miles from my house. I tried it once & after the first week I said Nah! I'm away out of here. It made just getting up in the morning to face that commute a misery, I would have seriously lost my marbles, I couldn't hack it.

TTBZ

Cheers guys I think my mind is made up. The pay rise isn't enough to make it worthwhile. I can still freelance there on days off if I really want to.

fendergibson

TTBZ said:

Cheers guys I think my mind is made up. The pay rise isn't enough to make it worthwhile. I can still freelance there on days off if I really want to.

Yeah, complete no brainer imo, family first that's all there is too it. I'd be real lonely being away for 16 hrs a day....no job is worth that. Time is worth more than any salary.

thomasross20

I think you've made the right decision.

DefaultM

I was offered a job where the commute was Leeds to Glasgow, shift was 7pm to 7am 3 days a week. I would have had to stay in a hotel etc but I could have made triple my current salary.

Couldn't bring myself to do it in the end. It would have made me ill and although my wife supported me I don't think she would have been happy on her own with children for all that time.

FelineGuitars

If you are commuting in the opposite direction to the masses so the train is half empty then it isn't nearly as bad as standing room only. When I first started Feline I used to have to do Croydon to Surbiton on the train which entailed going to Clapham Junction and then back pout again . The Croydon to Clapham stretch was hell as it was crowded as it was in the direction of major commuter travel , but the Clapham to Surbiton stretch was nice as the train was empty both in the morning and evening.

TTBZ

I'd be with the masses I'm afraid - getting the train down to St pancras for about 9:15 then a tube to Waterloo to get there for 10am.

The only easy and cheap ones would be night shifts and evenings - the long day shifts are a 10pm finish so that ones fairly empty.

Nitefly

thomasross20 said:

I think you've made the right decision.

Me too, especially if it's your first child.

Accepting that there's never enough money when you're bringing up kids, you never get that time back.

All the best with the littl'un when she/he arrives.

Motorhate

I'm currently doing that now (mid-Kent to West London). I leave my house at around 5:20am (up at 4:50am) and if I get the train, I'll get to work at around 07:30am if I'm lucky. If I ride the motorbike to work, it's about 1hr 45mins and is a 165 mile round trip. Believe me, either way is draining, not to mention expensive. The winter months especially are very trying. I've almost given up riding the motorbike to work in winter now. The mental exhaustion when I get into work makes me feel like I've done a days work already. The train is bearable as I can read, listen to music or just sleep if I'm really shattered. I'd love to give it up but it's just not do-able at the moment.
One thing you need to ask yourself is, with the extra cost of travelling by train, how much really will you be better off. My fares cost me almost £6,000 a year. I'd imagine your fares would be something similar if it's Northants. I'd factor that in to your salary and see what you're earning now and how much more you'll be on (minus the £6000) and take it from there. if it's only a couple of grand, forget it. Its just not worth it.

Steffo

Young child? No. You will never see him/her. 
My theoretical commute now is 1h 20mins, always more and hardly see the kids, changing it in March after 15 years the best decision I ever made.
Quality of life >>> money.

BRISTOL86

16 hours a day out the house? Not a chance I'd consider that even for considerably more money personally with a young family! 

TonyR

Anything over an hour each way is too much...

mike_l

I gave up an hour's commute (each way), for a 15 minute (at the most) and less pay. I'm now much happier, and always home by 6-30 in the evening (at the latest) and am not spunking £200/month on petrol/travel costs. 

FelineGuitars

If you spend a lot of time and a lot of money commuting the salary really has to be good to make up for the lost hours. 

Also in the most part you are living to work rather than working to live.
Unless that job is deeply vocational it just seems a bit much.

Foster

My cousin commutes to London each week - all because he moved branch.

Started with company in London, moved there, met girl, told company he'll leave if he can't work at the other branch closer to his girlfriend's family. They said "no worries", transferred him to the other branch where he settled down with his partner and bought a lovely house. Then the branch closed...

He now has to commute to London from Copenhagen each week.

cruxiform

mike_l said:

I gave up an hour's commute (each way), for a 15 minute (at the most) and less pay. I'm now much happier, and always home by 6-30 in the evening (at the latest) and am not spunking £200/month on petrol/travel costs. 

Wis'd. Same for me. I used to commute to South London from Surrey for 4 years and it would take me around 1.5 hours so 3 hours of my day was spent driving. My current job is less pay but it takes me 20 minutes each way. Much happier and I think that's what's it's all about. Being happy.

thomasross20

Amen.

earwighoney

Commuting is fucking shit. 

grungebob

With a baby on the way no way in hell would I do it. My little girl is now 10 months old. I don't see her in the morning and only get 1.5hrs of an evening and my commute is only 20mins. 

Youll miss loads and surely your new family is more important than a job. I don't particularly like my job, would love a different one but I'll stick this one out until she's older.  

TTBZ

Yep that's the conclusion I'm coming to!