Moving Further from city centre - cheaper but commute??

crazycatlady1984

Hi all,

Just wondering how far you guys all travel to work each day?

I currently live a 5minute train journey from city centre, where I work, but am needing somewhere bigger and can't afford what I want in this area. So, myself and OH have bought a lovely big new place, but it is approx 25miles from my work.

My commute would be a 5min walk to train station, then 33mins (express train) or 45 mins (slow train) then a 5min walk to work at other end. Does that sound ok? It is a lot more than I travel at the moment but am hoping that I can just chill out and read a book, and that being able to relax in my lovely big house when I do get home will be worth it!

Any opinions/input would be greatly appreciated!

RAS

Mine is about 1hr 10 minutes. Fine when the trains are on time.

Kara_P

My partner and I work within a 2 minute walk of each other and less than a 5 minute drive from our house. The site we work at is slightly out of the center of the city which helped us so much.

Reasons why we chose the location:

1) We had both commuted an hour to university previously so wanted to avoid this again (we would have stretched to a 20-30 minute commute)
2) This is not our "forever home" if it was then we would have been more willing to commute in order to afford a nicer house (I would have been willing to commute up to an hour for our perfect home).

You sound like you have got it right to me. Enjoy your new home!

Procrastinator333

It depends on you and the hours of your job. Personally, for the right job I would now be willing do to up to an hour, door to door each way. I have done 2 hour door to door each way in the past and will never do that again.

It also depends on little things like the train journey you are planning - how crowded is it? Sitting on a relatively empty train every day is a very differnt experience to being crammed in and having to stand sniffing someones armpit for 40 mins twice a day.

To me, so long as the train journey is ok, that sounds like a reasonable commute. You will get through a lot of books which if you like books is not a bad thing!

abankerbutnotafatcat

hi crazycatlady, my commute is very similar to your proposed one only with a 12 minute-ish walk at each end (and all of our trains take around 35 minutes) plus I choose to sit on the train in station for 5 -10 minutes at each end in order to get a seat so i can comfortably relax and read. In total my journey is c 1hr 15 minutes door to door. I actually like it. I've only been commuting since November having previously lived much close to town but I enjoy the reading time and love the feeling of getting off the train and into another world away from the hustle and bustle. Plus of course I love the spacious property I was able to afford!! It's not for everyone and I didn't think it would be for me (but there were circumstances, other people to consider).

Pee

I drive, there isn't an option to use the train or any public transport, and it's about 50 minutes door to door. (I don't always work in the same place, just to confuse things.)

Previously I've had shorter commutes- I walked about five minutes -, and longer - in terms of time rather than mileage, I lived in a built up area, commuted to the neighbouring built up area and had about ten minutes walk from the car park. It's a shame my current commute doesn't involve any walking and the cost is prohibitive, but there is nowhere I would be happy living closer so for me, it's worth it. (I also pay £100 a month rent, so do have spare money for petrol.)

I'd be more than happy with your commute. I actually think too short of a commute doesn't give you long enough to unwind from work and you can get home still with your work worries ready to cause tension in the house. Some thinking time in the middle works wonders.

crazycatlady1984

thanks guys, feeling a bit better about it now! :T

I am a totally avid reader so looking forward to being able to unwind and have a relaxing wee read on the way home and to chillin out in my lovely new home :j

and procrastinator, 2hours each way sounds awful, bet youre glad you're not doing that anymore!!:eek:

neverdespairgirl

I think it realy depends on both your job and you personally.

We live very close to our work places, which means that we can pop home if waiting for a fax to come in late in the evening, and because we both travel a lot, we start in the centre of town, which makes it easier.

So we pay more for a smaller place to live, but save time.

Owain_Moneysaver

33 mins doesn't sound too bad, but how frequent is the train service? It becomes over an hour if the trains are half-hourly and you just miss one.

If you can't read on the train you can download audio books or podcasts.

If you can sit on the morning train you could make breakfast the night before, microwave it in the morning and put it in an insulated serving container, and eat it on the train (to envious looks from everyone else!), so you'd actually save some time.

pinkshoes

Driving, I wouldn't want more than 45 minutes, but if it's a train journey then a walk, then up to an hour would be fine, as you get to (hopefully) sit down, chill out, read etc...

tyllwyd

I used to do a train journey of half an hour - as other people have said, its not a huge problem as long as the trains aren't too crowded and and are reliable. I found that after a while, I'd mentally switch off during the commute time, so I wouldn't be so aware of time passing - but if the train was delayed, I'd sort of wake up with a start at the time when we should be arriving, and get a shock when I looked out of the window and saw fields instead of a train station!