How much does it cost you to get to work?

[taterguy]

A variation on the gas price theme since I think that's rather meaningless.

We all consume different amounts of gas.

So, on an average day, how much do you spend getting to work?

26 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	0-$1.00
	11 (42%)
	$1.00 - $2.00
	0 (0%)
	2.00 -5.00
	5 (19%)
	5.00 -10.00
	4 (15%)
	More than $10.00
	5 (19%)
	Too damn much
	1 (4%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[BiggJawn]

1. If you factor in the psychic costs...

It's way too damn much.

Our budget gets cut so much I'm surprised we don't have to bring our own lights from home.

About a gallon and a 1/2 a day of gas.

[Nay]

2. 18 miles to work and back -- about 3/4 gal of gas. Plus $3.00 in tolls. Will be glad to retire and

have that money back!

[exboyfil]

16. I am also thinking going down to one car

will save alot of money as well. If I lived alone and did not have to go to work, I would probably go down to no cars and really save a bundle.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. More than $10

I commute round trip 35 miles a day - but I also have upkeep of an Altima (2006 I purchased new). It has 103k miles on it. My parents had one in 1995 they drove for 10 years - then gave to my brother. He killed it at 280K Miles. So - the input of car maintenance (which I do measure weekly) means I don't have to think of another car for 7 or 8 years.

Also - though I live in NJ - I'm commuting from Bridgewater to Basking Ridge. I can't afford to live in Basking Ridge - well I could . . . but then that means I would be living 'at means' instead of 'below means'. And I would still have a two mile walk to work on 'rural roads' i.e. no sidewalks if took the train from Bridgewater or Somerville to Basking Ridge.

[riderinthestorm]

4. I work at home BUT we do have gas usage for tractors here on the farm

so my footprint isn't zero.

[get the red out]

5. I'm very fortunate

I drive a hybrid and live about 3 1/2 miles from work. That's just about optimal and I know my case is a very fortunate one.

[bhikkhu]

6. Its a 3 mile bike ride each way

mostly on bike trails, so it works well rain or shine or snow. It takes about the same amount of time as driving.

[tammywammy]

7. I live a little less than 5 miles from where I work

Cost less than $1 to drive there.

[thecrow]

8. Since 2008? Nothing.

You DO NOT want to know how life has been since.

[CTyankee]

9. I'm with you. I retired in 2004 (forced out, age related).

My psychic cost was the biggest factor. Had a frail, elderly mother and disabled brother plus my 4th grandchild expected in the summer of that year. Time to go on SS and find a part time job, which I had until May of 2007 (illness). Then full retirement. No desire to ever go back to paid employment (I volunteer).

[turtlerescue1]

29. Hear ya.

Partial SS, an adventure and a challenge, bet you understand.

Do you wonder if we of the 99% aren't already enslaved by the 1%? Given enough to keep us sustained and able to be the worker ants in the "colony". All of us seem to be whistling while we work. Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron".

[hfojvt]

10. about 65 cents it seems

5 years is about 1,000 work days, and a new bike is about $650.

[rug]

11. Nothing. It's four blocks away.

[flvegan]

12. Between 7 and 8 bucks.

Add in delays due to knuckledragging mouthbreather troglodytes that can't manage to keep their automobile between two sets of lines without plowing into another automobile.

While I admit that people should have the right to be stupid, it shouldn't cost me time and money.

[DotGone]

13. Nothing now since I'm unemployed but when I was working, $20/day in gas and tolls

$20/day is a lot when you're only making $8-$10/hr.

[Swede]

14. I estimate $80-100 per month in gas.

That's is a ballpark number,but I have never accurately nailed it down.

[SGMRTDARMY]

15. Nothing

I'm retired from the Army.

[meaculpa2011]

17. $254 per month for the railroad plus...

another $50 for the subway. Pretty steep.

[JHB]

39. We're practically twins on that score.

[hunter]

18. I work at home.

My wife's work is within walking distance of our house.

We've arranged our lives that way on purpose.

When we met we were both Los Angeles commuters. I'll never get those hours spent driving back.

We've been actively avoiding that lifestyle for more than twenty years now.

[HopeHoops]

19. Making my way down a flight of stairs.

Or sometimes in bed. I don't have to leave the house.

[dkf]

20. $8.00 a day but it's the parking that is expensive.

That averages to $12.50/day, so over $20 for transportation, not counting wear and tear on the car or insurance. Thank goodness I paid the thing off.

[coalition_unwilling]

21. Surprised you don't have an 'Unemployed' option, as 8-15%

of the population currently do not work for wages or salary.

I'm one of those.

[fizzgig]

22. less than a buck no matter the mode of transport

i live six or seven blocks from work and usually walk or ride my bike, but some days my back won't cooperate, so i drive or have my husband drive me.

[LiberalFighter]

23. Before I retired I used about 30 gallons of gas a month average

So that equates from $90 to $120 a month I don't spend on gas. And instead of filling up the tank every 7 to 10 days it is now about once a month depending on my activities.

[MichaelMcGuire]

24. Walking or bike. (nt)

[Cairycat]

25. Can walk or bike to both jobs

so my cost is none/minimal (there are a few times when I drive). But my husband has about a 25 mile round trip, so it evens out.

[DreamGypsy]

26. $0.00 The dogs and I walk out the back door...

and head down to the barn.

[HillWilliam]

27. It's right at 60 miles each way for me every day

It's either that or don't have work.

There's no winning this battle. When they gotcha, they gotcha coming and going. Gas in central NC is running about $3.34/gallon depending. I usually gas up at Sam's in Danville, VA where it's a quarter cheaper if I can get there. I live closer to Danville than I do Durham or Greensboro.

[AsahinaKimi]

28. Nothing

I work from home. The only thing it costs me is the electricity to run my computer..

[GoneOffShore]

30. Unless it's raining or snowing - Nothing - I walk

From my bed to the in home office..

If we've got a session, a ten minute walk to the studio.

[Iggo]

31. $0.00 to get to work, about $2.75 to get home.

Last edited Mon Jun 11, 2012, 11:50 AM - Edit history (1)

I get a ride to work from a co-worker. I take three buses to get home, but I buy a monthly pass for $84.00, which I do use on the weekends. If I also had to take the bus TO work, it'd be two buses in the morning and three in the afternoon, but it'd still be $2.75 per day. If you can figure out how much of that goes to fuel for the bus, you got skills. (EDIT: Morning ride with co-worker is about 12 miles. It's gonna take me a few to figure the bus mileage each way...I'll try to edit it in around lunch time.)

NOTE: I count the morning ride from a co-worker as $0.00 because she'd drive to work whether she was taking me with her or not.

[ileus]

32. 1.37 gallons a day @35mpg

[dmallind]

33. Let's see. 8.5 miles so about 26c

electric here being a bit over the norm at 14.1c/KW

[NeedleCast]

34. I spend the approximately the first hour of my day paying for my commute

...and I make a little over 34$/hour.

57 miles one way, plus a little over 10 dollars a day in tolls. My commute is literally the worst thing in my life. It turns an 8 hour work day into an 11 hour day (that's on a good traffic day). I've had recent interview for good jobs closer to home, but come in second place in two interviews...not good enough when they have one position open. Still fighting against lots of other applicants for each position I come across.

[L0oniX]

35. Gas, insurance/6 month policy, vehicle purchase /years of use= much more than just gas.

The people who clicked $1 must be taking their bicycle to work.

[dmallind]

41. So people who don't drive to work don't have a car?

Financial analysis rule 1 is if it doesn't change it doesn't matter. If you'd not have a car at all without a commute then you'd have a fair point, but most of us would still have, or at least want, a car without a work commute.

You could make a case for the additional wear and tear that making these trips costs, but not the car or insurance per se unless you'd shed the car with no commute.

[L0oniX]

46. The question was "How much does it cost you to get to work?"

[dmallind]

53. And if you already have or would have a car, as is true for most people

The purchase price and insurance are sunk costs not able to be discretely allocated to that work commute.

Again - if it doesn't change it doesn't matter. If we go the completist route we should add in the food costs that give us the calories expended on commuting, the education costs that gave us the skills to get the job, the taxes that paid for the roads that lead to work, and so on ad infinitum. Just like owning a car, these costs are not derived only from our need to get to work.

It's certainly possible that some insular types with very close-by grocery stores, doctors and other necessities who seek no entertainment options outside their walking radius would not have cars (or transit costs) if they did not work, but need the car for that purpose alone. Only for this tiny group are non-discrete car expenses appropriate to include in the cost to get to work.

[Spike89]

47. Short motorcycle commute

I didn't figure insurance or cost of the vehicle--I'd have the motorcycle, commute or not. I use about a gallon of gas a week, maybe a tad more. I suppose with wear/tear and pro-rated regular maintenance, insurance, accessories to exclude my "pleasure" riding, the total cost would be more in the $2-$3 range.

[MH1]

36. It's the train fare for me.

Cost of gas is negligible but a monthly transit pass costs a bunch.

[Arugula Latte]

37. I have to commute ... all the way downstairs.

It's rough, I tell you. Rough.

[Capt. Obvious]

38. I assume this is round trip?

Pulls out calculator (and accounts for the once a month trip I have to make to corporate)...

Roughly $6/day

I fill up about once every 10 days but a good chunk of the miles come on weekends - not work - so I'm pretty much guessing.

[hifiguy]

40. $4.50 bus fare round trip

about 14 minutes on the bus each way.

[belcffub]

42. just over 3 miles into work... I always bugs me when people complain...

about me driving in inefficient 4x4. They own a hybrid or small car that gets 30+ mph but drive 1 gallon into work and 1 gallon home... I use 1 gallon ever other day... who's has a smaller eco footprint...

[shanti]

43. when i did commute

(i'm now retired), it cost me $65 for a monthly pass subsidized by my employer, much less expensive than buying daily tickets on light rail. i did that for 10 years.

[FreeJoe]

44. About $15/day

My wife is a SAHM. We own two vehicles. If neither of us worked, I think we would either own just one or I would own a cheaper one. For that reason, I'm going to attribute about 50% of the costs of my car to commuting. I think 50% is roughly the amount of my cars miles given to commuting.

I spent about $1,400 on gas, about $800 on insurance, and about $4,000 in depreciation. That's about $6,200. Assuming that half of that is attributable to commuting, I spent about $3,100 on commuting. Given that I worked about 210 days last year, that works out to $14.75/day.

[Luciferous]

45. Nothing, since I don't work and my husband works five minutes away so he just walks.

[aikoaiko]

48. 1 gallon of gas each way.

$7 per day for gas
$8 per day for used car (paid in full and assuming minor maintenance and insurance for 5 years)


so I estimate it at $15 per day to get to work.

[LanternWaste]

49. I live 1.1 miles from work, and walk about half the time...

I live 1.1 miles from work, and walk about half the time; although I do take the car when it's hot & muggy or the weather gets bad.

And as my purchase of the car, its maintenance, and my insurance policy would still exist regardless of whether I drove it to work or not, I don't really factor those in as...

[SaB2012]

50. Well, my work is weird.

They pay mileage between the places I work at, but not between my home and the first or last place I work. I work mostly around town, so it doesn't cost me much to get to my first location and get home from my last location. I do have to drive about 20 minutes (mostly interstate) to one place once a week and I get paid for the mileage there, but not back home. I've never really bothered to calculate the cost for the trip home.

[MrSlayer]

51. Nothing. Out of work for 10 months now.

I would be happy to pay the four bucks a day for the subway.

[RebelOne]

52. Nothing since 2010

when I was laid off and decided to retire. But when I was working it was an average of $40 per week.