Prices can vary I guess but I just bought mouthwash (Listerine) and it was $10 for the standard big bottle -- not the jumbo bottle. I figure probably 2.5 bottles a month so $25 a month making his $12 seem really reasonable.

My listerine will last me like 6 months. Jesus.

i looked up a price on Targets website to make sure i was sane and it was $4-6 depending on brand. And i'm also with jmakin that a big bottle will last me the better part of 6 months easily.

lololol. 2.5 bottles a month. I use it morning and night and it would last longer than a month. Also lol $10.

I'm fairly sure a bottle is a liter for it to last six months you'd need to use less than 3 milliliters a go which is really low.

If you use an ounce you get 33 uses from a bottle so twice a day is 16.5 days but there will be days where you use it more than twice. I can see maybe using half an ounce but even then you'd be getting a month at the most.

That is what it costs. Walmart probably sells it for less but my guess would be still $8+ and it is not worth having to go to a Walmart to save $2. There are two main drug stores and the price is $9.50-$11 depending on if the drug store is 24 hours or normal hours.

http://well.ca/brand/listerine.html

Most young people are obsessed with living in a big city. This is the wrong approach, there are more opportunities to advance ur Career (when you first come out of university) in a smaller place and the cost of living is so much cheaper. You can always move back to a major city when you have a higher paying job and can afford it. The easiest time to save money is when you are young as you have not been hit by kids, mortgages, etc

What?

Problem is most people, especially wives, don't want to raise their kids in the city. Not sure about your advancement comment either. It really depends on the industry, but I know the one I was in, this was definitely not the case. Where I worked, people worked there basically till they retired and there were hardly any open spots (my boss was there 20+ years, multiple people in my group 25+ years).

How is it easier to advance your career in smaller place?

The opposite is true. For almost any kind of professional career there are either no jobs outside of metros or there are jobs but the pay a fraction of what a similar job in the city would pay and career advancement is typically capped and slower.

America is full of mid-sized to largish cities with plenty of career opportunities and low cost of living (Nashville, Omaha, Denver, Charlotte....). That is, unless you're in a field where you're locked in geographically (film, publishing, etc).

Still doesn't mean the guy is true. There aren't more opportunities in lesser cities than bigger cities.

You can't even get an apartment in co-op city if you make over $140k a year.

Doormen buildings are nicer, have better amenities and things like having someone to take packages, your dry cleaning etc. is very helpful when working crazy hours.

You can find nice non-doorman buildings at in between prices but they don't make sense if you are working long hours and order anything online.

Finally, I don't know of many people making $250k+ in NYC who have jobs that make "a great life in the suburbs" posible. To make that kind of money expect 60 hour weeks and no desire for long subway commutes to Queens. Also just finding neighborhoods that aren't insanely priced with good schools is next to impossible. The choice is pretty much live in the city or save a bit of money and get a yard in the suburbs for 90% of the price (any house $1mm+). If you live in the burbs you likely avoid private school but expect an hour minimu commute on top of that 60 hour a week job.

I read a study recently that said the biggest correlation they could find with happiness was not income or even what you did for a living, but commute time.

The study said that almost everyone who commuted over an hour was ****ing miserable regardless of how well they were paid or how much they said they liked their job or how awesome their house was. People with commutes under 15 minutes were the happiest, even if they didn't make much money.

I have a hard time buying this.

I don't. Your time on Earth is limited, it only makes sense that generally the less time you spend doing something you wouldn't do voluntary, the happier you will be. Most people have already spent 8-9 hours do something unnatural and tedious at work, only to have that misery compounded by a stressful commute that eats into your precious free time?


Money definitely doesn't buy happiness, I have been equally happy at both extremes and large sample studies illustrate this as well. Haven't looked in a while but think there may even be a slight negative correlation to money and happiness.

Quality of the commute makes a big difference. I have a boss in North Jersey who either has an hour bus and 30 minutes of subway or an hour drive. Two other bosses have an hour train a five minute walk from the office and spend the time reading on iPads catching up on email. Neither is ideal but train is way better than other alternatives.

I agree but there are also mid market cities where opportunities exist. But if someone is solely dedicated to career advancement, geography plays a major role. Also it is important to adjust for cost of living expenses when comparing wages in these places.

Bigpoppa do you have a link for that? It sounds very interesting.

I commute a lot but I also work much less than the average person. I would expect commute time to be less of a complaint with the increasing number of smartphone games/time-wasters.

Yeah, I think the study was looking at an hour+ in the car, not train or bus. There's almost no way you drive for over an hour and don't get to work pissed off and stressed, and there's almost no way you drive for over an hour and don't get home in the same state.

I said this in OOT a while back and a bunch of people came out and defended commuting as something that they loved.

I have no issue with accepting the study's findings for two reasons.

First, commuting is something that you do every day. It is how you start and end your day and it is going to have a major impact on how your day goes.

Second, commuting is correlated with a bunch of other items that factor into happiness -- socializing, financial status, physical wellness, etc As such even if the commute itself is not directly causing the lack of happiness it still works as an indicator.

I hate commuting. My old commute in memphis was like 12 minutes each way. I now live in Philly and it currently is 40 minutes each way which blows but i could be on a project that I will eventually only travel once a week or two, but it'll be 1.5 hours each way. Otherwise I'll work from home which is sweet.

I have a friend who loves to drive and likes to commute. But I'm pretty sure most people would prefer as short as possible of a commute with the least amount of stress. If I had a 10 minute walk it would be ideal. The company I work for has an office that is a 30 minute walk and a 10 minute train which i may try to do. It's a satellite office though so none of the executives are there and I'm new.

People really drive over an hour to work? Holy ****.

Sorry, was linked to by a news aggregator and I don't even remember what site the article was on.

When I used to work at Merck, I remember one of the guys mentioned traveling 2 hours each way in NJ traffic. If that was the case, I would be so angry all day long.

That's silly. Time >>>>> a few extra dollars a month.

My longest commute was 4 stops on the 6. Eventually, I valued my morning time so much I cabbed to work daily [pre 7am], then walked home. Or subway in bad weather.

I had co-workers that had to catch 530 or earlier trains. Insanity.