I used to commute ~45 min to an hour to work and home each day and it really really sucked. I changed jobs and moved ~10 min from where I work. I added an hour and a half to my day. Such a great decision.

I would start to dread Friday nights/holidays because I knew it was going to be at least an hour and a half in traffic to get home and by the time I get home I'm in a terrible mood.

A relative of mine was CEO of a major insurer, and drove himself both ways 1.5 hrs in and out of midtown Manhattan. I have no idea how he did it. Happily married to same woman for ~50 years, 4 well-adjusted kids.

But he's the only one I know like that. Most senior mgmt is on their 3rd-6th wife and has moved back into the City to stop commuting.

A study that came out in 2010 has the average one way commute

Toronto -- 80 minutes
Montreal -- 76 minutes
New York -- 68 minutes

It is insane that the average person loses 12.5 hours a week to driving in Toronto and that is the average so some people are losing a lot more.

Henry, people drive 2+ hrs from the Poconos each way to get to Manhattan. Then you gotta pay for parking [not cheap.] It really is insane.

24 [north/south] blocks, that was a nice commute.

some people like the freedom of being alone for an hour an a half. some people also love to drive. i hate dealing with traffic. i hate dealing with dumb ass drivers especially. i hate the reasons for traffic. i hate when people in traffic decide to put like 500 feet between them and the car in front of them. i love catching people going slow as **** because they are texting while driving or obviously on a phone. i was once at an intersection behind someone that waited like 30 seconds at the light because she was texting. i finally honked (i never do that) and she still didn't move. obviously gotta do that text. can't pay attention to anything else going on.

I have been under 25 minutes door to door after 15 minute walk first two years. Wouldn't want much longer but I like listening to a podcast and is so much better living in the West Village (now Chelsea) than Midtown.

I actually walk home (~2.5 mi or 45 min) two or three days a week when the weather is nice. Great way to clear the mind and really see the city.

I'm really starting to question what I am going to do with regards to living in new york. Either I move into the city and save no money/be poor or I live in the suburbs and kill myself commuting.

If you are young and single with roommates you can easily live well on $65k-$80k a year. Really just becomes an issue if you want to live by yourself very well or have a family.

I mean I understand what you're saying but I don't think you can make this an absolute. For example I commute 30 minutes each way to work. I don't watch much television and I really enjoy listening to podcasts and audiobooks. My drive is against the traffic and all highway, so I set the cruise and just listen. It actually helps me decompress to/from work. I know people who live 5 minutes away and they are late and always seem frazzled. Living a certain distance creates a good routine in my opinion. Right now I live in the burbs and would gladly live an extra 20 minutes away to live in a big city.

The happiest I ever was, was commuting to work 45min each way to the burbs against traffic and living in downtown Chicago. That was optimal. I mean working in the city would've been even more optimal, but then again, podcasts, audiobooks, decompress.

At the moment I live in an upscale suburb of LA. I don't want to live near where I work because frankly the area I work in is a ****hole. What I give up in time, I gain in quality of life, safety, security, well being, and a better daily/weekend surrounding.

I understand our time on this earth is precious, I get that we only have something like 10,000 days of actual time to ourselves after work, commute, eating, sleep, traveling, etc...

But at the end of the day...I guess its what you make of your time. I still have plenty of time everyday day to eat healthy, workout for 1-2 hours, read a little, practice some guitar and run my errands.

I'm amazed at the cost of internet there.
You can get 100 Mbit/s for €24 per month, which is the fastest internet available out here. (+€10~ for every tv channel you need)
Phone bill €10 max.
But then again, $65k is balling out of control here.

Just reading this makes me tilt. Damn. Drivers who text are the 2nd nut low behind drink driving imo.

I'm not so sure about the "loses" part.

I've had some brutal commutes, but it was no big deal. I would have just pissed the time away anyway.

i haven't read thru the whole thread so idk if this has been said - but just so everyone knows, as a decade long resident of san francisco, i can say that $800/month on food in a real city is not at all unreasonable.

i suspect OP actually spends more because $800/mo is like nothing if you have any kind of life or even just like eating moderately okay at home. If you enjoy food, it would be foolish to eat fast food or super simple things when you have access to some of the best stuff in the world 24/7 by virtue of your location ldo

45 minute walk>>>>>> than equal drive time.

first 5 pages of this post are hilarious might i add

The real question is why would you ever go to New York? Have you ever been anywhere else?

while we are on topic about driving, do u guys ever beat off while driving? if i had that Toronto commute I'd have sticky pants every day

Interesting bump!

Now that I cook a lot, $20/month on olive oil seems a lot less absurd (it's still more than I spend but not WTF-level).

I wonder how different my life would have to be before I thought $35/month on cologne was reasonable.

I've spent zero dollars zero cents on cologne in my life and I get complimented on how I smell on a regular basis.

Cologne seems like a weird relic of the era before indoor plumbing existed where people bathed like twice a month.

You'd spend more on cologne.

lbr,
Sorry, I meant I wonder how poorly my life would be going if I could only allocate $35/month to cologne.

Clive Christian 4 LYFE.

Lol, all I need to do is put some Axe Body Spray on eBay for $1,000 and sue Clive Christie for false advertising.

Cologne is a major waste of money. Just comb some apple cider vinegar in your beard and move on with your life.