How long is too long for a commute

FortuitousFluke · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:42

I've been contacted by an agency about a position in London. Technically it's £17k p/a more than my current job but after season ticket etc would work out as around £200 a month extra in the bank. Now I could use the money, and the increase in job role could allow me to either move to a higher paid position in London, or take a sideways step but closer to home after say 12 months.

The thing that bugs me is I'd be moving from a 35 minute cycle each way to a two hour commute made up of a cycle, a train, and the tube.

So, denizens of GD, given that I'm probably going to have a number of London based opportunities even if this doesn't pan out, in your opinions how long is too long for a commute?

FurryLemon · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:46

200 a month more is chump change for that commute.

McGraw · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:46

I had to do a 1hr 50 min commute each way for a few months.

Lift to train, two trains and ten minute walk. I dealt with it as I knew it wouldn't be forever.

No chance I would say 3hrs extra a day is worth approx £10 per day.

robfosters · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:48

Sod that for an extra £200. Personally, I would never commute for more than an hour and with as little changes as possible. 1 train and a walk is plenty for me.

hornetstinger · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:48

Taking multiple forms of transport to get to work and home is just a disaster. I had to walk, then take a train then a bus.

I quit after a week.

Vibein · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:51

I did a 2 hour each way journey, was painful some days most of the time went into autopilot. After a while decided it was enough and moved positions.

I would not recommend it really unless it is an exceptional position or you think it is a springboard to greater things in the future. For £200 extra I would wait for something better imho

robfosters · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:52

I would so hate getting to the end of a long knackering day only to have to face all that travelling just to get home. And having to do it 5 days a week. Where's your life go man!

Begbie · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:53

LOL. Nope.

FortuitousFluke · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:58

Ha ha, I love this place sometimes, pretty unanimous response I'd say. The only reason I'm considering it is the potential to drop it after a year and find a similarly paid role back in Cambridge.

I'm thinking I will go for the agency interview at the very least, it's only the location in London that makes it such a pain, something a bit closer to Kings Cross wouldn't nearly be so arduous so I've got no issue with them coming back to me with other opportunities.

I suppose I've got one other question just to put it to bed, given that it's a local authority position, would an element of flexible working change any minds in here, say 1 or two days a week from home?

hornetstinger · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:59

Agency= run like a mile.

AHarvey · 6 Jan 2017 at 20:59

It's going to cost you £14,600 a year to commute?

Seems extremely steep.

You're going to be spending an extra 17 hours every 4 weeks commuting for £185.. around £11 an hour.

I have a friend that lives outside London and works at Picadilly Circus, he can post photos at 6am and he's on a train, then he's complaining when he's on the train again at 8pm going home...what a life!!

robfosters · 6 Jan 2017 at 21:01

Local authority very unlikely I would say for working at home. Is it worth suffering it for a year just for an extra £2,400.

robfosters · 6 Jan 2017 at 21:02

hornetstinger said:
Agency= run like a mile.

Yep, you'll probably get all the way down there and they'll say it's gone but they are getting others, but you need to sign up with them. They advertise false jobs all the time.

FortuitousFluke · 6 Jan 2017 at 21:02

AHarvey said:
It's going to cost you £14,600 a year to commute?

Seems extremely steep.

You're going to be spending an extra 17 hours every 4 weeks commuting for £185.. around £11 an hour.

Should have clarified, the £17k is pre tax, my season ticket would be about £6.5k in total I believe, when you take into account pension increases due to moving up thresholds and student loan etc it works out as roughly £200pm extra in the bank according to listentotaxman.com.

hornetstinger · 6 Jan 2017 at 21:04

Just get a part time job to make that £200 a month. That's nothing. Basically do 6 hours a week and that's your £200 a month.

FortuitousFluke · 6 Jan 2017 at 21:10

robfosters said:
Local authority very unlikely I would say for working at home. Is it worth suffering it for a year just for an extra £2,400.

I work for a local authority now and most of them are quite big on flexible working, not least because during tight times it has allowed them to scale back their office costs.

hornetstinger said:
Just get a part time job to make that £200 a month. That's nothing. Basically do 6 hours a week and that's your £200 a month.

That is an incredibly good point and I'm extremely annoyed I didn't think of it.

I think I may bow to the wisdom of the group, it's double the length of the longest commute I've ever had to do and I think there are enough opportunities around at the moment for me to avoid taking the hit right now.

Cheers for the sanity check, this place is as useful as ever.

hornetstinger · 6 Jan 2017 at 21:19

Actually 7 hours per week (at NMW)

7 x 7.20 = £201 per month

AHarvey · 6 Jan 2017 at 23:18

hornetstinger said:
Actually 7 hours per week (at NMW)

7 x 7.20 = £201 per month

with tax it would be more still...

Pudney · 7 Jan 2017 at 00:54

robfosters said:
Local authority very unlikely I would say for working at home. Is it worth suffering it for a year just for an extra £2,400.

Very easily depending on certain circumstances. Working in London for a leading name in your industry can set up your CV for the rest of your career making progress outside London substantially easier after a year. Short term pain for long term gain.

HangTime · 7 Jan 2017 at 14:01

I commute 4.5-5hrs a day, 4 days a week (although I'll typically stay in London once or twice a month for football / social event, so maybe 15 days a month). In terms of take home pay, after factoring in season ticket cost it is about £500/month more than my old job, but bonus/pension and other benefits are much better. Then there is the intangible benefit of working for a more prestigious employer / sector that should give me better career prospects.

Basically I got to a point about 3 years ago where to further my career I figured it may be necessary to take a job in the City. In order to make the commute workable (in terms of both cost and time) I decided I needed to earn at least £30k more than my old job.
Our plan is now to move closer to London and reduce my commute to 3hrs a day, but this is quite a slow process.

In terms of the actual physical commute itself, on a good day it doesn't bother me that much because I'm usually sat in the same seat for over an hour on the longest leg of the journey so can watch some catch-up TV, read a book, surf, do some work or whatever. It doesn't feel much like dead time if I watch say a 1hr TV programme that I would have watched at home anyway.
However, on the flipside when there are problems and delays, or the rare occasions when I can't get a seat, isn't so pleasant. Southern Rail really not helping here as two thirds of the trains that stop at my local station are operated by them. I've had days where I've not got home until after 10pm and then have to leave for work at 06:45 the next day.
The real thing I don't like about commute is the time away from home, as I say most of the time the actual art of commuting I don't find that bad, but it has meant that ignoring eating/sleeping etc I have very little time at home on weekdays.

Finally one point to consider about take home pay, bear in mind that increased Student Loan and Pension contributions are an additional benefit of increased earnings, as it means you will pay off your loan quicker and have more money in your pension. So don't purely focus on takehome, although obviously it is important.