How far would you commute to work?

[fairybells]

Where my husband works in south of England is too expensive for us to buy a house so we are looking at the rural areas surrounding but they are still quite expensive... I have found affordable houses but they are an hours drive away, some up to 1 hour 30 mins away. So how far is acceptable commute? My husband reckons he could do an hour (or even longer) each way but I'd like to hear from you, is it doable?

[blinkowl]

An hour is about the limit for me. I lived and worked in London pre-DC in an area without the tube and the shortest commute I ever had was 45 minutes, usually an hour and it was fine. With DC I would prefer it to be less if possible.

An hour and half each way is a whole hour extra away from home a day than an hour. Although it's doable it's significantly more than an hour each way is.

Personally I'd try to go for an hour tops but preferably less if at all possible.

Also worth checking those travel times at rush hour, there may be a big difference.

[Titsdown]

I do 1 hour and 40mins. But it's 1 train and 2 stops on the tube. No driving.

I drove an hour to work for a while and it was a nightmare. I was so knackered from the extra 2 hrs concentrating at either end of the day. (Disclaimer: I was pregnant, which I assume your DH isn't ) - but an hour on the train when you can sleep, read or work is very different to driving, and also check what traffic is like in rush hour, because sometimes an hour drive is regularly 2 hrs when it's busy.

For me this is a medium-term plan though. When we've paid off a chunk of our mortgage (maybe 5yrs), I'm going to look for a job nearby (which will be lower paid). Which sort of makes it bearable because I know it's not forever.

[misson]

More than an hour driving is hard. Also hard on the parent ferrying kids around.

[AidingAndAbetting]

A commute of an hour or so is doable long term I think. Any longer and it starts to impact on the quality of your life. Driving more than an hour home when you're already tired from a long day at work is very difficult.

Would the commutes you're looking at br longer than an hour in rush hour or have you already factored that in?

[fairybells]

Not much traffic where we live as its only a small town so the commute time wouldn't change drastically, might add extra 5 or 10 mins tops. I think we have decided on 1 hour commute. It's still within our price range although not quite as cheap as it would be if we went a bit further but I don't think the commute would be doable in the long run.

[janethegirl2]

Depends on the time of year for me. On a good day it's 40 minutes, on a bad one it can be in excess of an hour ( and has been 90 minutes!!).

[janethegirl2]

It's around 25 miles for info.

[elastamum]

Don't do more than 1 hour, particularly on rural roads. I did a 90 minute commute across the peak district for about a year and it nearly killed me.

[toooldtobeyoungandstupid]

500 miles per week was my limit. Luckily the traffic was not bad at all. Only lasted a year though and was glad when I stopped.

[shalome]

I did 1 hour 15 mins for over 2 years (2 days a week, 100 miles a day).

You need a reliable car to do it in. My old banger broke down 3 times in remote locations and a failed repair caused a nasty accident that I was able to walk away from.

Cost me £3k a year for two days a week working in fuel, tax, repairs, etc. When I factored commuting costs into my wages I was on £5.70 ph.

Include exhaustion from the long drive. I was out up to 11 hours a day and only 8 of that was being paid for.

I think public transport is the way with distant commuting.

Work locally now, so it's absolute bliss.

[shalome]

In addition to that, think about how you are able to get to work during snowy weather/ice, etc. I had to make sure I had a survival kit on hand (warm clothes, food, drink and charged mobile phone).