Long commute for a big pay rise... would you?

[KingHyx]

I work in a specialist field where jobs in my area are very hard to come by. I live outside of the city where salaries are generally very low. I am lucky enough to work close to home at the moment and whilst my salary is considered very good for where I live, it’s low for the field I work in.

I’ve been offered an opportunity in central London (where most of the jobs in my field seem to be), which would be a £30k pay rise plus benefits for doing the same role I do now. The commute to work would be around 2 hours each way.....!

I’m 25, married but no children and we own a property, so moving closer isn’t really an option for us at the moment. We are comfortable financially, but of course it would be amazing to have such a large pay rise and an opportunity to make some significant overpayments on the mortgage etc.

Am I crazy for considering this? It would be really helpful to hear from anyone else who has a long commute to work and what your experiences are!

[ForalltheSaints]

We have someone at work (in London) who lives up north, and has a room in a house for Monday to Friday. Worth thinking about?

[AntiHop]

If it doesn't work out, would you be able to get a job closer to home again easily enough?

[notharryssally]

I haven't RTFT but at your age, yes I might have considered this. But could you rent a room cheaply Monday to Friday?

[Scottishgirl85]

If most jobs in your field are in London you need to move sooner or later.

[Kerberos]

I did this for a couple of years from Winchester into Liverpool Street and just got used to it. You just do. I loved working in London at the time and have fond memories. Assume your commute is train based into the city?

[cantbeb0thered]

I have just taken a new job in London and I get the 0557 train and get to work at 0740 and I am home by 1845. I quite like it. I have two kids , young and have hired an au pair. I enjoy the peace of the train. If it's late or delayed meh . No stress. 😁

[WelcomeToShootingStars]

No. 4 hours additional time on top of a working day just wouldn't be worth the money as it'd have a knock on effect onto everything else in my life.

[DianaPrincessOfThemyscira]

In your case I would.

If it was me, now, I wouldn’t. I would consider it if it was train journeys as I get so stressed driving for work - it took me two hours to go 30 miles the other week

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

Personally I wouldn’t

As take off 40% tax
Then take of the train costs which will be mega
And it’s a massive journey , 10 hours a week

But work our the exact costs and viability to WFH .

[stanski]

With no kids age 25 my god yes. These are your best years to move up in salary and position ! Make the most of it.

However, I would seriously consider renting your home out and renting yourself closer - or getting a Monday to Friday rental and going back for weekends.

[Surfingtheweb]

I wouldn't do it unless they can offer flexible working or a home based contract so you work from home Monday & Friday & can expense a hotel tue & wed.

[stanski]

FWIW I'm London based and over the years have had countless colleagues commuting in from as far as Manchester and as 'close' (relatively speaking) we Brighton. The majority of them just got used to it and had their 'me time' on the train whether that meant reading a book or catching up with the news. If it allows you to pay down your mortgage as much as possible prior to having kids do it

[Rezie]

2h away from London and the travel cost would be only £6k/year?

I wouldn't do it. I'm too much of a fan of comfort. It's never just 2h since there are delays, waiting for next train etc. I just don't want my whole week to be work. Staying in London monday-thursday night in a cheap accommodation at least some weeks..Maybe. But I can totally see how it is tempting. I'd also probably let the house and move a bit closer rather than commute.

[MissSmith80]

A friend of mine does this - she gets an early train to get her in to her office for 9am, she rents a room in a colleagues flat (it's really cheap as she only really eats and sleeps there and is not there when her colleague wants a 'spare' room i.e. weekends) and then compresses her full time hours in to 4 days (her Tuesday and Wednesday are really long days) so she gets the train home around 4pm on a Thursday giving her Friday to get her 'chores' done and chill out and then the weekend is for her and DH to spend together - it works for them and they are taking chunks off their mortgage. I do appreciate that not all employers would offer so much flexibility.

[UnaOfStormhold]

I'm another who has done this for years on the basis of working from home at least 1 day a week and counting work I do on the train. I initially spent a few nights in London a week but since DC I don't do this any more. Tiring at times and train delays can be a nightmare but it lets me keep working in a field I enjoy. Work wise I like having dedicated time for emailing and having wifi on the train helps a lot. Can you cycle the last bit rather than taking the tube? It can make it hard to get enough exercise!

[happydays00]

I'd do it, even just for a few years pre DC. My commute was 2 hours door to door if all trains were running to time.

Considerations:

• can you WFH 1 - 2 days a week?
  
• could you stay over 1 night a week and do a later finish / earlier start the next day?
  
• can the hours that you work on train count as part of your working day?
  
• as pp have said what is the journey like? Mine was 15 minute drive to station, 50 minute train, 30 minute tube, walk to office. The long train part wasn't the issue as I had a seat, it was the other parts that finished it for me!
  
  If I left my job at 5:30 I would have to catch a 6:30 or 7pm train, if I left at 5:10 I would be able to catch a 6pm train. It made a big difference so worth looking at these options.

[Alsohuman]

At 25 with no kids, absolutely. I did a similar commute for years when I was more than twice your age.

[wheretoevenstart]

Possibly. Would depend on net salary increase, working hours culture, holiday, other benefits (pension, medical, anything else?). I would worry that a lot of the extra money would get eaten up in increased costs - cleaner, convenience food/takeaway, treats because you've had a long week etc. Nothing wrong with any of those things, but you'd need to make sure you had an accurate picture of the financial gain.

I'd also consider what my escape plan would be.

But it could give you a massive financial boost, so yes, I'd definitely consider it.

[maddening]

I would rent out my property and rent in City.

[Purpletigers]

I wouldn’t do it . You’ll have lots of money but no time to spend it . Better to have a balance !

[Hiddenaspie1973]

No.

[OllyBJolly]

I took on a Monday - Friday let when I worked in London. I'd travel Monday morning, try to get home on Thursday night and work from home Friday.

It was a brilliant career move, not so much that this particular job paid well, more that it significantly raised my profile so that I could subsequently name my price.

I'd do it - you won't get the chance once DCs are on the scene

[Megan2018]

Definitely do it.

But I'd consider staying in London for a couple of nights a week so not travelling every single day.

As others have said - use it to save as much as poss now, then if you decide to have DC you'll have choices. If you could either pay off the mortgage early or create a nice financial cushion you can then choose to take a role closer to home on less money.

[DrWhy]

Realistically if it was taking me from £25k to £55k I’d probably do it, you’d be taking a lot of it home and it’s a massive % change in your net income. For £100k to £130k not a chance, you’d be paying about 60% in tax and the remainder isn’t a big enough % change in income (in my view) to be worth it.
Things to consider though, what’s the long term plan? That’s going to be pretty unsustainable with small children if you want to see them at all in the week. Would you want to move house into London to keep increasing your career? Or get a job back locally and take a pay cut? How practical are either of those options?

[MojoMoon]

For the last few years, I have let out my spareroom to commuters (known as Monday to Friday let's on spareroom.com but usually it's more like Monday to Wednesday).
If you search spare room.com, you should get an idea of the cost. Or if you just want something ad hoc rather than paying a monthly rent, then air BnB. You can also get cheap last minute rooms at premier Inn/travel lodge style places. A few of my colleagues do that around 9.30pm at evening drinks to see if it's worth not bothering going home that night. We have lockers etc at work so it's easy to keep a change of clothes, makeup etc on stand by.

But to be honest, at 25, why not just rent out your house and move to London for a couple of years? It's fun plus it seems all your career opportunities are in London so spend a couple of years working, building a work network and having fun in your leisure time. Yes it means a small flat but you can always move back out later.