As we face the prospect of $4.00/gallon gas, and the likelihood that we will soon be paying tolls to drive around King County, take the time to calculate what your commute actually costs, relative to your home’s value and location. This nifty tool will answer questions that perhaps you hadn’t thought of asking before. While we have historically sought to reduce commutes to save TIME, it is going to become just as important, if not more so, to consider the hard costs associated with commutes.
This calculator is a little bit tricky to use at first, but patience will provide excellent information. You may input as many “commuters” from your family as you like, each with its own vehicle value and average miles-per-gallon, as well as distance, number of commutes per month, estimated vehicle maintenance costs, and toll costs. This information is combined with the size of respective mortgages, interest rate, and location. The results can be a bit startling, especially when you move farther out and spend MORE rather than less as we did a few years ago.
While it was understood that our mortgage would more than double in size, I never could have anticipated that the extra 10 mile commute expense would add another $1400/month.
Location. Location. Location……………
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