While more and more companies are creating jobs that are solely work from home jobs, a majority of the world is still dealing with commuting to work. Many people commute to their job without thinking twice about it. However, between gas, tolls, train passes, bus tickets, etc., commuting can actually cost a significant amount of money. That’s why I want to give you 5 ways to cut your commuting costs.
1. Telecommute
As I mentioned above, it is becoming more common for companies to offer work from home jobs. Find yourself a job that can completely be done from home and your commuting cost will be $0 (although working from home will likely increase others bills like electricity or phone bills). If you aren’t willing to leave your current job for a telecommute job, though, you can try asking if you can work from home a few days a week.
Even if you are only permitted to work from home once a week, you could still save a good amount of money. Let’s say your commute is 25 miles each way, the current price of gas is $2.85 and your car gets an average of 25 miles per gallon. That means one day of commuting costs you 2 gallons of gas, or $5.70. If you work from home one day a week for the entire year (52 weeks) that would save you $296.40 per year, or more or less depending on the price of gas throughout the year.
2. Fill Up at Warehouse Club Gas Stations
Warehouse clubs, such as BJ’s and Costco, often offer cheaper gas for their members. If you already pay for a membership, you can save money just by filling up your gas tank at one of these gas stations. If the gas is $0.20 cheaper per gallon and your car has an 18-gallon tank that you fill up once a week, you will save $187.20 per year by filling up at these gas stations.
3. Carpool
If you are lucky enough to live near a coworker, you should try carpooling. If you and your coworker alternate who drives to work every other day, it is essentially like cutting your commuting costs in half! Plus, the less mileage you put on your car, the more money you can get for it if you trade it in or sell it down the road. Obviously, this works best if you work at a job where you and said coworker work the same hours.
4. Take a Different Route to Work
Try to make your commute use the least gas possible, so avoid the scenic route. If you have a long commute, the fastest way may include roads with tolls and tolls in some states can be pretty expensive. Try to take the road with the least number of tolls, so you’re not adding on even more costs to your commute on top of the cost of gas.
5. Take a Different Mode of Transportation
If you live in a city, it is highly likely you can choose from various modes of transportation to get to work. If you live close enough, walking to work is the cheapest option as it obviously does not cost anything and you burn calories as an added bonus. The next cheapest would be biking to work, again, if this is a possibility for you. Biking costs $0 to do, but you do have to invest in a bike upfront. After that, weigh your options for what’s the cheapest. Some transportation modes you may be able to choose from a bus, a train, the subway, taxi, Uber/Lyft or driving.
