I put this in the money section because it has to do with a decision we are trying to make that will make a big financial impact on us. Right now we live intown and my dh is 3 miles from his office. It is so expensive to live here. I am seriously considering moving out a bit as a lot of you know since I have been posting about it recently. We could move to a close in suburb (about 12 miles from where we are now) and spend a LOT less than we do now on housing, property taxes, and we could use public schools that are really good. I am talking about saving over $1000 a month just in mortgage and taxes and ending up with about $100,000 left over after we buy another house with 20% down that we could invest and save. We have a lot of equity in our current house. The traffic sucks here so a 12 mile drive will easily take my dh 45 minutes during rush hour. He can work from home a couple of days a week though, so he won't have to do it every day. On paper it makes so much financial sense to do this, but in reality it just seems so far away! I would love to hear some opinions on this. I am really torn. All of the articles I read lately say the trend is to move into the city, not out of it, since gas prices are getting so crazy. But is 12 miles really considered OUT?

I wouldn't consider 12 miles "out". Dh works almost 30 miles from home, while i work 6 miles out. Here, where we live in Texas, almost EVERYONE has some sort of drive. Traffic is not THAT bad, so his 30 mile drive takes about 40-45 minutes one way. However, i did work in houston, and was staying 15 miles away from work, and it would take me over an hour daily one way.
I work with people who live "out", at about 50 miles away from here.
So I guess my answer is NO, 12 miles isn't out. But if it saves you that much money, I say go for it.

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Chopey

traffic is horrible in DC, it takes my dh up to an hour one way, in snow it took 3-4 hours! Plus now he's driving to Maryland most of the week which is over an hour. It's long but we do love where we live and wouldn't live closer in for anything!

How is the market where you are? Could you sell your place you have now even? If so I say go for it if your dh doesn't mind driving!

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

I would never consider 12 miles out!! My dh drives 60 miles each way and AI really don't consider that too long. That is managable. He cut over 30 miles off his commute when we moved closer in!!

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~Happiness is a large family~

45 minutes is, I think, an average commute. That is the equivalent of about 25-28 miles here. I've driven that for 5 years. Right now I just got transferred this year to an office just 3 miles from home. SOOO happy. But - once or twice a week, I have to go to downtown Detroit, which is 32 miles. If I go during rush hour, it's an hour, maybe a little more, solid. Instead, I go to my close office in the morning & head downtown around 10:30 AM, and work thru lunch. Still have the rush hour coming home tho.

I wouldn't think twice about 12 miles.

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45 minutes-1hr

I drive 30 minutes, and it's not that bad. It gives you time to unwind from the day so you are fresh when you get back home to your family.

I normally drive 20 miles one way and it takes me 30 minutes. I don't think 12 miles is bad, especially if he can work from home a few days a week.

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anything over an hour one-way I would consider a long commute. I don't go by the mileage-I go by how long it takes to get back and forth. I definitely think you should do it. Think about what you could do with $12,000 more a year!!

My dh drives 45 mins to work each way and has for many years. The only good thing is he has a company vehicle so we don't pay for gas, but as far as time, I don't think that's that far.

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12 miles is not out to me either we live in a community 20 miles from the nearest bigger city. my dh drives 65 miles roundtrip just straight to work and home.. so 12 miles would not be bad if you ask me plus if he can work from home a couple days a week that would be well worth it.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.