mrfrugal

Save money, take the Metro.  Okay, I worked it out. Here we go. I live 32.3 miles away from work and it is a nice 35 minute drive early in the morning, before 0530 PST. If I leave my house minutes after my special “leave time” I am screwed. I’ll be over an hour and a half fighting the Orange County/Los Angeles morning comute. So first lesson, leave before rush hour to save time and gas. Don’t be lazy, get out of your dwelling early to beat the traffic.  Second, buy a metro pass and please do not get those stupid coins.  I was wasting (yes, I really time myself) on average 19 minutes a day waiting in line, using the machine and most likely missing the train trying to get my ticket. 

Here’s the break-out of costs:

Commute by car & train (light rail) - $42 for the monthly pass (subsidized by my company, regular $62); gas to the station, 17 miles at about $2.27 one way at $4.25 a gallon equals: $3.32 one way to work compared to about $4.30 taking my car the whole way. Plus I have less wear and tear on my car. I get used to get oil changes every month and a half. Now I take the car in for an oil change about every three months.

Commute by car: about $4.32 one way not including wear and tear.

Time wise it’s about the same, I lose 20 minutes on the way to work with parking and the like but save about 35 minutes on the way home since I fly by traffic. Next time I’ll teach you some helpful metro seating tips and the type of people to stay away from.

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