Live Near Work - it saves gas and money

It's not easy to live near work because many of us choose where we live because we like the environment, and we choose where we work because of other factors like compensation. Nevertheless, this is a technique that we can use to save money on gas.

The relative difficulty or cost of this tip is rated 1 to 10. A rating of 10 suggests that this tip is the most difficult or most costly. Expected savings are also rated 1 to 10. A rating of 10 suggests that this tip will provide substantial savings in fuel, money or both.



Relocate closer to work or change jobs. I know this sounds costly or risky, but this is how to save gas in a big way if you are a good distance from where you work.

I have memories of people lined up for a mile or more to exit the beltway around Washington D.C. on their way back home to the Richmond, Virginia area. There were also miles of tail lights from the beltway exit heading south on I-95 toward their home. It made me cry out “live near work”.

In addition to the fuel wasted just sitting there in traffic every day, I can’t imagine how much that must affect those people psychologically. You’re trapped in a car, among other people trapped in their cars, on a highway that resembles a parking lot more than a road.

This is perhaps the single largest fuel waster we have – millions of cars across the country each morning and each evening just crawling along, all consuming fuel so inefficiently.

There has to be something wrong with us when we repeatedly travel on roads that can be walked faster than the cars are traveling. Yet, we do it every morning and evening all across the country.

I find it hard to believe that there are so many of us that don't live near work and won't consider giving up a job or a residence to cut the commute or at least position ourselves for a counter-commute. We know how to save gas, but it takes courage to pick up and move or change jobs.

Do we all have such great jobs and places to live that we gladly spend hours a day and hundreds of dollars a month just to go back and forth between them? I don’t think so.

If you spend 30 minutes each way commuting to work and back, you spend an additional half a work week each month in your car. You spend an additional full work week (40 hours) each month, sitting in your car, if you travel 60 minutes each way getting to and from work. How can you save fuel if you are operating your car for 40 hours each month?

My solution is to live near work.

If you are seriously considering how to save gas, you have to look to relocate closer to work or find a new job.

Cost or difficulty: 10
Savings: 7

Done with Live Near Work, take me back to Save Gas