Long distance work commute tips

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alfonsedinkbo
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Long distance work commute tips

Post by alfonsedinkbo »

Back in March I started a job working for a federal agency located in Sacramento, and I live in Colorado Springs. Currently I'm at 100% telework, but in September that is due to end. Instead of moving to California - which would be financial suicide, as housing prices have skyrocketed (and I REALLY don't want to live in California) - I've decided to fly from Denver to Sacramento twice a month to meet the "office time" requirements of 2-3 days per pay period. Flights from Denver to Sacramento are fairly reasonable, and I plan on staying in a cheap Air BnB that is close to the office and biking in to work while I'm there. All of this will still be much cheaper than picking up roots and moving to Sacramento.
This won't be a permanent situation; I have my ear to the ground for a similar position in Denver. But in the meantime, has anyone done something like this? Any suggestions on how to keep my sanity and be friendly to my bank account?
jebmke
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by jebmke »

For a year and a half I commuted from Baltimore to Milwaukee. Except when traveling to other company locations (primarily in Europe) I shuttled back and forth and stayed in a hotel regularly. At one point I arranged through the company to lease a short-term apartment for several months and rather than return home every weekend, on some weekends my wife would come out and other weekends neither one of us traveled. We had discovered that returning home every weekend was strenuous on me and the fatigue sort of negated the whole reason for coming home.
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bampf
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by bampf »

I have done it. It is really hard. Grinds you down. No suggestions except to say get really good at minimizing the travel and give yourself the luxury of a solid recovery.

And you will very likely have tax ramifications. CA is aggressive about collecting their money. Keep a very detailed record of your time spent working in CA and record it in a safe place. You will need to have good records.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by quantAndHold »

I’ve done it. It was exhausting. I don’t recommend. About the time I got over the last trip, it was time to go again. And I had trouble keeping up with my home life. Friends, family, chores at home.

Have you really, actually, truly checked the costs of moving to the Sacramento area? I mean, we’re talking about Sacramento, not San Francisco. Once you add in the cost of the flights, the AirBNb, he restaurant meals, and the rental car, I’m guessing costs are about at parity. And while I personally don’t care much for Sacramento, I don’t see you’re losing much by leaving Colorado Springs. They’re pretty similar places.
Marseille07
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by Marseille07 »

I don't think there's a solution other than moving to Sacramento or finding a job in Colorado, which you're already doing.

I know some tech employees commute by plane (like LA to SJ), but their commute arrangements are generally paid for by the company not on their dime.
mw1739
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by mw1739 »

Can you combine trips to reduce flying? Work Thursday-Friday one pay period, stay over the weekend and work Monday-Tuesday the next pay period before flying home?
squirm
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by squirm »

I don't see how this is much different than a job that requires traveling. I did that for a few years. A week or two per month. Got old after a couple years and found a position without travel.
GT99
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by GT99 »

squirm wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:25 pm I don't see how this is much different than a job that requires traveling. I did that for a few years. A week or two per month. Got old after a couple years and found a position without travel.
Yeah, this was my thought. It's basically a job with 20-30% travel. I've done the 100% travel thing, and it's grueling. Wouldn't do it again. But less than 40% isn't that big of a deal unless you just don't like travelling. Pre-covid, DW was travelling about 30-40% for work, and she loved it (granted, she wasn't going to the same place each trip).

When you're doing it on your own dime, it probably goes without saying to look into what kind of deals you can get for committing to future stays. When I did a 4 month contract consulting gig 3.5 hours from home that was 100% onsite, I got a hotel a short walk from the office to give me a set rate well below what I would have paid booking online (Hilton property, and I still got points and status, which was nice). That was before Airbnb was big - I'd reach out to owner there (and VRBO) and see what kind of deals you get. They probably cater to weekend stays, so if you plan on being there like Tues-Thurs repeatedly, I bet they'd give you some great deals.

Another tip for regular travel - have duplicates of things like toiletries, phone charger, etc. Don't unpack them at home. That way you don't have to worry about packing or forgetting stuff each time you travel.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by SmileyFace »

A 2-3 day trip twice a month is easy in my book. But I have worked jobs with 75% travel or higher at times (and LONG international flights versus your nice easy short flight). The difference is that my travel was never on my dime but Airbnb should help keep expenses in check. You might fall into a routine and find yourself enjoying the change of scenary.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by SmileyFace »

Does the agency know this is your plan? If they end up taxing you as a CA resident while you actually reside in Colorado you could be in trouble.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by RickBoglehead »

Sometimes the reverse trip roundtrip is cheaper.
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Outer Marker
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by Outer Marker »

Are you able to use you federal employee city-pair contract rate for commuting to/from work and reimburse the gov't? Might want to check if that's an option.
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Nestegg_User
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Re: Long distance work commute tips

Post by Nestegg_User »

RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 4:39 pm Sometimes the reverse trip roundtrip is cheaper.
actually, it's probably a bit more complicated

back when working (at that job), spouse had to spend M-W in NY every week {was also doing MBA at that time... but that's another story}
rather than having every ticket be in Sun, leave Wed .... as the airlines were making those trips more expensive, it was more like: first ticket ... in Sun, leave the next week on Wed
next ticket was: leave (NY) wed, return Mon (two weeks later)...[ then plan out other tickets as necessary]... a very staggered schedule, that you really had to work out (but at that time it saved quite a bit of coin over traditional schedule)

I don't know if the airlines charge the same as they did for single week in/out flights... but if they still do that's a way to get some savings
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