6 ms·

US$16500/y transporation costs? What are you doing, buying a new car every year? Also, "Companies pay professionals more based on their abilities and their ag

by dspeyer 16y ago

US$16500/y transporation costs? What are you doing, buying a new car every year? Also, "Companies pay professionals more based on their abilities and their age as opposed to their actual years of experience"? Who would want to work for a company like that? Would it even be legal? Ignoring more subjective points, like the appeal of living in the outback vs. a city or of having a "no responsibilities" job.

crpatino 16y ago
> US$16500/y transportation costs? That's the cost to fly to Australia and back, plus the cost of the Visa. For day to day transportation, the OP explicitly said he'd walk to work.
- noodle 16y ago
  i think you're misreading. $16,500 is what the post states are transportation costs in the US. $4000 is the stated cost for AUS, which is more reasonable considering a flight. i think 16.5% is probably off base, but not that far off. closer to 10% when you consider payments, gas, taxes, insurance, etc..
dionidium 16y ago
Here's an additional data point. My 2009 transportation costs in St. Louis, MO. ($220 car payment * 12) + (278.04 gallons of gas * $2.25 avg/gallon) + ~$175 property taxes + ($5 daily parking * 20 working days/month * 12) + (~$90 insurance/month * 12) = ~$5720 This excludes licensing costs and parking tickets, which probably add another ~$200. It also excludes maintenance. For example, new tires added another ~$400 this year. And you've got to change your oil. I commute only 6 miles each way, drive a cheap, fuel efficient car, do some of my own maintenance, and live in an area with low tax and gas rates, so I don't think it would be hard to spend at least twice what I do. Edit: added car insurance.
- anamax 16y ago
  > I commute only 6 miles each way, drive a cheap, fuel efficient car, do some of my own maintenance, and live in an area with low tax and gas rates, so I don't think it would be hard to spend at least twice what I do. Your fuel costs are less than $700/year. Your car cost is $2650/year. It's easy to spend a lot of money on a car, but it's rarely necessary to do so.
- dspeyer 16y ago
  If you commute 6 miles a way, 2 ways a workday, 20 workdays a month for 12 monthes a year on 278.04 gallons of gas, you're getting 10.35 mpg. This is not good mileage. I suppose it's more likely that your daily commute is a small fraction of your total travel. For the opposite extreme, I live in Manhattan, where $1248/y gets me unlimited subway and bus. Add a few hundred for visiting friends and family scattered around the country. Yes, I'm paying about $30k/y for a (rather nice) one bedroom apartment, but that's my only big expense.

by dspeyer 16y ago

crpatino 16y ago

> US$16500/y transportation costs? That's the cost to fly to Australia and back, plus the cost of the Visa. For day to day transportation, the OP explicitly said he'd walk to work.

noodle 16y ago
i think you're misreading. $16,500 is what the post states are transportation costs in the US. $4000 is the stated cost for AUS, which is more reasonable considering a flight. i think 16.5% is probably off base, but not that far off. closer to 10% when you consider payments, gas, taxes, insurance, etc..

dionidium 16y ago

Here's an additional data point. My 2009 transportation costs in St. Louis, MO. ($220 car payment * 12) + (278.04 gallons of gas * $2.25 avg/gallon) + ~$175 property taxes + ($5 daily parking * 20 working days/month * 12) + (~$90 insurance/month * 12) = ~$5720 This excludes licensing costs and parking tickets, which probably add another ~$200. It also excludes maintenance. For example, new tires added another ~$400 this year. And you've got to change your oil. I commute only 6 miles each way, drive a cheap, fuel efficient car, do some of my own maintenance, and live in an area with low tax and gas rates, so I don't think it would be hard to spend at least twice what I do. Edit: added car insurance.

anamax 16y ago
> I commute only 6 miles each way, drive a cheap, fuel efficient car, do some of my own maintenance, and live in an area with low tax and gas rates, so I don't think it would be hard to spend at least twice what I do. Your fuel costs are less than $700/year. Your car cost is $2650/year. It's easy to spend a lot of money on a car, but it's rarely necessary to do so.
dspeyer 16y ago
If you commute 6 miles a way, 2 ways a workday, 20 workdays a month for 12 monthes a year on 278.04 gallons of gas, you're getting 10.35 mpg. This is not good mileage. I suppose it's more likely that your daily commute is a small fraction of your total travel. For the opposite extreme, I live in Manhattan, where $1248/y gets me unlimited subway and bus. Add a few hundred for visiting friends and family scattered around the country. Yes, I'm paying about $30k/y for a (rather nice) one bedroom apartment, but that's my only big expense.