realityinabox

You might find this interesting. He has a number of bike related articles.

The True Cost of Commuting

tjspiel

I'm pretty sure I've seen the article before. Maybe even here. It's a good perspective.

Tundra_Man 

You beat me to posting this article. Mr. Money Mustache rocks, but his in-your-face attitude isn't appealing to those who aren't interested in tackling their finances at the root: spending. He's opinionated, direct and most of the time spot-on correct.

Spend two hours a day stuck in a car? No thanks. But also spending eight or more hours a day doing something you don't enjoy doing? No thanks to that either. For those who are willing to make changes (not necessarily sacrifices) and shift their paradigms, it is possible to break free from both.

fietsbob

Multi Modal even a Possibility? Bus Pass, monthly rate, and a bike you can carry on the bus

(or have a good place to lock it up near the bus stop where it wont be vandalized or stolen)

RubeRad

+1000 You also beat me to dropping that link!

I'm not saying it's automatic you should take 20% pay cut, but Mr Money Mustache's perspective is a must-read to inform yourself on this decision. (And he has good ideas on other ways to cut your consumption, which might be helpful to adapt to that 20% cut)

20% is a lot, so a lot depends on how much wiggle room you have now. As mentioned above, moving closer to your current job should also be an option.

My own story: I lived 25mi from work for years, drove about 30min each way, plus or minus. Then we put the kids in a private school (which happened to be near work) and the wife was doing the same roundtrip at least once, sometimes twice a day. After a couple years of that, we woke up and decided to move to where our life was. We downsized from 4br/detached to 3br/townhome in order to make it happen. We didn't quite get down to 1 car, but I commute to work like 90%, my car lives in the parking deck at work in case something comes up midday and I need to pick up the kids.

No regrets, so happy I moved and started riding, but in my case it was a house move, not a job switch. New job with 20% pay cut would have been a whole different decision.

noglider 

My current salary is 30% less than the salaries I had at most of my recent jobs. I've learned to adjust to the loss of income. I didn't face the same decision as you, weighing commuting versus salary. I took the first job I was offered. This coincided with moving from suburban New Jersey to my home town, New York City. I was able to sell my car. I take the subway about three days a week and ride my bike about two days a week. It's 13 miles by bike, which takes me an hour. The subway trip also takes an hour.

If you can manage to sell your car, you'll save a lot more than just the miles, but not everyone can do that. But I suspect you'll get a lot of happiness out of not spending two hours a day commuting in a car. A car is one of the most annoying ways to commute, at least for me. I enjoy both my bike commute and my subway commute. My bike commute is scenic and exhilarating. I often listen to spoken-word podcasts while cycling. My subway commute is also stimulating, because I get to read and also look at all the interesting people.

Four miles is short enough that you could probably do it in just about any weather. Even if it is brutally cold or wet, you don't endure pain for very long. I keep a complete spare set of clothes at the office so I can change if I get soaked.

dtipton

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Moving closer to the job is not an option. Not willing to move until kids are out of school. Commuting half and half not really an option as that would take even more time away that I could be spending with my kids which is the major reason I'd like to shorten the commute. Being able to commute by bike is a benefit but not my main motivation.

Darth Lefty 

If you can keep job shopping within your bike radius for a job that makes the same pay as you get now, that would be best. Playing with your kids is important but long-term savings for your kids are really important too.

tFUnK

Assuming you make between $37,451 to $90,750 a year, that 20% pay cut is only a 15% pay cut after federal taxes (roughly).

noglider 

I'm sure the difference is even less than that. Are you implying that people pay an effective tax rate of 75%?

Darth Lefty 

Tax brackets are progressive, so any pay cut you take is going to take out of your highest tax bracket portion. tFunk is looking at the table for single people, and not explaining clearly.

bmthom.gis

You didn't mention benefits. Maybe that 20% paycut offers more benefits. I could get a higher paying job, but I like my work and have no health insurance premiums. A job just opened up closer to me and for a significant pay increase, but even though the work would be in my field, I find the prospect of working in a county planning office incredibly dull vs environmental geospatial analysis.