<prompt> Human: Basically, Im starting my first real job out of college soon and Im planning to move closer.Im trying to figure out how to estimate the cost of living further away from my work. Im taking public transportation, so I dont really need to calculate gas, wear on my car, etc.Im just having trouble deciding whether to pay more to live closer or pay less to live further away. Like getting home sooner seems great, but so does saving extra money...  <response>: Try looking at each scenario and compare what you could do with the time saved vs. money saved, because this is totally going to depend on you, your preferences and your lifestyle. First - do you HAVE the time to spend - will your normal working hours, plus commute, still allow for adequate time for sleeping showering relaxation cleaning planning exercise hobbies socializing? Or if you took the longer commute which would be even longer on occasion due to weathertrafficconstruction would you be risking having only enough time to order take-out, have a quick shower, then 12 hour of tv before going to bed and maybe getting 6 -7 hours of sleep before doing it again? That can be done, but it gets old really, really fast.Second - okay you have the time to spend - do you have the money? How are your finances overall? Are you making enough to afford to live closer in and still meet all your obligations and savings goals while having a cushion of money to spend on funhobbies? After weighing those two thoughts, hopefully youll have a better idea of what your priorities are and what choice might work best for you. Someone whos got a tight budget is going to opt to save the money. Someone with a need for 8 solid hours of sleep and a good 45 min workout a day is probably going to opt to save the time. 