I can't stress how important it is to cut commuting out of your life. I know many people who commute an hour each way, each day. Two hours per day. ~500 hours per year. Thats 20 to 30 days of your life each year wasted commuting, depending on whether or not you just count waking hours. And not only are you not making money those hours, you are spending it - on gas, insurance, the life of your vehicle, etc.
Last year I moved from 1.2 miles away from work with a ~10 min. door-to-door commute whether I biked or drove, to roughly a 16 mile 30-45 min. commute each way (depending on traffic) in order to buy a house, get more space, etc.
I desperately wish I had my old commute back, but am making the sacrifice for the time being and enjoying the gorgeous drive home on 280 as the sun sets while listening to some relaxing music or podcasts.
That said, the car maintenance costs have gone up, gas has gone way up, and my free time has gone down. Those are all real costs. I did the math on them before the move, but the real cumulative impact of the reduced free time was something that didn't really hit me until I was doing it.
If only non-engineering jobs had as much flexibility with remote work.
