Don't let commuting to work be a financial speed bump. Some practical strategies can make your trip a little lighter—both on your wallet and stress levels. Here are 9 ways to help save money on your commute.
1. Use your employer's commuter benefits
Not every organization provides this perk, but if yours does, it can be a huge money saver.
What are commuter benefits?
Commuter benefits are a perk some companies offer employees to make getting to and from work a little more affordable. Each company's benefits may look different, but it could mean free money toward your commuting costs, tax advantages for spending on commuting, or discounts on local mass transit. Don't know if your employer offers commuter benefits? Check with your company benefits department or website or reach out to HR. Here are some of the most common ways employers help their workforce save on commutes.
Discounts on mass transit cards
Some companies will discount or pay for public transportation passes. These could give you unlimited access to subways, buses, and trains in your city.
Transportation, commuter, or parking FSAs
Employer-sponsored flexible spending accounts (FSAs) allow employees to pay for qualified transportation costs with pretax dollars. Before the start of the next benefits plan year, you choose how much money you want deducted from each paycheck and contributed to this account. (Some plans allow you to change your deduction amounts throughout the year.) Depending on your plan, the money in your FSA might not roll over from year to year, so you might have to use all the funds in your FSA or lose them. Make sure to keep all receipts in case you need to prove you spent those dollars on commuting.
Stipends for commuting
Instead of setting up an account, some employers will give you a monthly or yearly stipend for commuting costs. Depending on the company, you might get money upfront with a debit card to pay for expenses, or you might get reimbursed for commuting costs. Either way, this is like free money that can offset commuting costs. Again, keep receipts to have proof of your commuting-related transactions.
2. Look at every transportation mode to get there
If you haven't already, do the math for getting to the office by train, car, bus, ferry, bike, even walking, and combinations of those options. Remember that some trains charge different prices by zones, so driving to a stop farther away from your house, depending on parking fees, could save you some money every day. For driving costs, don't forget to consider tolls (and whether toll-free routes are available), wear on your car, parking, and gas prices. It's possible that your employer benefits will only cover public transportation passes, not gas or parking, so factor that in too. Maybe the most cost-effective way isn't your favorite way to get to the office—that's OK. Sometimes convenience is worth the cost. You could still sprinkle in a budget commute once or twice a week to spend less on average.
3. Travel at off-peak hours
If you have a flexible schedule, you could save by commuting when most people aren't: Some public transportation tickets are cheaper off-hours. Even if you're driving, you can save on gas by spending less time bumper to bumper. According to AAA, your car burns a quarter of a gallon of gas for every 15 minutes it's idling. If you have a long, stop-and-go commute, that traffic could be burning money every day.
4. Commute on cruise control
Speaking of saving gas, cruise control can help you drive more fuel-efficiently. In fact, a study by Edmunds, a car-shopping guide, found that driving with cruise control saves an average of 7% and as much as 14% on gas. Check out more ways to spend less on gas.
5. Split a parking spot
Have to pay for parking, but not in the office full time? Try finding a colleague with opposite days in the office and ask them to split a monthly space. That could be more cost-effective than paying to park by the day or week. Just make sure that the parking vendor allows spot sharing. If you're in the clear, confirm with your spot splitter that you're on the same page about who gets the spot when, how much you each pay, and how and when you pay.
6. Set up a full carpool
Some carpooling setups are obvious—your work bestie who lives around the corner. But in many cases, it may take some extra organizing to fill a car. Seek fellow commuters you might not realize are along your route via neighborhood social media groups (check nearby towns, not just your own), flyers in your building or around town, or your company's or building's message boards or group chats. Other carpoolers don't even have to work at your company or in the same building as long as their workplace is on the way. Just be upfront about expectations around splitting gas, tolls, and parking; pickup and dropoff times (and what happens if someone's running late); and sharing chauffeuring duties.
7. Park on the best deals
If your gig's in a city, parking right near your office might be more expensive than parking farther away. Get creative about where you keep your car. You could nab a spot for less by parking a distance away and walking—or parking a town or 2 out and using public transit the rest of the way ... if adding a train or bus is still less than parking prices by your job. You could also look for a nontraditional place to park, like someone's driveway or behind a local business. You could even barter: For example, a spot for your services, like mowing their lawn or running their social media accounts. Wherever you wind up, get an agreement in writing before you put your car in park.
8. Use your commuting time to learn a new skill
According to a study by Coast, an expense management system for companies that use vehicle fleets, the average American spends just over 50 minutes a day commuting to work. That's 9 full days a year. Consider maximizing that time by picking up a new skill that could make you more money. If you're driving, it could mean listening to books or podcasts that could help you level up at work. If you're on a train, bus, or boat, you could take classes from your phone or laptop to gain a new certification—or even work on a side hustle while you're in transit, as long as your main gig allows.
9. Take advantage of credit card points
Certain credit cards give more rewards or cash back on travel expenses—commuting costs included. But even if your card doesn't offer extra points for travel, using any rewards card could mean saving a couple percentage points of your total commuting cost. Of course, never charge more on your credit card than you can pay off when the bill comes due. Your card's interest rate is likely way more than the percent in cash back you could earn.