I need some perspective. I work a job where my take-home pay is exactly $332 every two weeks ($664 a month) i know that's very little and I'm trying to get more hours and a second job but it's not working out in my favor right now but I'm making it work with penny budgeting.
Because my budget is so tight, I’ve been struggling with transportation.
A coworker of mine found out I was paying $15–$18 per ride to get an Uber home from work. He was shocked and immediately insisted on giving me a ride home 3 days a week especially since he only lives about 3 minutes away from me.
He’s a great guy and didn’t want anything for it, but I felt terrible just taking the favor. With gas prices being so high lately, I finally convinced him to let me pay him something. Right now, I’m giving him $15 every biweekly , but I really appreciate what he’s doing and I don't want to take advantage of his kindness.
My Plan:
I have some debit im paying off but starting in June, I’m bumping it up to $30 every payday ($60 a month).
The Dilemma:
Others have pointed out that $60 is a big portion of my $664 monthly income and that im already paying him and hes fine with it and i understand that but he is saving me from walking 5 miles or spending hundreds on Ubers.
Even though he’d do it for free, I want him to know that I really appreciate him helping me and I want to make sure his gas tank stays full.
Is $60 a month fair for a 10-minute drive, or am I being "too nice" to my own financial detriment?
Is $60 a month fair to pay a coworker for a ride home 3x a week on a tight budget?
byu/Hour-Ad3977 inFrugal
Posted by Hour-Ad3977
31 Comments
How much were you spending on Ubers before? if you give him a quarter or a half of that value, that’s more than fair
$60 sounds fair to me since he is saving you so much money in Uber costs.
if he is doing it for you to be financially alleviated and you go and make yourself financially tight then you’re kind of ruining the point of him helping you. Also he may want to have sex with you so keep that in mind.
Just become friends man, you live 3 minutes from eachother. Surely you can offer to buy lunch or something to make up for it sometimes. You don’t have to be so clinical about it, humans are meant to help other humans.
I think you’re spending a lot, but no I don’t think that it’s a financial detriment because you are still saving on transport compared to the ubers from before. You gotta get to work somehow.
Sounds fair but you can also do something nice for him not involving money. Like if you bake, maybe every so often bake him some cookies or whatever.
Too nice. He’s offering a favor, it apparently only adds about 3-6 minutes to his commute, and you’re already basically buying him lunch every month. That’s fair.
Yeah I would make him some brownies instead.
I would say it’s fair because you only take home $664 per month, and he gets $5 for a few mins more drive.
If you cook at home, maybe bring him cookies or stuff he likes from time to time, it’s cheap but takes a lot of effort.
Edit: $30+ some cookies from time to time is good enough too
You know…you could keep giving the $15 and bake them some cookies. Most people like homemade cookies.
If you’re a good cook, see if he wants a plate, especially if he’s a single guy.
Or if you like to bake, bake something and give him some (if you bake bread, bake an extra for him, don’t just give him a few slices lol).
That could be a way you can thank him without having to exchange money. If he was fine doing it himself and you’re only a 6 minute detour (which is probably what, an extra two miles) than $30 for the 12 rides monthly is more than generous.
I think thats very fair. But since he lives so close id just keep at $15/check and, as someone suggested, bake some cookies or something.
Sometimes it’s nice to swap energy instead of money. Maybe you bring him some baking occasionally, or fancy coffee? I think it’s less about “is this fair market rate for a favour?” and more about two humans putting forth a small effort to help one another out.
If I were driving you and I realized you were giving me 10% of your take-home pay, I’d be *mortified*. But if you brought me a coffee at the start of my shift occasionally, that’d be really nice.
If its literally on his way home. Just toss him $20 if he stops for gas or at least once a month, and/or offer to buy dinner on the way home once in a while, and make sure your always early so they don’t have to wait on you.
Keep it at $15. You don’t actually have extra money and he offered to do it for free to help you.
Have you seen the price of gas??? $60 is fair.
I would personally shut my mouth and continue on as normal.
Be very appreciative that he’s okay with $0 and offer $60 to pay your (moral) dues.
Your alternative choices are walk, bus, ride, or uber.
how long is the total commute?
I’d do something like a coffee gift card, baked goods, homemade lunch, etc with what you’re already paying him vs increasing money. If he offered, he wants to do it. He’s going that way anyway.
I used to drive a coworker home once or twice a week and she’d do stuff like bring me a cold Coke or a bag of chips (I love snacks) instead of paying me and it was fine.
Buy a tank of gas for him once a month and call it good (unless he’s driving a huge SUV). I wouldn’t expect pay for this myself at all– and especially not 10% of a co-workers take home pay!
Split gas, buy lunches, etc. Dont make it a dollar for dollar barter but opportunity for friendship and returning a favor.
It is. Or pay it back some other way to like helping them out with a project away from work occasionally or something. In life you help out where you can and give back when you can. If I take something for free in the moment it’s because of my situation and I feel bad every time. If my situation changes for the better, even slightly, I personally have to make good to myself with that person. Their situations change too and inflation and life so they may be not wanting to go back on the deal of offering for free even though it’s tough on them to.
Take him to lunch once a month and insist on paying.. that’s a good dude, you should be friends. Don’t confuse financials with friendship. I bet he’ll feel so much better about the free lunch than the $60
It’s ok to accept help. This sounds like a great person and the arrangement won’t be permanent
Money aside, I would highly recommend being as easy for him as possible.
He may be a generous peson and not necessarily care about repayment but If you slow him down, make him late or, the ride any more hassle than it has to be, that could be a very quick stop to this deal
What do you do outside of work? If you make any kind of art, bake, craft, garden, etc just send some his way and call it good. It’s not so much about the money as much as a way of saying thank you.
If it’s just a few minutes out of his way and he offered, it’s no big deal. $30/mo is already good. I share rides with coworkers all the time.
Earlier in my life I had car troubles often and needed rides from friends/coworkers. Anytime my car was working well, I gladly gave rides to those who needed it. Sometimes it’s good to accept someone’s favor for what it is. And since you’re clearly someone who doesn’t want to take advantage, there are other ways to be kind back. Like others have mentioned, buying coffee, baking cookies, giving money for gas once in a while, etc. I think it’s okay to accept the gesture, and be kind back, but do it in a way that doesn’t burden you or him.
Accept it. Also, be grateful- offer to help whenever he needs a hand.
If you lived 3 min away then I wouldn’t want the cash because either way I’m using the same amount of gas to get myself to/from work.
I would provide $ towards helping him with gas when you can.
It doesn’t have to be a set amount or anything.
I have a friend who does this and will randomly fill up the person’s gas tank or give them a gift card.
$60 is a bit high, but it still is cheaper that Lyfts or Ubers. My only concern is now it’s so transactional it might be hard to transition to just some cash here and there or a lunch. Did they initially tell you they will only do it for money?
I was in this position before where I relied on my supervisor to take me to the bus lay over to get home. We worked in shit hole and me and him literally kept it from falling apart everyday for 11 hours a day. I started noticing the stuff he ate for lunch, sports he liked, sharing more about myself. It was authentic and we still meet up till this day. I would go and pick him up something once in a while and he never asked me for a dime. I always did large meal preps and whenever I would have lunch I would ask him to try some if he wanted. If he liked it I would bring one my Tupperwares (that Tupperware was probably like only worth a dollar of food) so he could have dinner when he got home. He would always ask “are you doing that curry again?” Or this or that. I would just make it that week if I could.
One time he was forced to work non stop. On the last day of those shifts I found a discounted steak, some potatoes, other vegetables and a four pack of beer (he liked to grill). Guy was ecstatic to share it with his wife. Just something to think about down the line.
I think $50/mo would be a really nice gesture.