just did a little math. after accounting for utilities and associated housing costs, ${current living arrangement} costs me around $340/mo, or slightly more than $4k/yr, more than ${previous living arrangement}. but it saves me between 20-80 minutes commuting daily (plus my 20 minutes of walking usually don’t make me want to commit homicide nearly so much as the blue line), and i actually like this apartment and landlord and the whole not having to move my car on street cleaning day (or, coming soon, dig it out of any snowbanks) thing.

so while i am not saying that i wouldn’t mind having an extra four grand laying around, i think it has all worked out pretty favorably. also, the view from my balcony is fantastic.