[noxToken]

I hear that long commutes are a mostly American. I can't truly attest to that, but I'm in the 30+ minutes boat. I would love to move closer, but good housing near my office is prohibitively expensive, and cheap housing is, well - you definitely get what you (don't) pay for.

I've done the math, and the savings are worth it for me. Instead of idling in traffic like most commuters, I make the sleep sacrifice and show up about 15 minutes early. According to my car's built-in fuel economy monitor, I get about 16-18 MPG on a typical rush hour commute and 26-30 MPG if I'm early. That's huge.

In addition to your commute, see where else you can cut costs. Americans spends nearly $8 daily on lunch. Bringing your own $3 lunch would save you about $100 monthly. You can also look into budget friendly foods that would put you at $1.50 per meal which would increase those savings to $130 per month.

I don't know your overall financial situation, but consider creating a list of all of your monthly expenses. Before you even begin budgeting, start striking out items that are more luxury than necessity. Cut cable in favor of Netflix only. Hell, go rogue and stream everything. Drop your expensive phone plan for something simple. Consider cutting data out of your phone plan altogether. I don't know how connected London is, but I'm almost always in range of an access point.

If all else fails, look to family for some funds. Hope that helped.