I Spend $500/Month on Uber/Lyft Just To Work, Which Is Already Exhausting (Autism Unpredictability Costs)

10/9/2025
Omari

I don't drive.

Driving is very uncomfortable for me. My mom taught me how to drive years ago. Constant yelling, shouting, and aggressive pulling made driving on the road very undesirable for me and I haven't been on the road for many years (It's been about 6-10 years) because of this.

So I use rideshare instead to get to work with either Uber and Lyft. Three days a week. Tuesday through Thursday to get to my warehouse job.

The Financial Math

So I pay roughly $20 per ride. I pay both to get to work and to go home.

I work 3 days/week. That’s 6 rides/week (to work + home). That's 24 rides per month.

24 rides × $20 = $480-$500 per month.

I make roughly $2,100 after taxes.

I'm spending 1/4 of my income JUST getting to work. Every single week, every single month, that exact cost most of the time is usually the floor that I pay to get there on time, not the ceiling

The Energy Math

Scheduling a ride drains most of my energy before I even leave. The executive function demand—checking app, estimating arrival time, planning when to request pickup—exhausts me before I'm out the door.

What drains me before I even arrive:

I never know if I'm going to arrive at work in an hour or 20 minutes. Surge pricing adds unpredictability, which further drains my limited income. Sure I could go to work early, but that takes away from time to exercise or to meditate, or to ensure I don't forget anything in my bag before I leave the house (Since burnout has significantly impacted my memory recall) which makes things even more energy-draining and stressful.

And once I'm in the call (Most but not all) Drivers make small talk constantly once I'm inside the car. The social exhaustion from masking my discomfort—pretending I want to chat when I'm already drained—costs me most of my energy before I even get to work.

I haven't clocked in yet and I'm already very exhausted long before I have to deal with the constant energy drains and push to "do more" at my warehouse job at Amazon.

The Unsafe Driving Drain

Ther'e's also the unpredictable and unsafe driving habits from strangers on the road drain my energy. Not just from the drivers on the road, but my driver itself taking me to work. Sudden braking, aggressive lane changes, running lights—this sensory overload has occurred several times with Uber and Lyft drivers not following the rules of the road. All of the energy cost before my day even starts, let alone 1/4 of my income just showing up in the first place.

"Just Get a Car"

My family suggests this all the time.

Not only are cars hard to save up for—(rideshare eats most of my income anyways)—but unpredictable people on the road with unsafe driving habits would drain energy even more, trying to plan around individuals that are texting on their phone while driving or not fully stopping on stop signs. Unpredictability on a constant scale during the entire 18-20 minute drive to work.

And as mentioned before, the driving trauma is still there. Getting a car doesn't fix that.

My mom's constant yelling while teaching me to drive left me with anxiety around driving that compounds the sensory overload I'd experience navigating traffic. I'd be paying car payments while still losing massive energy to the actual driving.

I still want to learn at at some point, but once my energy significantly improves, and ideally being taught by someone who respects my neurological differences and is patient and less inclined to scream and shout

The Alternatives Don't Work Either

Public transit could help. I've considered it.

The problem? It's unpredictable in the times it arrives. And I'd have to walk very early in the morning to hopefully get to work on time.

Different jobs could help, but they're much farther from my family's house. That would cost me MORE each month to get there.

So basically, I feel trapped. Every option has major tradeoffs and major energy costs too which is why I've been taking rideshare for 2-3 years now, still ongoing.

What Tracking Showed Me

I know unpredictability and high sudden costs is exhausting. But knowing the cost specfically for this drains I'm basically paying for impacts everything else I'm doing. My burnout recovery timeline, and basic enjoyment to do anything else (Such as drawing or animation) since this cost, alongside many others drains most of what I have left at the end of the day.

It takes 18 minutes to get home. But mostost rides I receive are 20 minutes away. I'm spending twice the amount of time waiting for a ride as the ride itself takes, giving less window to self-regulation such as stimming when I get home, since I have to go to bed pretty early to get 8-9 hours, before having to go to work the very next day)

This taught me that scheduling rides in advance is a must. Or scheduling them an hour before my shift starts. And to ideally target the cheapest days so I won't get hit on the financial side of things so much.

This barely works for me, but it's better than nothing.

The Reality

I spend $500/month and lose 3-4 energy per ride just to get to a job that destroys my remaining energy.

This cycle keeps me in autistic burnout I'm spending money and energy to get to a place that drains me further, with no financial capacity to escape because rideshare eats 1/4 of my income.

The math doesn't work. Financially or energetically.

At least but tracking my energy I can notice patterns to minimize these drains as much as I can, even if they can't fully go away (At least not yet)

I'm Omari, a 23-year-old autistic adult who's been managing chronic burnout for 5+ years while working warehouse shifts.

I'm built Spoons, an autism energy tracker for this exact reason. To see what was draining me and to know when the math doesn't add up to go certain days (Just stay home, since I'm saving money but not going anyways, but also in energy)

Launching April 2026. getspoons.app - One email when it's ready. No spam. You can check my website or join my waitlist if your interested, if you have the energy. If not, no pressure. :)

— Omari

Note: I'm sharing my personal experience as an autistic adult, not medical advice. If you're experiencing severe burnout or crisis, please consult a healthcare provider familiar with autism.

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