I have saved a great deal of money and I love this – it’s probably one of the factors that led to my semi-retirement.

I’ve looked into other solutions. I even started commuting by bike and using a cargo trailer (just two days/week to start, hopefully to move up to 4), but then the high temps here in TX got to be over 100 every day. So far we’ve had over 65 days of 100+ degree heat this summer. And the shortest round trip in one day of work is about 20 miles. When the high temperature drops below 90, I’ll be at it again, but I’m not into heat stroke, which is a very real danger with a commute/delivery that long in this weather.

Another thing to consider is that my mileage gets reimbursed. My enlarged lunches don’t. And my workday is longer when I bike. So it’s definitely a sacrifice of time, effort, and convenience for the sake of ideals.

I get good enough mpg that the gas is paid for. I haven’t researched routine maintenance and depreciation, though. If I did, I suspect I would find that I do indeed save a little money when I bike. I still can’t fathom going without a vehicle, though, for emergencies and for weather (and a job) like this.

All in the cost works out at 32pence UK/mile ( 52 cents US) including depreciation, insurance, tax, fuel, breakdown, maintenance and repair, inspections and importantly replacement.

I don’t know if it is fair to load the replacement cost onto a depreciating asset or not but it “feels” right in the case of a car.

So, with the mileage I do this works out at about 24% of my “take home” salary.

Time to have another think!

So do we. At least me.

I’m still on the fence with wether I want to replace it with a microcar (basically a glorified golfcart) or a velomobile (a recumbent bycicle with a shell).

Either way my max speed will drop from 65mph (maximum speed limit in Wisconsin) to 30-ish mph. Right now I am leaning towards the velomobile.

I don’t like the cost of the car, but in order to visit friends and family, I have one. I don’t need to drive it to work, but I like the 40 minutes the car would save over the bicycle ride every day. Environmentally, it’s terrible the emissions I’m creating which is the one reason I will probably ride my bicycle more often – it’s just a waste of resources.

Paid cash for the car: $0/month
Liability insurance: $47/month
Gasoline/oil changes: $70/month
Registration: $2/month

Total:$119/month plus repairs (which you should have an emergency fund for anyway).

In my opinion, this is a small price to pay for the incredible convenience and time-saving value of an automobile.

I’ve usually relied on public transportation. Has it sometimes been inconvenient? Sometimes in Texas, but never unmanageable. Do weird people talk to me sometimes? Sure, and I ignore them or move. I have never been robbed or had anything truly scary happen to me on public transit.

Most of the time I have been able to do groceries by walking (sometimes with a wheeled cart) or by having a friend/boyfriend drive me (they offered). Otherwise I would use a cab (for a cost of about $10 every few weeks) or rent a Zipcar (I don’t know how available those are nationwide, but they’re widespread in Chicago). I make few other bulky purchases, and as Jacob said, usually they can be handled online (and are cheaper that way). Clothes you can carry. Furniture can usually be delivered, or you can use a van-type cab. But how often do you need to buy furniture, anyway?

As for the arguments that people don’t want to live in or travel through slums, I have NEVER seen a city or town in which the entire central city is a slum. I’ve lived in some pretty bad places, but they still had decent neighborhoods somewhere within the city. Maybe Gary or Detroit or some other Rust Belt areas are total slums? I don’t know. I think most people who say this really just want a yard, new house, or other conveniences of the suburbs. I think we privileged white people greatly exaggerate the danger of traveling through a slum. At least in the U.S. I’ll grant you it may be more dangerous in a developing country.

That’s slightly beside the point I was trying to make in the post though. The point being that particular mindsets act as barriers to action. If someone has a vehicle dependent mindset then
1) The person will have taken the vehicle for granted in their lifestyle.
2) The person will think mainly of ways it’s impossible to live without the dependency rather than the other way around.

For ERE purposes, owning a vehicle in the consumer style (i.e. not doing all the work yourself) is going to set back financial independence by several years. It turns ERE into ER.

I think the car is an extension of our gains in society, at least, american society. Some societies have been engineered so as to not need a car, some towns and cities modified for bikes (Portland, parts of San Jose, etc) and some places are not that far advanced and thus, do not use cars. In fact those types of comparisons are apples and oranges. People in sub-saharan africa have more important things to worry about that having a car – they need to worry about eating and shelter, etc.

I think for the countryside, there isn’t anything wrong with horses as transport (to like neighbors and such). People with motorcycles have saddle bags right? Motorcycles are also a way to go, as they almost require you to learn how to maintain and they have good cost to value ratios. And u don’t sit in traffic …much.

We all take for granted we have the ability to have discussions like this, instead of wondering if we’ll have enough to buy food this month.

I think a comparison to places like Mexico or Cuba, where poor is persistant and older cars exist would be relevant as these places have converse arrangements with other services (like Cubans can be well trained doctors, etc)…end rambling

Now look at 580 during rush hour with traffic going 35 mph bumper to bumper. Is that freedom? No, that’s the vehicle dependent mindset.

The Edmund’s TCO (True Cost to Own) on a
Cadillac Escalade Premium Model SUV is:

$100,628.00

How would that fit in your budget?

I prefer the pearly white colored ones.

Source: Edmund’s

Can you say “upside down”?

Summary
True Cost to Own® * $100,628 view details
Total Cash Price $75,589 view details
Average Cost per Mile* $1.34 compare popular models
True Cost to Own® Ratings**
operating cost rating
0

10
depreciation cost rating
0

10
* This is a 5-year estimate (based on 15,000 miles per year).
** Ratings are based on a comparison of this vehicle to all new vehicles.
Rating scale is 0 to 10 where 10 is best.
Based on regional costs for Zip Code:

True Cost to Own®
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 5-yr Total
Depreciation $17,772 $6,804 $5,988 $5,306 $4,764 $40,634
Taxes & Fees $6,656 $363 $318 $279 $245 $7,861
Fuel $3,421 $3,524 $3,630 $3,739 $3,851 $18,165
Maintenance $278 $861 $1,039 $2,307 $775 $5,260
Repairs $0 $0 $0 $808 $1,237 $2,045
Tax Credit $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Financing $4,109 $3,306 $2,448 $1,532 $554 $11,949

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Insurance $2,744 $2,840 $2,939 $3,042 $3,149 $14,714

Compare Insurance Rates
Yearly Totals $34,980 $17,698 $16,362 $17,013 $14,575 $100,628

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It’s definitely a luxury to have, and I don’t mind paying for the luxury to have convenience.

In Holland, you can opt to use your lease car for private purposes or not. If not, it doesn’t cost you a dime, if you do use it privately it will be taxed, which costs you roughly between 1500 and 6000 euros a year, depending on the price of the car, the environmental friendliness of the car and your tax bracket (which run to 52% here).

Now you’re talking to someone who once hand-carried 60 pounds of amplifiers (in two duffelbags) for 3 miles. However, big stuff is usually shipped and thus no problem. Why anyone still go to retail stores, I don’t know. For big stuff, you can go to Home Depot and rent their truck for $20 an hour. Uhaul has a similar deal. I’ve seen people launch a boat with a uhaul truck.

And you’re pretty much right about the last two paragraphs. For those rare situations, it is possible to rent a car. It’s an underappreciated concept. Now, if you need to go somewhere else regularly, move closer, give it up, or find an alternative. I wanted to practice kendo, but the nearest opportunity is in Oakland and that’s just too far away. Instead I do shinkendo, which is similar and is a 15 minute bike ride away.

Ultimately, again … how much is a car worth to you? To me … not so much, because I arranged my life fairly diligently around not having one. For someone who has arranged their life around private car ownership or still thinks in those patterns, it’s a challenge.

@wonderlake – Maybe this book
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1580087574/?tag=oildepletiove-20

When I was working full-time, I did not go out much during the week so the car sat idle most of the time. Once I began working part-time, I used the car more to pursue my interests.

I live in the downtown area of my village so most tings I can walk to (i.e. library, post office, deli, bank) but other places such as a supermarket are further away. That and my hobbies (and visiting friends and relatives) are what I use the car the most for.