Author Topic: considering getting rid of my car...  (Read 5026 times)

FuckRx

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considering getting rid of my car...
« on: March 12, 2014, 09:48:38 AM »

i would love to hear from people who have done it especially those with more demanding jobs (whatever that means to you). i have a 40 minute bike commute each way to work. i generally work 8a-930p give or take 1 hour. on some wednesdays i have a meeting that would be another 40 minutes each way. don't have any family nearby and live alone. i live in a busy downtown and have access to Car2go which is a car rental for .45 cents a minute and i can always use relayrides i suppose. i'm a physician and i'm 35 years old.

the good thing is no more spending money on gas, car insurance, car repair/maintenance. and i have 2 cars i could sell so that would be like 12-13k in my pocket.

Sebastian

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2014, 12:24:25 PM »
I think it just kind of depends on you man. I mean that obviously makes sense from a financial stand point. I'm in the same boat.. My ride to work would be about 45-60 minutes one way. I'd love to sell my car and save a shit ton on those expenses. It's sickening how much money I need just for my car alone. I was even thinking yesterday that if I didn't have a car I would literally never need my wallet. Except when I get food at the beginning of the month lol.

Have you made those rides before? You might want to try them out before going cold turkey with no car. It's been years since I've been on a bike, and damn, it's not like when I was a little kid able to whizz around no problem. It takes some time to build up again.

nicknageli

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2014, 12:39:14 PM »
I don't think I'd do it if I were single with your income.  One inexpensive car that you try not to use is still pretty Mustachian in my book.

Are you on-call ever where you have to get to work within a certain amount of time?

MrCash

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2014, 12:44:30 PM »
That's a really long work day.  How many days a week do you work?

lackofstache

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2014, 01:04:02 PM »
I know several people without cars, it saves them money, but I'm not sure it's always needed. If you've got two cars worth $13K, sell both of them and buy a cheap ($2500-4K) car. Pocket the rest and start riding to work and to the grocery store as often as you can. There's no need to put the cart before the horse on this one.

FWIW, My wife and I share two cars, but I ride my bike to work 3-5 days a week. I haven't been able to make a compelling case to get rid of either of our cars, but if I thought it wwould help significantly, I would.

PindyStache

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2014, 01:17:25 PM »
I also echo the sequential approach to downscale car clowning. I started bike commuting 2-3 times a week (10 miles each way/35m-1hr depending on weather). Now I've moved to bike commuting 4-5 times generally and, when there is no snow/ice on the paths & temp > 20 F doing my son's daycare pick-up & drop-off 60-80% of the time. My work hours are much shorter than yours and I don't consider my job particularly demanding (office cubicle), but if I'm doing pick-up and drop-off I'll be away from the house from 7am-6pm and will have biked 30 miles in the day.

Outcome is that we're a single car, two-working-parent family and even then the car sits in the garage most workdays.

Another part-way option would be to explore a mixed bus/bike commute, though for me just biking works out to be faster.

Or perhaps take a week or two and try to do 100% biking and see how you feel before selling the cars. Maybe it will feel great and you'll never look back, sounds like you have a great attitude about this!

Don't forget to look into adjusting your insurance if you do keep one/both cars but drive them much less.

FuckRx

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2014, 12:56:40 PM »
That's a really long work day.  How many days a week do you work?

I usually work every day unless there is no shifts available.
The days I can't get extra shifts I'll work 1p-9p, maybe 1-2 days a week.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2014, 06:45:51 PM »
I'd at least cut to one car right now and start tracking how often you need a car versus the cost of renting one, then make a final decision from there.

If I was single with no kids, I'd gladly go car free. I'm tempted to drop to a single car, but the extra hassle isn't quite worth it for the $ involved since both of our cars are old.

FuckRx

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2014, 04:38:02 PM »
I'm sad to report that I tried going without a car for a whole week and couldn't even manage that. my legs just were killing me and I could just barely get enough sleep to have the energy to brave another work day.

yes I know I'm wining, someone hand me my pacifier. if I mix it up with some public transport it might be doable. gonna keep trying. who knows maybe I can be car free by end of this year.

YK-Phil

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2014, 05:04:18 PM »
With the hours you work every day, I would not feel down at all for not sticking to a bike commute. I do commute to work where I work in Yellowknife, but my ride is about 20 minutes at most, and I work a tiny fraction of what you work (and even that fraction is worked at a snail's pace). Still, I keep a small and very economical car in Calgary, where I live two weeks out of five, and I have been debating whether I should get rid of it because I rarely use it. My wife hates driving and prefers using public transit to go to work, or her bike to run errands in the neighbourhood, so the car stays in the garage most of the time except for our weekend grocery shopping and occasional Sunday ride to visit friends. I even prefer to take the airport shuttle when I fly out to work and back. We also have Car2Go in our city which could easily replace most of our sporadic vehicle needs, but the car being brand new with less than 6,000 miles, fully paid for, and requiring no maintenance and an annual oil change, I don't see it as a money pit yet, although I know my reluctance to sell it is probably the most un-Mustachian thing my wife and I do.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2014, 05:17:14 PM by ykphil »

onemorebike

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Re: considering getting rid of my car...
« Reply #10 on: March 16, 2014, 07:06:02 AM »
I've been in and out of car-free/car light living over the past decade and have found two resources tremendously helpful.

First, the living car-free forum at bikeforums.net (http://www.bikeforums.net/living-car-free/)

and second, a book I read way back when called "How to Live Car Free"

The tired legs you are experiencing get much better. I might start by riding 3 days a week and work your way up. When the exhaustion is gone, sell the car. :)

Either way, good luck!