Hi Mustachians,
So I've been biking from my apartment to work for some time now. I also bike to get groceries, and bike/take public transit to visit friends and social events. My car gets used about twice a month. And that usage is almost exclusively to visit my family. Frankly, it's an expense I'd like to eliminate completely.
Unfortunately, my family (parents and siblings) lives 9 miles away. That distance is indeed bikeable, but not so simple as my 2-mile ride to work/groceries. Public transit takes about 1.5 hours to get there (really bad routes). On the other hand, it takes 13 minutes by car.
I told my Dad I was about ready to go carless, and his main concern was that he'd see me less. As he pointed out, if I have to bike/take public transit, I'd probably just come over less often. As he said, it's easy right now for him to just invite me over for dinner/a board game/family outing/ etc. Losing a car would cause me to lose that flexibility. I have to admit he's probably right.
My two major costs right now preventing me from saving more are rent and car expenses. I'd like to cut out the car (costing me at 3-4K/year in related expenses), but not sure if I should risk sacrificing my relationships. There's also just something about the spontaneity of being able to hop in a car at a moment's notice. Any thoughts?