I'm trying to figure out whether I should buy a car, help me? Here's the sitch:
I had a '99 Ford Escort for 10 years until this summer. It wasn't in great shape and needed work done that was worth more than the car itself. I sold it on Craigslist. It was summer in Minneapolis, and I decided to give carlessness a shot. I bike everywhere I can and even have a neighbor who lets me borrow his car whenever, as long as he doesn't need it.
A few months ago I started a new job which is 5.5 miles away, mostly bike trails. Up until this point I've been biking, but yesterday was pretty painful (0 degrees plus a windchill). There are busses to get to work, but it costs $4.50/day and takes about the same time as biking, or more. I plan to bike every day except when it gets unreasonably cold (below 0 probably).
So why do I want a car, you ask? I can get by without a car. I think I've proven that until this point. But occasionally, especially when it's so cold, it's just not reasonable or safe to do all errands/chores by foot. I also want to spend more time in the woods. The main thing that's suffered by me not having a car is not being able to go to my favorite dog park regularly. I also don't have the freedom to visit friends and family in the suburbs, or to go on weekend camping or cabin trips alone. My neighbor is very generous with letting me use his car, but I feel like if I wanted to use it once a week (or more occasionally) that might be too much, even though I put tons of gas in as payment.
When I had a car, I wasn't using it frequently, especially in the summer. I hated that it would sit around so often. Ideally I'd be able to share a car with someone, and in fact I think my roommate would pitch in gas money to use it on occasion since she's carless as well. If I get a car, I could sign it up for RelayRides so I could make some money off of it and it wouldn't be sitting around all the time.
What do you guys think?