Author Topic: Should I go car free?  (Read 3016 times)

ochenka

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Should I go car free?
« on: September 18, 2015, 07:21:51 AM »
Hello fellow mustachians,
at first I feel a strong need to ask for forgiveness for my poor English as it is not my native language. All gramar nazis are welcome to correct without mercy :) (I think using this forum is my mustachian money-free way to improve my language skills). The numbers are put in local currency.

I would like to get your opinion on the subject of owning a car.

So the input data is:
Family: 2 persons - I and my wife
Age: we are both 27 years old
Children: Currently none, but we will probably decide to have a kid in two years. So kids shouldn't come earlier than 2018.
Income: It's about 88000 a year in local currency after taxes.
Savings: 12000 on bank accounts, 8000 in stocks and 2000 in personal retirement (thats besides government retirement savings which are about 30000 for both of us).
Debt: None
Home: Fully paid off flat worth about 330000.
Expenses: Our basic expenses are about 45500 a year - house costs, food costs, utilities etc.

Situation:
We have a beater car that I personally hate and we are selling it. I vate maintainig it as it's breking down every month consuming money and energy.
I don't want to spend all our savings to buy a slighty better beater which will start to break down in short time.

So the options which we are discusing with my wife are:
1. Going car free and renting when we need it. The cost of renting is about 70-100 a day and we would need it for about 7-10 days a year (hollidays). The comunication in our city is excellent and it takes me 5 minutes longer to get to work by public transport rather than car.
2. Taking a bank loan and buying a new car. I hate this option, but my wife wants us to have a car for convenience reasons.
3. Saving for a car and buying new one when we save for it (it would take about a year). My stomach hurts when i think about it...

So what are your opinions on this subject?

JPinDC

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2015, 07:53:31 AM »
If you only need a car 7-10 days/year, it sounds like you can go car free! Since your wife isn't on board yet, maybe you can suggest this as a trial run while you save up for a new car? And then, at the end of the year you can evaluate how often you actually rented a car and what that process was like.

ochenka

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2015, 08:13:20 AM »
Yeah I want to do that, but beside my wife who wants a car for convenience and status symbol I am wondering if it wouldn't be good to buy (finance) a car now before we have kids...

KCM5

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2015, 08:16:31 AM »
I'd do JPinDC's suggestion. Either sell your car now or just park it/not repair it for a bit. Save up for a new car. Decide once you have the money for a new car whether or not you really want one.

If you do want a new car, you'll have the money. And then you can still finance it if it makes sense for you to do that (I don't know what the rates are where you're from but here you can often get 0% or .9% loans if you have good credit).

KCM5

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2015, 08:17:57 AM »
Also, regarding getting the car before you have kids: just wait. There's no reason to own a depreciating asset before you need to. If once you have kids you think you'll need a car, buy one then.

FrugalWad

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2015, 08:33:41 AM »
I think if you can answer some questions about going car free, you can decide whether it's right for you.

-How would you handle large-item groceries, especially if you have a kid down the line? Things like 48 rolls of toilet paper, diapers, whatever.
-How would you handle medical emergencies?
-Do you need to deal with adverse weather? Would not having a vehicle keep you indoors all winter?
-Do you go on outdoor adventures? Would not having a car prevent you from doing that?

Would it be worth doing a trial run without a car for a year while you save up for one to see how you would manage it? You could use it as a dual selling point for your wife. If you use the time to save up for a new car, you can tell your wife that if after a year you find you need a car after being car free, you'll get a car. If you do fine without a car, you've proven to her and yourself that you don't need it.

If she needs a status symbol, she can figure out how to buy it for herself, and she can really decide how much that status symbol is really worth to her.

You could look at a quality used car instead of a brand new one.

ochenka

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2015, 09:52:52 AM »
-How would you handle large-item groceries, especially if you have a kid down the line? Things like 48 rolls of toilet paper, diapers, whatever.

We are currently ordering big groceries online (the shipping is free and the price is the same).

-How would you handle medical emergencies?

Up to this day we didn't have such an emergency. If it would happen then we live about 500 meters from one of the biggest hospitals in the country. Owning or not owning a car wouldn't make much difference.

-Do you need to deal with adverse weather? Would not having a vehicle keep you indoors all winter?

It can limit our travel for sure in such scenario. The question is if we will be bored? The maintenance and insurance money would translate to about 50 theater tickets a year for us. Winter is nasty, but we live in a city with good infrastructure.

-Do you go on outdoor adventures? Would not having a car prevent you from doing that?


We travel to our parents houses about one time a month for a weekend (it's 2,5 hour drive each way). Traveling by public transport would be more difficult as we would have to walk about 7km from the bus stop. Or hitchhike. And we would have to stick with buses time. That is the biggest issue...

Probably we would try to live without car for some time, save money and then decide what to do.

FrugalWad

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Re: Should I go car free?
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2015, 12:13:28 PM »
Probably we would try to live without car for some time, save money and then decide what to do.

In the meantime, you could always explore alternatives. If there's any place to rent scooters, or get cheap bicycles to take on public transportation to go see the parents to cover the remaining distance.

I lived without a car for 5 years. I had excellent public transportation, and walked the mile to the grocery store. Learning a bus schedule can be an inconvenience, you learn what a quality shoe is after wearing through enough cheap pairs to decide to spend on quality. I really enjoyed it. I didn't find that walking somewhere ate up my leisure time, because to me walking was a leisure far greater than sitting on my butt at home.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!