View Full Version : Taking the plunge... Bye bye car...
vincenzosi
03-14-05, 10:28 AM
I'm doing it. I'm really doing it.
The car goes.
Barring some major flip, my dad is gonna take my car off my hands. I figure that's gonna be about a $1,200 savings for a car I used to only use 8 days a month. Of course, I'm nervous about this.
Comfort me! If you've done it already, your encouragement would be much appreciated! :o
powers2b
03-14-05, 10:31 AM
Look for a support group in your area.
Here is a link to the one here in Cleveland:
http://carfree.meetup.com/4/
Enjoy
timmhaan
03-14-05, 10:33 AM
i'm in my 5th year without a car. it's been great so far, i just rent if i need something - which ends up being a lot cheaper and it turns out i never really need an auto anyway. maybe once or twice a year at the most. of course, i live in manhattan so it's very very easy for me to do without.
steveknight
03-14-05, 10:38 AM
I have been without a car for 41 years so beat that.
timmhaan
03-14-05, 10:43 AM
I have been without a car for 41 years so beat that.
wow! that's great...in what area do you live?
nick burns
03-14-05, 10:44 AM
My car's been parked in the driveway with a dead battery for 3 months now. I haven't replaced the battery not because I'm cheap (which I am) but because I just keep forgetting about it.
You'll never look back.
Freedom!
:)
Roughstuff
03-14-05, 11:01 AM
I'm doing it. I'm really doing it.
The car goes.
Barring some major flip, my dad is gonna take my car off my hands. I figure that's gonna be about a $1,200 savings for a car I used to only use 8 days a month. Of course, I'm nervous about this.
Comfort me! If you've done it already, your encouragement would be much appreciated! :o
I lived without a car for years. You build a lifestyle around it. Walk more; bike more; carry more; shop locally when ya can. You'll find some of the auto savings go into buying local stuff at hiher prices, but perhaps thats better for small businesses in your community. I found grocery shopping to be the toughest nut to crack..makes it tough to buy glass items and frozen foods! ;)
roughstuff
vincenzosi
03-14-05, 11:05 AM
I'm lucky that way. I live next door to a train station, two blocks off a main artery, and around the corner from a shopping district. It's just getting harder and harder to justify the costs of a car that I'm using less and less. Damn bike went and blew my relationship with my car :-)
Roughstuff
03-14-05, 11:16 AM
I'm lucky that way. I live next door to a train station, two blocks off a main artery, and around the corner from a shopping district. It's just getting harder and harder to justify the costs of a car that I'm using less and less. Damn bike went and blew my relationship with my car :-)
To me the WHOLE reason I would live in a city like NY or Boston etc. is so that I could get around without a car. When I was in London I would leave my house, take the tube to the theatre district, head back home after the show to change into my late evening stompin' gear, take a bus back to my favorite Gay hangout (bar would be too fancy to describe it), take the night bus home after a couple hours of debauchery, and fall asleep around 4 AM.
I had a sainsbury's down the street, a Starbucks across the street, and my favorite football Pub in the building next door. Who needs a damn car!
Paradise. :)
roughstuff
Comfort me! If you've done it already, your encouragement would be much appreciated! :o
I'm 33 and have never owned a car. We're a household of three adults, 2 cats, and assorted caged pets: no car. Between bikes, public transit, and the occasional cab (maybe once every other month) we don't need one.
I'm 25 and I've never owned a car either.
Don't have a driver's licence.
Anthony King
03-14-05, 12:37 PM
I'm doing it. I'm really doing it.
The car goes.
Barring some major flip, my dad is gonna take my car off my hands. I figure that's gonna be about a $1,200 savings for a car I used to only use 8 days a month. Of course, I'm nervous about this.
Comfort me! If you've done it already, your encouragement would be much appreciated! :o
I do it in a suburb of Dallas, you can certainly do it in the Bronx.
I had a moment of "What did I just do?" after I came home from selling my car--it went away pretty quickly and never came back.
Now I can hardly see why anyone in a city would bother with owning one. (Unless you have to have on for work, not to get to work.)
I swear, if I hit the lottery tomorrow I wouldn't by a car.
But I'd buy some suh-weet bikes.
Congratulations! Welcome to my world! :D ;)
No car here either for me. You may find it difficult at first, but just keep an open mind, be creative, and you'll find a way to live without the car.
Koffee
Interesting notion. I think I am going to begin the discussion about gettin along with one car rather than two, tonight. It probably won't happen right away, but I think it would be healthy to begin the listing of pros and cons.
Great thread. Thanks
...The car goes...dad is gonna take my car off my hands...$1,200 savings...Comfort me!
nocomfortforyou!
you'll get used to it. ;)
esp. now with warm season a-comin...you won't even need the trains.
<--10+ years without car
Three months shy of eights years since owning my last car, and until then I was very car oriented. If I truly needed one since, I hired or borrowed. Some people think I don't have a driver's licence.
You will find planning your travel will become highly attuned. You'll also pare down to the riding essentials as you gain more and more experience. You will get creative with your solutions (as per Roughstuff and others). Eggs, glass and frozen goods? Adequate padding and insulation are among the answers.
You won't regret the decision. The amount you save in registration and insurance costs will mount up over time... looking back over eight years, there's a LOT of money involved there. And your health and well-being will be better in the long term.
Of course, giving up motor vehicles is *among* other lifestyle decisions. It's not for everyone. Location, as discussed, and proximity to services such as shopping, as well as public transport, roads with cycling amenity, bike parking at work, and family commitments all have an influence on the final decision.
There also are drawbacks. Owning a car is a measure of social and economic success. This is much more so if you are male. Voluntarily giving up ownership of a vehicle is tantamount to mental and financial instability (which may be true; or not ;) )
Anyway, enjoy the freedom you will find.
nycm'er
03-14-05, 04:44 PM
Vince I am sooooo happy for you. I have not had a car for 11 years since I moved here, but the decision was financial not practical. I didn't need it, but I really could not afford it as a student either. So you have made a conscious discussion I wish I could claim to have made. Like TimH said, renting is so cheap and easy, you will be dying to dump the rental as soon as your trip is over. You can bring your bike in a bag on Amtrak and on buses, and ride out of the station once you get there. I have found shopping with the largest timbuk2 bag I can fit more stuff in it, than I can actually carry. You should go buy a "suh-weet" bike as a reward. Congrats!!!
Blackberry
03-14-05, 04:55 PM
Interesting notion. I think I am going to begin the discussion about gettin along with one car rather than two, tonight. It probably won't happen right away, but I think it would be healthy to begin the listing of pros and cons.
Great thread. Thanks
I'd love to be carless, but we live in a semi rural area with no public tranist. While this isn't the perfect solution, my wife (who is from Russia and has never had a driver's licence and has physical issues which keep her from riding a bike) and I share a gas-sipping Honda Civic. We both work at the same place, so we commute together. She has the summer off, which is when I get to commute by bike (about 30 miles round trip, YES!). In addition, we grow a good bit of our own food in the garden. On weekends, I often never drive anywhere, but use the bike for recreation and shopping. As I say, this isn't perfect, but with the family situation I have, I'm really trying to make every mile count. Good luck!
I'm 50, have been without a car at least half of my adult life (off and on). I have lived in small to medium cities with fair to crappy public transit. Using a bike the last couple years has added a lot to my carfree life. I bet you have already checked the Commuter forum here. It will be very helpful to you.
overthere
03-14-05, 05:14 PM
ALL of you are awesome for doing this. I dream of doing it too, but with my aging mom 1 hour away by car, and I visit once a month min., I'm not sure how. But I love reading all of you that can do it.
catatonic
03-14-05, 06:00 PM
havent drove for over a year now....and still loving every minute of it.
The one thing you will notice is how much smaller the city you live in feels once you get used to biking around so much. I used to think San Jose was huge...but after biking everywhere in that area, from downtown, to greatmall,ldowntown to campbell, milpitas, sunnyvale, blah blah, fremont blah.....it really shows you how bad having a car skews your idea of how far things are.
PaperBoy
03-14-05, 06:44 PM
Interesting notion. I think I am going to begin the discussion about gettin along with one car rather than two, tonight. It probably won't happen right away, but I think it would be healthy to begin the listing of pros and cons.
We went from two cars to one when our son took the Corolla to college with him. My wife uses our remaining car to drive across town to get to work. I walk to work (2 blocks) and ride my bike on errands. I don't miss the old Corolla at all (except maybe when I have to make two trips to *Mart to get everything on the list). Two years ago I envisioned buying a third car. I bought the bike instead and have never regretted it.
Holy crap, how old are you?
I'm 22... I can insure a $1000 honda accord for $4500 a year.
vincenzosi
03-14-05, 07:17 PM
I don't have a $1000 Accord, though. I have a 2001 Chevy Malibu LS that's still being financed (after coming off the lease, I decided to buy it; it was before I bought my first bike) which means, as you know living in NYC, I have to insure it out the wazoo. Add the insurance, car payment, EZ Pass, maintenance, gas, and parking spot on the car, and there's your $1,200.
Needless to say wifey and I are considering taking some of our newfound money and moving to Manhattan; an option now that we don't have a car to worry about.
JohnBrooking
03-14-05, 07:20 PM
Interesting notion. I think I am going to begin the discussion about gettin along with one car rather than two, tonight.
We are also in this place. We are in small urban area where public transportation is not so great, and we have young kids, so I don't think we can go completely carless. But with me biking almost every day now, I tentatively brought up the idea of having just one car to my wife a few weeks ago, and somewhat to my surprise, she said she had thought about it too, and it was a great idea if we could do it. So now we're basically just waiting for better weather to arrive to start advertising it. There'll probably be the occasional inconvenience, but we want to try.
Anyone interested in a '95 Windstar minivan with a 2-year-old engine?
I am 22 and have never owned a car. I want to get out of school first. At this rate I may never own a car :).
I don't have a $1000 Accord, though. I have a 2001 Chevy Malibu LS that's still being financed (after coming off the lease, I decided to buy it; it was before I bought my first bike) which means, as you know living in NYC, I have to insure it out the wazoo. Add the insurance, car payment, EZ Pass, maintenance, gas, and parking spot on the car, and there's your $1,200.
Needless to say wifey and I are considering taking some of our newfound money and moving to Manhattan; an option now that we don't have a car to worry about.
Chris L has made the point several times that being carless enables him to live in better digs that he otherwise could afford. The same for me. And I hope so for you.
And there's something else not often taken account of when calculating car costs in some areas -- the electronic highway toll card (I'm assuming that is what the EZ Pass is).
Boudicca
03-14-05, 07:37 PM
ALL of you are awesome for doing this. I dream of doing it too, but with my aging mom 1 hour away by car, and I visit once a month min., I'm not sure how. But I love reading all of you that can do it.
If you think of what a car costs you in gas, insurance and other stuff, and then work out what it would cost you to rent a car for a day twice a month you can visit your mom every two weeks and still be way ahead in purely financial terms. I last owned a car 8 years ago (and that was partly because it went with the job I had then). Sometimes I rent a car and end up doing just 20 miles because all I'm doing is running errands or going to the grocery store for the heavy stuff like cat litter, but I still reckon it's far cheaper than owning one. And rentals are new, clean and devoid of the clutter that builds up when you have your own. The only time I miss not having a car is to be able to load a bike on it for out-of-town rides, but then that's what friends are for, isn't it?
samundsen
03-14-05, 07:54 PM
We are also in this place. We are in small urban area where public transportation is not so great, and we have young kids, so I don't think we can go completely carless. But with me biking almost every day now, I tentatively brought up the idea of having just one car to my wife a few weeks ago, and somewhat to my surprise, she said she had thought about it too, and it was a great idea if we could do it. So now we're basically just waiting for better weather to arrive to start advertising it. There'll probably be the occasional inconvenience, but we want to try.
Me too!
I live in the suburbs of Houston with wife and two kids (3 and 5), so going completely car-less would be very, very difficult. But we did go from two down to one car two years ago. My wife use the car, I ride the bike.
We had a Honda Odyssey minivan and a Honda Civic Hybrid. Now, we only have the Civic. The savings are huge. What happened two years ago was that we crashed the minivan while driving in Montana. It was totalled, and just never replaced. I was driving the car, and we went off the road. We were very lucky, no-one got hurt, but the memory of my kids screaming hysterically is forever burned into my mind.
steveknight
03-14-05, 08:15 PM
wow! that's great...in what area do you live?
portland oregon. well I only been commuting by bike for two years. busses before that.
Great news on giving up a car. We did that and it works out well. We have one car to haul around musical instruments. I'd go as far as to say that if we had two cars, we would have had a harder time buying a house.
I don't have a $1000 Accord, though. I have a 2001 Chevy Malibu LS that's still being financed (after coming off the lease, I decided to buy it; it was before I bought my first bike) which means, as you know living in NYC, I have to insure it out the wazoo. Add the insurance, car payment, EZ Pass, maintenance, gas, and parking spot on the car, and there's your $1,200.
Needless to say wifey and I are considering taking some of our newfound money and moving to Manhattan; an option now that we don't have a car to worry about.
Heh that's what I mean. If I have a $1000 accord, I'm paying $4500 a year. How can you have a $12000 malibu and be paying $1200 a year?
vincenzosi
03-14-05, 09:36 PM
Heh that's what I mean. If I have a $1000 accord, I'm paying $4500 a year. How can you have a $12000 malibu and be paying $1200 a year?
Ahhh, I see the confusion... I was talking monthly ;)
Yeah, this is gonna save a boatload of bucks. I'm very excited. Something tells me that me and my two wheelers are gonna get to be real cozy!
Dahon.Steve
03-14-05, 10:06 PM
I can't believe people are paying $4,500.00 dollars a year on insurance. Incredible.
I've been car free about 4 or 5 years now and have not looked back. Not having a car made me look at alternative transportation like bicycles on trains. I now have the same hyper-mobility the motorist has with the use of trains and my bicycle. The only thing I regret is not having done this sooner.
There was a time when I lived car payment to car payment. Repairs and maintenance ment taking out the credit cards to pay for them because I could never save. (I save almost 1K a month today) Sure I could travel anywhere I wanted to but you really can't do anything if you don't have a dime in your pocket. Owning the car was like having a young infant to take care of but it just gets more expensive each and every year.
Today, the state of NJ funds my transportation costs and not the other way around. EasyPass and tolls are all going up in the New York Metro and it does not effect me one bit. Gas prices are going up this summer but I'm practically immune. My town increased the parking tickets fines and now I hear auto insurance is going up in my state. It's insanity how society nickels and dimes the motorist every way imaginable.
cabana 4 life
03-14-05, 10:31 PM
i sold mine about 2 monthes ago, i dont miss it hopefuly ill never own a car again.im still broke, but im happy and not debt.
Yo Vinnie! You ride everywhere, and you'll waste away to nothing. You'll be a skinny little guy. That's cool that you can give up your car. Personally, I need a family car and a 4WD. As a matter of fact, I would not even be allowed to go to work without a car, at my current job. Go figure.
Could always put one of these in your parking space
http://www.futurememories.com/futurememories/ami-rc-2600.html
I work for a HUGE transport company now. It's all trucks and trains, and for legal/safety reasons I wouldn't be allowed to ride into the site if I wanted to. And it's at the end of a long private road as well. They also store large quantities of ammonium nitrate for blasting, so security is a bit tight too. You wouldn't want to ride a bike in there.
Even though moving here has resulted in a pay cut of $4-5k/month, it's still not a financial issue for us. I can't believe someone would pay $1,200/month to own a car, or $4,500/year for insurance. Even in California, I was able to insure a Honda Civic, a RAV4, and a Landcruiser together for only about $1,200/year. You guys are getting robbed.
I can't believe someone would pay $1,200/month to own a car, or $4,500/year for insurance. Even in California, I was able to insure a Honda Civic, a RAV4, and a Landcruiser together for only about $1,200/year. You guys are getting robbed.Don't look at me. I haven't owned a car since 1997
I can't see myself rolling up to a photo shoot with all my cameras and gear in a bike trailer. But I also see my cars as a convenience, not a burden. Bikes are just toys, and a side business.
I can't see myself rolling up to a photo shoot with all my cameras and gear in a bike trailer. But I also see my cars as a convenience, not a burden. Bikes are just toys, and a side business.
Bike are not toys to all of us
Bike are not toys to all of us
I know. I can be passionate about cycling and still own a car though.
I know. I can be passionate about cycling and still own a car though.
Never said you couldn't. Your choice of words is what I was attacking
Never said you couldn't. Your choice of words is what I was attacking
I see now. I should have stated that bikes are just toys to me. Even though I bought that cruiser to race BMX, it's still just a hobby. I refer to my cameras as toys too. I also referred to my Landcruiser as a toy...
I see now. I should have stated that bikes are just toys to me. Even though I bought that cruiser to race BMX, it's still just a hobby. I refer to my cameras as toys too. I also referred to my Landcruiser as a toy...
I've certainly mellowed over the last couple of years. :lol:
I've certainly mellowed over the last couple of years. :lol:
How old are you now?
powers2b
03-16-05, 09:21 AM
http://carfree.meetup.com/11/
Enjoy
super-douper
03-16-05, 10:53 PM
Interesting notion. I think I am going to begin the discussion about gettin along with one car rather than two, tonight. It probably won't happen right away, but I think it would be healthy to begin the listing of pros and cons.
Great thread. Thanks
My wife and I share a Civic. She drives to work I bike. It's only a short distance for me (sometimes I even walk) but next month we're moving 12-15 miles away. People keep asking me if I'm going to buy a car.... I say "what for?" I have every intention of biking 5 days per week.
There are times when it's inconvient to have only one car (I can't play the lunchtime pickup hockey game....until I get a trailer! :) ) but in the 2.5 yrs since we've lived here I can count those times on one hand. And none of them were so inconvient that I've felt compelled to rent a car (which is currently our accepted plan for times when we need 2 cars). I even drive friends to the airport for vacations, and they tell me "Feel free to use my car while I'm gone".....I rarely do. I've had chances to buy good solid vehicles for cheap from friends, but when I really think about it, it's a no-win situation. Either the vehicle will get used 3-4 times a year (very expensive per trip!) or I'd use it for trips that I should be biking. Either way it's a waste. Either a waste of money or a waste on my waist. I'd rather ride my bike and waste away.
not that I'm doing it all on my own......my friends and family have helped a lot....like usually driving when we need to go somewhere together, carpooling to softball games and other common events. Also a big liberator is the light rail. I get a free pass from my employer, i can ride all the busses and light rail all I want. And it doesn't even have to be for work, I can use it when I go downtown to the bars or to a sporting event.
Anyway, I say go for it, you'll see soon enough that you don't need 1 car per person.
How old are you now?
Old enough to know better, but still too young to care
I, in SoCal could never go "car free", things are just too far away to be biking to do normal tasks. As a racer it would be a pain to have to ride 70 miles each way to a race. Also many specialty places that I need to go to are 40+ miles away. I would and will communte to work/school. Someday I could get by with just my 1958 bug...
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