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How much do you save by not driving?

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Living Car Free Do you live car free or car light? Do you prefer to use alternative transportation (bicycles, walking, other human-powered or public transportation) for everyday activities whenever possible? Discuss your lifestyle here.

How much do you save by not driving?

Old 12-05-14, 08:09 PM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
YEAH????
Isn't that what a bicycle is for?
Good decision.
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Old 02-08-15, 07:29 PM
  #52  
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I'm not sure, but it has to be a lot. I don't have a car at all, so I don't pay for insurance, registration, or gas. I don't pay for college parking permits, either, and the vast majority of maintenance I can do myself. If I do pay a mechanic, it's much cheaper than if it were a car. I do use public transportation, but my college gives out county bus and light rail passes, so I'm only paying the $5 transit tax the college charges every quarter. If I want to go to San Francisco, it's $7 in train fare each way and $2.25 per 90 minutes for public transit. If I want to go to Santa Cruz, it's $5 bus fare each way and a bicycle gets me wherever I want to go in style.

All in all, my transportation is extremely cheap. I would not give it up for a car.
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Old 02-08-15, 10:55 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by Gothic Sunshine
I'm not sure, but it has to be a lot. I don't have a car at all, so I don't pay for insurance, registration, or gas. I don't pay for college parking permits, either, and the vast majority of maintenance I can do myself. If I do pay a mechanic, it's much cheaper than if it were a car. I do use public transportation, but my college gives out county bus and light rail passes, so I'm only paying the $5 transit tax the college charges every quarter. If I want to go to San Francisco, it's $7 in train fare each way and $2.25 per 90 minutes for public transit. If I want to go to Santa Cruz, it's $5 bus fare each way and a bicycle gets me wherever I want to go in style.

All in all, my transportation is extremely cheap. I would not give it up for a car.
Does BART now go all the way to San José?
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Old 02-08-15, 11:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Ekdog
Does BART now go all the way to San José?
No, but they are constructing a line to San Jose at the moment. I get from San Jose to San Francisco on Caltrain. I'm probably going to stick with Caltrain, especially with the route electrification.
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Old 02-10-15, 11:40 AM
  #55  
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If I were to give up my car I'd roughly save an average of $1,100 annually. On the other hand, living in the rural northeast, it's only practical to ride from April-November (I have no problem riding 50 miles /day in fair weather conditions), and cabs are ridiculously expensive. During the off-peak season (winter), I researched taking a cab a round trip to/from work(25miles one way) would cost me $13,680 and a once-a-week round trip to the grocery store(10 miles one way) would cost me $1,056 plus the lack of freedom I would have if I drove or biked.

Of course biking has it's additional benefits; no gym memberships, only one wellness check up each year and no prescription co-pays. Bike parts are usually cheaper in most retrospect, although common bike parts often wear faster then their auto counterpart in my experience and can come out even over time/harsh conditions.
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Old 02-10-15, 12:27 PM
  #56  
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My choice is between the subway and the bike. Subway fare is a little less than $5 round trip.
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Old 02-15-15, 09:36 PM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Ekdog
I'm convinced that the amount of money one saves by going car-free or even car-light is huge. It's been such a long time since I had a car that I couldn't really say, but I do know I couldn't afford to buy and run a car even if I wanted to.

Have any of you calculated how much you're able to put aside by not driving?
I actually didn't splurge on cars even when I had one, but here's what I saved when I got rid of my last car, which I hardly ever used:

1. Insurance: $80-100/month ($1000/yr)
2. Fuel: $0-30/month (about $360/yr)
3. Maintenance: $70/month ($800/yr) (old car, and I didn't bother to do my own work)
4. Parking/license plates, etc.: about $200/yr

Total: about $2300/yr. It wasn't a huge amount, but not insignificant, and for a car I hardly ever used, it was money best spent on other things.

Before 2004, when I went car-free for the first time, my car expenses were significantly higher, though I did not realize it at the time. When you just pay for car-related expenses without thinking about it, because you think that's just the way it is, things look more like this:
Car payment: $175/month
Insurance (including collision, since the car's not yours yet): $200/month
Fuel: $200/month
Maintenance: $150/month
Tabs, parking, tickets, etc.: $100/month
Total yearly expenses, not including depreciation: about $7000.00

Without a car, even with a rather self-indulgent bike habit, my yearly local transportation costs are less than what they used to be for a month.
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Old 02-15-15, 10:46 PM
  #58  
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Originally Posted by bragi
I actually didn't splurge on cars even when I had one, but here's what I saved when I got rid of my last car, which I hardly ever used:

1. Insurance: $80-100/month ($1000/yr)
2. Fuel: $0-30/month (about $360/yr)
3. Maintenance: $70/month ($800/yr) (old car, and I didn't bother to do my own work)
4. Parking/license plates, etc.: about $200/yr

Total: about $2300/yr. It wasn't a huge amount, but not insignificant, and for a car I hardly ever used, it was money best spent on other things.

Before 2004, when I went car-free for the first time, my car expenses were significantly higher, though I did not realize it at the time. When you just pay for car-related expenses without thinking about it, because you think that's just the way it is, things look more like this:
Car payment: $175/month
Insurance (including collision, since the car's not yours yet): $200/month
Fuel: $200/month
Maintenance: $150/month
Tabs, parking, tickets, etc.: $100/month
Total yearly expenses, not including depreciation: about $7000.00

Without a car, even with a rather self-indulgent bike habit, my yearly local transportation costs are less than what they used to be for a month.
Seven grand, that's quite a chunk of money, especially when you consider that it's a lot more than millions of people in the Third World earn annually.
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Old 02-16-15, 02:41 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by bragi
Before 2004, when I went car-free for the first time, my car expenses were significantly higher, though I did not realize it at the time. When you just pay for car-related expenses without thinking about it, because you think that's just the way it is, things look more like this:
Car payment: $175/month
Insurance (including collision, since the car's not yours yet): $200/month
Fuel: $200/month
Maintenance: $150/month
Tabs, parking, tickets, etc.: $100/month
Total yearly expenses, not including depreciation: about $7000.00

Without a car, even with a rather self-indulgent bike habit, my yearly local transportation costs are less than what they used to be for a month.
And those expenses we 11 years ago. they would probably be close to 25% higher nowadays, with inflation.
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Old 02-16-15, 03:29 AM
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Enough to live in LA on 10 grand a year.
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Old 03-09-15, 03:56 PM
  #61  
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Owning a car in Greece is expensive, so when I decided to go car free and recycled my old car, I was amazed on how much money I saved within six months of cycling, cab rides (quite cheap compared to other countries) and a bit of public transport.

My current "guesstimate" would be savings in the $2,500 to $3,000 range WITHOUT emergency repair costs or accidents; now double this amount because of the difference in lower wages and higher costs because of the crisis/depression.

Putting savings aside, my biggest reason to continue cycling is how much my stress levels during commute have decreased; even with bad drivers and road conditions. My car commute was relatively short (10-15 minutes), but I would need at least 20 minutes to find a parking spot... this both on the way to AND from work.

Now, I cycle to work, and have gotten permission to use the underground executive parking to safely store my bike... home-to-work in roughly 25 minutes without any delays and frustration!
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Old 03-09-15, 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Telly
Owning a car in Greece is expensive, so when I decided to go car free and recycled my old car, I was amazed on how much money I saved within six months of cycling, cab rides (quite cheap compared to other countries) and a bit of public transport.

My current "guesstimate" would be savings in the $2,500 to $3,000 range WITHOUT emergency repair costs or accidents; now double this amount because of the difference in lower wages and higher costs because of the crisis/depression.

Putting savings aside, my biggest reason to continue cycling is how much my stress levels during commute have decreased; even with bad drivers and road conditions. My car commute was relatively short (10-15 minutes), but I would need at least 20 minutes to find a parking spot... this both on the way to AND from work.

Now, I cycle to work, and have gotten permission to use the underground executive parking to safely store my bike... home-to-work in roughly 25 minutes without any delays and frustration!
Has cycling become more common in Greece as the crisis continues? Does there seem to be more road rage?
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Old 03-09-15, 08:51 PM
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I've just recently done the math on this because we bought a home closer to where I work, and take possesion at the end of April. It took some convincing, but my wife has agreed we should sell my truck, and I'll become a full time bike commuter (we'll keep her [our] car). The numbers are a bit big because we're getting rid of a 1 ton truck we bought for a slide-in camper we're also selling.

My annual savings estimate is:
Fuel (Just going to work): $1492
Routine Maintenance: $130
Insurance: $2200 (gotta love Vancouver)
Car Washes: $90
Wipers and wiper fluid: $75
Tires $200 ($1000 per set averaged over 5 years)
Total: $4187

If we disciplined enough to take those savings and apply them to the Mortgage, it would more than double your savings.

I didn't factor in financing costs outside the mortgage pre-payment because the truck is paid for. I also didn't factor in any kind of savings besed on what we do with the proceeds of the sale of the truck. My math shows that for every time I bike to work after selling the truck, I would effectively be paying myself a little over $42/day.
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Old 03-10-15, 03:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Roody
Has cycling become more common in Greece as the crisis continues? Does there seem to be more road rage?
Cycling has had a massive boost in the past four to five years, -but- no some much in commuting as it has grown in recreational activities (group bike rides, weekend cyclists, grocery runs, etc).

I honestly can't remember anyone commuting on a bike in the mid-2000 era with the exception of a small number of illegal aliens which needed to get around and couldn't use public transport. Today, I will usually encounter three to four commuters on my short suburban commute and a group or two of riders during the weekends.

Road rage incidents are frequent, but to be honest, I have been a victim of one in over a year. The funny thing is that up until two or three months ago the price of fuel was high and people weren't using their cars as often, so the roads were relatively quiet. Now that the price of oil (& fuel) has dropped, there's a lot more traffic and drivers are becoming agitated again.

Last edited by Telly; 03-10-15 at 03:56 AM.
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