Originally Posted by
timdow
What if you could ride enough ditch the car/suv altogether (or the second car) eliminating insurance, registration, payments/depreciation, and ongoing maintenance costs? I figure my paid off, well maintained, high mile 25 MPG Camry costs me about $8.5K a year to drive and own. Take into account that my payments and deprecation were over long ago, and I carry only basic insurance. Add in payments/lease on an expensive car/SUV with sh*t*y fuel economy, and the numbers go WAY UP. If not done so, you may want to do like "Riveting" and calculate the costs (all the costs) with car ownership. You may be shocked at how high the total cost is.
The trap I was in for much of my youth was that my identity was wrapped up in my choice of transportation. I'm over that. I want money invested instead for early retirement.
Going completely car-free (and getting the $8.5k annual savings that comes with that) is
almostattainable for me, (in fact several years ago I was riding/commuting to work most days of the year (except on the snowy days for safety reasons), and I only had to get an oil change in MY car once every two years). But living in an snowy/icy region (then and now) means I CAN'T safely ride to work on many days in the winter. I
could use my spouse's car on those days, but then she'd be without a car to do her things. And there's no way my love of cycling can get in the way of her being able to get around. She fully supports my riding addiction, but I HAVE to maintain the bike-wife balance. Now, if I moved to a non-snowy region, like I'm toying with the idea of, that might be a different story.