One of the tricks is to define "restraint". In my case, I still have my pickup truck because, living in the country, it's an absolute necessity. For starters, hauling two weeks garbage and recyclables to the transfer station on a Bob trailer isn't going to work, and I have no intention of trying to make it work.

My personal restraint is to allow one tank of gas (20 gallons) per month to that truck - and within those parameters I can do whatever I like, be it hauling bicycles to swap meets, hauling garbage, or just Saturday night cruising the main drag picking up chick (yeah, at my age - 58). Or not drive it, and allowing whatever I don't have to buy of that allowed 20 gallons to carry over into the next month(s) in addition to the next 20 gallons. Which gets me through January and February when the motorcycles, scooter and bicycles are flat out useless in 35 degree rainy weather, or snow.

As part of this effort, I bicycle to work (theoretically) every Saturday - 42 mile round trip. Yeah, I've missed a few. There have been a few mornings when I didn't feel physically adept enough to do the trip. So I used the scooter instead. I lived. The earth lived.

If you're going to set standards, don't micromanage yourself. Set them for a larger period of time, and allow yourself some leeway for the unexpected day to day needs.