i own a car. i drive it everyday. i’m pretty sure i could never live without one. there’s a chance you are in the same situation.
or maybe you are not. maybe living without a vehicle is not quite so out-of-reach for your lifestyle. maybe living without a vehicle is just the step you need to take to start saving money or getting healthy. if so, you may be interested to hear that tammy strobel at rowdykittens.com has just released a new e-book titled “simply car-free. how to pedal toward financial freedom and a healthier life.” if the idea of living without a vehicle is an idea that intrigues you… you may enjoy taking a look. the e-book currently sells for $9.95.
Public transportation is great if it’s convenient. It can even shorten the time you do drive.
Living closer to work, working from home, commuting with others, biking and walking are also good alternatives.
In New England, it costs about $5000 per year to own a decent car. That’s about $1000 for insurance, $1000 for repairs and $3000 saved towards the next car.
Plus gas.
Mileage impacts resale value. Driving as little as possible is beneficial.
My husband and I recently bought a car after not ever having one before. We live in a house in a suburb in Sweden and we can be in the city center in 15 minutes with the tram. But, with both of us working full time and with a 2 year old kid we decided it was finally time to get a car. Not so much for the everday commuting and going to the grocery store or things like that. But to go away on the weekends to visiting family, grandparents wanting to see their grandkid, and not ending up spending so much time on the bus you feel you have to spend the whole precious weekend at your parents/inlaws to justify that time you spent travelling… And ending up losing your only free time when you could have just gone there for dinner an everyone would have been happy. Now we can go there for just a few hours, not having to spend the night. It has simplified our lives tremendously. But we still use the car as little as we can.
Haha! I saw this, and I could’ve sworn that it said “Cat-Free Living.” I’m not sure if being cat-free would be part of being minimalist or not…possible topic for a future blog entry?
‘cat-free living’ alright, that’s funny! (…and I have three of them :)