My wife bought a car
 

After just short of 2 years being car-free, my wife brought home a car this past weekend, a surprise she had been saving for several months.

My commute is 12 miles each way. I estimate I rode about 6,000 miles the first year, and about half that much this past year so far since I started telecommuting part-time. Public transport options here are very limited and most bus trips take much longer than a bike ride, but the bus doesn't go where my job is anyway.

She has offered me rides to/from work as often as I want. Not sure what I'm going to do. We had already spoken about her desire to get a car and I supported her, and still do. It's hard to live here without a car, and much more fun to have one.

I still think riding a bike is fun.

I don't know what I want to do yet. I'm sure enjoying the break from the commute. If it were shorter, I'd probably feel differently.

I want to take guitar lessons, real live ones with a real human teacher, no Skype. I don't think I want to haul my guitar and gear around on my bike.

I know this is commuting forum, not LCF, but my car-free days might be over unless/until we relocate.

There's not enough business to keep me busy full-time at my work unless I take on additional responsibilities, and the other work available for me to do requires my presence in the office, so no telecommuting. But the boost in my hours from taking on additional work would more than cover all the operating costs of my wife's car and then some.

Maybe it's time for a change.

There is no reason why you still can't ride to work. Ride and enjoy, and when you feel the need to drive the car, when the bike is not a reasonable option, take the car. You can now enjoy both. Don't overthink it, and simply enjoy.

Does it really seem like I'm "over" thinking? Feels like plain old thinking to me.

Yes, it does. I don't see any reason to give it any thought at all. Your wife wanted a car. She save for it, and bought it. You still own a bike. You don't have to change a thing. Relax, I'm not condemning you for thinking about it, just advising you to simply enjoy your life the way it is now. Be happy you have a good wife who saved for a car before buying it. You are a blessed man.

my wife came bundled with a car from the day i moved in with her back when she was still my fiance. i had been a LCF bachelor for over a decade prior to that.

she's not a LCF person by nature, and now that we have a 3 and a 5 year old, there are absolutely times when owning a car just makes life easier.

she works from home >90% of the time, and i ride my bike to work. i also have good transit options for when i don't.

i could conceivably just drive our car to work the vast majority of days because my wife rarely uses it, but riding my bike is 8 billion times more fun than driving around in chicago rush hour traffic.



TL;DR: if you like bike commuting and it works for you, then ignore the wife's new car and keep doing your thing.

Addressing just this one point in your initial post, decent guitars and amps can be had at extremely low prices via either Amazon or Craigslist, to name only two potential sources. I'd buy one of each and drive them over to leave with the guitar teacher so that I could ride my bike to my lessons.

Thats a cool idea, never occurred to me. If I ever had a teacher who was cool with me leaving my gear, I’d just build a guitar for that purpose.

Maybe you could build a guitar *for* your teacher to barter for lessons, and then it would be there to use during lessons. :thumb:

So, what car did she get? :)

You were pleased when you got rid of the car, and you're pleased to have it. I guess you're easy to please.

I don't think anybody is forcing you to drive it or ride in it everyday. Of it's purchased for long distances and for carrying lots of big bulky things, cars have their place and purpose. It could be expensive, but that's the cost of luxury and convenience.

Remember to drive carefully and don't be part of the problem.

You can get an ebike to help you out!

@noglider

I don’t fight progress. Easy come, easy go. Works the other way around, too.

Last year on my rides to work I would frequently go by a guy on a bike with a guitar on his back going the in the other direction. It can be done.

Since we bought a new car, around 5 years ago I've driven it to work maybe a dozen times, including driving because of injuries. It's not all that tempting if you enjoy the bike commute, but it's nice to have the option if you need it.

A Buick. It’s pretty nice. It was a granny’s car until granny got in a fender bender and they wouldn’t let granny drive anymore. So it’s got a ding but otherwise in nice shape.

The car is so nice, in fact, that I wonder why anybody would ever drive a new Chevy when when they could drive a used Buick. If you’re buying used anyway, why ever buy a Chevy at all, there are lots of used Buicks all over the market. At least here there are anyway. It’s a grandpa car but I don’t care. I was over my image thing with cars long before I went car free.
If you don’t feel good about buying an imported luxury car for whatever reason, Buicks are just as nice, maybe more reliable overall even. Great car. I’m very proud of her choice. She got one with a supercharged 3.8L. I hope it lasts a long time. If it doesn’t, I hope she gets another Buick.
I guess same could be said for Mercury, they were pretty nice too. I don’t have any brand allegiance, just more experience with GM cars and Toyotas Hondas. Never really liked the way Dodge cars looked so never gave em a chance.

We're pretty much a Toyota/Honda family with a pair of Mazdas sneaking in the last two decades. Sure I've owned Chevy, GMC, Ford, Mercury, and Dodge in my time but I haven't bought American since near the turn of the century.

However, last year we were offered a 2006 Mercury with 30,000 miles on it for a really good price. The owner was 96 years old and had decided to give up driving. That Mercury became my wife's car, and she sold her 2008 Honda to our 28 year old.

I offered the Mercury to our 28 year old, but she didn't want that low mileage beauty because it looks like a grandma's car. Too bad for her. :D

It turned out my wife grew to love driving this Mercury. :)

There is no sin in driving a car to work. Been a bike commuter since the dawn of time, and one of my favorite commutes involved 15 mile one way trip. Working 6 days a week allowed me to rack up the miles and get fit. When I had to haul very large items, I pulled them in a trailer. I also had a car for the icy road days.

Today I have a truck that sees less than 1000 miles a year and spends most of its time hauling yard waste and other people's furniture than getting me to places. Save up for a car, and then park it. Use it when needed. Just a sensible plan, especially in snow country.

You will be shunned over in the LCF.

That's OK. Living car free was not a religion for me. It's sort of a shame - living car free was something that I learned a lot from and that really enriched my life. I believe a lot of people could benefit from losing the car, even if only for a year or two. The shame is that my experience with the "LCF" was that it felt like more of an exclusive club, kind of like a religion, or a weird subsect of a mainstream religion. In my opinion, generally we should be encouraging others to make responsible decisions about their health, the environment, and finances. Overall, I feel like LCF forum probably does more to discourage people than otherwise.

Do what makes you happy on any given day. We have an electric vehicle which comes in very handy with small children and going together somewhere as a family when the subway and bus are impractical or just tedious. NYC public transit will get you anywhere but very often I can get there much quicker riding. I commute via bike 21 miles round trip to work most days and probably use the car only 3-4 dozen times per year when the weather is awful or something else comes up. The option is handy and practical. Enjoy the best of both.

First...it isn't your duty to please anyone on this forum but YOU.

Second...now you have options. Always a good thing to have options. Just not feeling it today? Catch a ride. Feelin' groovy?! Pedal on.

Third...your wife owning a car is actually the best case for you (sounds like it to me). Cars like to be driven. They don't like being parked and neglected as would be the case if I owned one myself. So your wife keeps the car happy by driving it, likely paying for much/most of it, and you have access. Your wife is happy, the car is happy, you likely will be happy about it soon, and I am happy for you. That is A LOT of happy dude! Roll with it! :thumb: