JohnBrooking

And one to go.

We just signed over my car to the church last night, who in turn is going to sign it over to a hurricane victim living in our town who needs a car. (Really, she does. She is on oxygen, and I don't know what other medical problems.) We've tried selling it several times without success, so I'm just happy to be rid of it in time to not renew the registration that was due this month, not to mention the insurance payment and maintenance! (And besides all that, I will only have to shovel half the length of driveway now than I did before! )

So now we are two adults and two children with 4 bikes (although only mine is used year-round) and 1 car. We'll probably have to keep that one around for the time being. That's why I'm posting this in Commuting instead of Car-Free.

Hurray!

Turbonium

w000t.

that is very kind of you to give a car to church. now yoru bikes will get more kilometerage than your car

SaskCyclist

We are a similar family with one vehicle,3 kids (9,3 and 2) and 9 bikes including the kids'. Feels great doesn't it. Not only does it save cash, there is more room in the garage for the bikes.

DataJunkie

Welcome to the club. We are a 2 adult, 1 child, 3 bike, and 1 car family. More money for cycling goodies! Or at least me not having a car is how I justify my occasional spending on things like clothing and panniers.

JohnBrooking

My bike's been getting more kilometerage than my car for a year or two now. It occurred to me that I have this car, it gets driven about once a month, yet I continue to register it, change the oil, pay insurance, and even repair it (brakes tend to rust if it doesn't get driven). What's wrong with this picture?

The church is only the "middleman" to get it to the recipient who needs while still getting a tax writeoff for us. The church is how we found out that this person needed it, because they've been helping her with other things, too.

LittleBigMan

I remember my decision to finally let go of my reserved parking space. I was paying only $30 a month for it, and if I ever wanted it back, I'd go on a waiting list.

Of all the smart investments a person can make, it's a bicycle for commuting. Letting go of a car is one of the most profitable decisions you can make. Even just not driving as often saves lots of money.

Not to sound cruel, but I knew a man who was very close to retirement. His house was paid for and he had money and investments in addition to Social Security and retirement benefits. He had a massive heart attack and spend a long period in the hospital. Wiped out his savings, had to refinance his paid-for house, and then couldn't retire because he couldn't afford to.

rec-cyclist

Being a one car family is great. My wife and I (mostly me) have decided to be a one car family more often than not recently. We just started leasing our second car, but that's just because our family truckster Caravan is on it's last leg. Once it goes, the last thing I'm going to do is race to find a replacement.

vegcrow

Oh life is unfair! Maybe cycling and a healthy diet would have prevented the heart attack. What a major let-down.

JohnBrooking

<digression>That reminds me of a good little book I read a few years ago, Tepper Isn't Going Out, by Calvin Trillin. It's about a guy who enjoys sitting in his legally parked car and reading the newspaper, irritating everyone who drives past him looking for a parking spot and thinking he's about to leave his. Very entertaining read; highly recommended.</digression>

dynaryder

Steven Wright had prior art. He joked about getting bored,finding a really good parking spot,and then counting the number of people who asked him if he was leaving.

Futher off-topic. I've had numerous people get upset with me while waiting for me to leave my parking spot with my motorcycle. Removing the locks,loading the bike,putting on my gear,and then warming up the engine would all take a couple minutes. One woman actually cussed me out a couple years ago. That "I shouldn't be taking up a whole parking space". I shut off,removed my helmet,and walked away. I kept an eye on her until she left,then went back and left.

DataJunkie

He he.
Our local 24 plex has parking spaces that are hard to come by. Everytime you leave a movie you have at least one car tailing you. One time the person in the car was a tad rude, we wandered through the parking lot for 10 minutes with them following us. Finally, we sat in our car for 5 minutes and then went back into the 24 plex. They followed us the whole time and waited the rest of the time. My goodness were they angry.

On topic:
Has anyone actually calculated how much the save?
I wonder if these categories cover the savings?
1. Loan payment
2. Insurance
3. Gas
4. Automobile upkeep
5. Extra visits to the doctor due to a sedintary lifestyle.

pinkrobe

Ooooh! Me! This is a commuting specific tally.

1. Loan - well, we're still paying for our car, so I'm not saving money there.
2. Insurance - Saving ~$1000/year by not driving to work
3. Gas - $40/week just for commuting
4. Upkeep - I do most of my own maintenance, so maybe $400/year
5. Medical - work pays for that, but I'm less stressed and generally happier
6. PARKING - $400/month

so...
$1000 [insurance]
$2080 [gas]
$400 [maint.]
$4800 [parking]
--------------------
$8280 saved per year. If I went car-free, save another $4000 in car payments but take some off for cab rides and rentals.

tlc20010

Some cities like here in Dc have FlexCar or ZipCar that allow you to rent by the hour (usually 10 bucks or less which includes gas and insurance) and they have cars in dozens of locations. Also you can get the sort of car (or truck) you need for the occasion. The money saved on parking, insurance, gas, and upkeep (not to mention principal and interest) would pay for a lot of those 10 buck hours and you only have a car when you really need it. For everything else there's biking.

DataJunkie

Me:

1. Loan - I would have to buy a vehicle. The smallest loan I have had is $150 a month. $1800 a year
2. Insurance - $900 a year
3. Gas - $30 a week for commuting - 4 weeks vacation = $1440 a year
4. Upkeep - $600
5. Medical - Even sedentary I am fairly healthy. 1 $20 copay a year.
6. PARKING - I do not work downtown.


There are also tolls for those unfortunate enough.

Total: $4800 (roughly)
Wow. That would buy a nice bike if I could reinvest 100% of it into one item.
Edit: or even 50% of it.

j3ns

Here's my situation:
My girlfriend "needs" a car for driving to work. I could ride with her.
So the distance saved every day is only 2,4 km. I do use bike for other errands, so let's say the total savings in driven km is ~800 (~500 miles).

Gas, maintenance and stuff for the car would be ~150-200 $US for those 800 km (~500 miles). This bikeride does not make a huge difference to my weekly workout since I do a lot of other sports also, so no savings in medical.

So, no matter how I calculate, I'm not making big savings. I love biking though, and hope I can keep commuting by bike until retirement (after 35 years or so).

But if my girlfriend would start bike commuting also...

vegcrow

Same here. So people ask me why I'm still riding my bike when I could catch a ride? Answers:

* less fuel is used when not hauling my 150 pounds around
* a brisk ride before work gets the blood pumping far better than coffee and sugar
* i want to set a good example

531phile 

Yeah! Yeah!

Tree Trunk

Best wishes. I'll say it now for you -- it's going to be tough. My wife and I have a 6 yr old boy and 9 yr old girl. We went from this past March through November 4 with one family car. Things were a lot less convenient and I got very tired/worn by the middle of October. Let me encourage you not to be too concerned with being a hero.

Wulfheir

My wife also needs a car. She works shift work so our schedules conflict 50% of the time, requiring me to commute by other means. But if I use the costs associated with operating 1 vehicle, compared to operating 2, i get this:

1) Loan - $3600/yr
2) Ins. - $600/yr (2nd vehicle is usually discounted on insurance policies)
3) Gasoline - $112/yr (5.1km to work based on 48 commuting weeks)
4) Maintenance - $400/yr

Total: $4712/yr (before car is paid off)
Total: $1112/yr (after car is paid off)

Savings to our countries health care system:
5) Prozac - $600/yr (from stress-induced depression)

Wulfheir

But not as much as a brisk ride AND coffee and sugar