Roody

These are all points that are crying for their own threads. The problem with dealing with these issues here is that they are basically inaccessible to others. So please start some threads!! If you have a question, many others are wondering the same thing....

wipekitty

The issue of going completely car-free with pets is one I've had, too! I'm going to start a thread.

cooker

We debate all the time about why to live car-free (which is very important), but the forum was set up to discuss how to live car free so it is great to see these questions come up and I want to see those new threads.

Chuchi

I just started a new thread.

mister

For me, going car light had nothing to do with going green, reducing my carbon footprint, not wanting a car, etc. and everything to do with finances. When we looked at how much we could save a month, and that the money I got from my car paid off multiple credit cards, it was a no brainer. We didn't need two cars and if I need to travel for work, they pay for it.

Machka 

Yep!


I had been keeping track of how much my ex and my vehicle cost us for a while, and when it was totalled, we didn't replace it. What a savings!! In no time, I had paid off all my debt and had taken a trip to Europe.

Machka 

Especially for the newcomers to the forum ... what's your motivation for being car free or car light?

Machka 

2015 bump ...


Why are you, or were you, car-free or car-light? What motivated you to take that step?

There are threads here from people wanting encouragement to become car-free or car-light ... maybe sharing what motivated those of us who have gone that route will encourage others.

MikeRides

My motivation for becoming car light was to lose weight and get fit, then maintain said fitness(which is what I'm working on now). I work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and when I'm not working I'm a single parent, so when would I otherwise find time to get exercise in?

mcfastie

My motivation for being car free is lack of interest in driving a car. I was able to get my license at 14, I think. I didn't bother getting it until my mother dragged me to the DMV when I was about 18 or 19 lol. I have always been able to get around the city's i'v lived in without a car. Eventually I did get one and I got in trouble with it a couple times. In fact the only times I have been in trouble is in a car or truck. The way I look at is i'm clearly not interested or responsible enough to own a car, so why bother? I get around just fine on my bike, public transit or even a cab. I save hundreds of dollars a month and get great exercise from being car free!

ussprinceton

staying in shape

jiggity

I think it started out as health reasons. I am not a go to the gym type, but if I can get 8 miles in every day and a few more here and there, that would meet where I want to be health wise. Going vegetarian is a whole other thread that I've contributed to, that also correlates to health.

The other reason is one day I just woke up and couldn't deal with people's BS anymore. Nor did I want to. So, I left a decent paying job and went to work in minimum pay/minimum stress academia back office. Made a pittance, but downsized my expenses and stress of driving in traffic and enjoyed public transport and cycling. Eventually moved out of the suburb and into town about two miles north of my office on campus. I take the bike trail and can ride home for lunch everyday. And I avoid the $800 annual parking fee so I am $800 richer.

Outside of getting to a Bestbuy or a Microcenter, I live within a 10min walk/2 minute ride of everything I need. With the cashflow that I have now, there has been discussion of getting a toy(convertible) but I am really enjoying not being part of the mainstream and like the challenge of being carfree.

When the weather is inclement or dangerous, or the cycle route is too far or dangerous, I will employ the Car2Go car sharing service. So I guess I am carfree heavy?

Roody

The only category I would put you in is a guy who really knows how to get what he wants out of life!

And you've got it figured out also!

Machka 

Tasmania's Move More Sit Less program in combination with the Walk to Work day on Nov 13, did encourage me to get off the bus a stop earlier and walk a bit more. I'm hoping to do that on Friday again ... maybe even tomorrow if the bus has a fairly quick run into town.

Get Moving Tasmania - Move more, sit less
Home Page: Walk to Work Day

Machka 

We've been talking in another thread about: "Why would you get a car and give up LCF?" ... so let's revisit why we would become car free or car light.

Bandera

Like most competitive cyclists I've know for the last 40 years or so using a bicycle for errands, shopping and general plootering about was taken for granted, it was what one did as a matter of course. Other modes were selected for hauling hay bales, covering a few thousand miles rapidly or traveling to other continents.

None of that has changed for me lately, or is likely to since I do all with some regularity.
I'll be cycling to the farmer's market on Saturday, with some FG miles in-between, and flying back to the Orient as required.

-Bandera

Mako Jak

A very rough end to a long marriage, financially railroaded, facing homelessness in as little as another month potentially, losing vehicle within a week or two. No choice but to go car free right now. The choice is whether or not to stay this way once I get back on my feet... and everyday I learn more about this lifestyle, I love it more and more. Car Free seems the way for me.. to be I can already see all kinds of ways this is going to better my life. It will be challenging but I am going to find the good, latch on and focus this into a great life change!!

baldilocks

My desire to be car light come's from:
1 My love of the bicycle. The joy in the journey.
2 My desire to save money.
3 My desire to loose weight.
4 My dislike of autos. To many over complicated electronics to break.

Artkansas 

I had a similar situation. I started bicycle commuting to a new job and I was getting flack from family members. My wife at the time was urging me to get a car although I had already bicycle commuted to 3 other jobs while we had been married. So I had her do the math and she realized that my bicycle commuting was the thing keeping our budget in the black and out of the red.

Artkansas 

Keep us up to date Mako Jak. Sounds like you are at a low point looking up. As you get reestablished, I bet you will want to retain something that has worked well for you in dark times.

tramptrade 

Originally we went car free because we were throwing money away every month on a vehicle we were not using much.

My wife and I work from home and are semi-retired so we had a $700.00 per month (auto lease and insurance) commitment sitting in the driveway mostly unused. We decided to get rid of the car and save the money. As my wife put it, "that's an expensive driveway ornament".

The side benefits were increased exercise / health, and a more frugal shopping style - less wasted food and money. Part of me also wanted to embrace a more "Earth-Friendly" approach to life.

We did eventually end up getting another vehicle (used and cash-paid) as a safety net for emergencies as mentioned in the other thread.

We remain committed to using it as little as possible.

Roody

Some of the last few posts are from people (Machka, Bandera, tramptrade,baldilocks, mister, MikeRides, and others) who own cars but use them frugally and responsibly. Represent!

I find this to be very very inspirational. If more motorists were as conscientious as them, I wouldn't be the least bit "anti-car", although I would continue to push the "pro-bike" agenda to make it easier for everybody to use bikes or feet to get around more.

Robert C

Me? I'm just too cheap to buy a car. I am also too lazy to put up with all the hassles of car ownership.

Roody

Yes, it really appeals to my inner cheapskate and lazybones! After a while, carfreedom becomes such an established way of life that I can't even think about owning a car without getting the willies.

Sangetsu

Hmm, here in my nighborhood a parking spot costs about $600 a month, highway tolls are stupidly expensive, it will cost me $70 in tolls to use the Aqualine for a round-trip to the countryside (about 60 miles away). Annual road tax is based on engine size, for my 6 liter V8 car that adds up to $80 per month, and then bi-annual inpsections are required, and are not cheap. And lastly is the cost of gasoline, which runs nearly $7 a gallon here.

This might sound good to those who dislike cars, but the costs apply to trucks as well, and pushes up the cost of all goods which require transportation (which is everything). Next, though Japan is a small country, public transportation does not go everywhere, and since driving to other parts of the country is a luxury few city-dwellers can afford (most Japanese live in the metro areas), the rural areas get few visitors, and are in steep economic decline. There are 8 million vacant homes in Japan now, and most of these are in the countryside.

This flight to the cities pushes up the cost of housing, and most people can afford only small apartments. Many of these are too small for families, so people forego having choldren. The lack of people in the countryside has resulted in a decline in farmers, the average farmer in Japan is over 60. And since there are no young people taking up farming, more than one-third of Japanese farmland is now undeveloped.

Being able to get around in a car cheaply is not necessarily a bad thing.