Would you live without a car?

[sherylgray]

Yes!

If you think that a car is adding on to your expenses, one can totally live without it happily! I can for sure. Especially if I know its going to save me a lot of money. Also with places which have good public transport, car is just not a necessity. It can be done without easily. Even though I am a car person, I would say it goodbye if I needed to.

[DiscounThem]

From where I live, I can't, and I pay about the same as you do. But I am thinking about buying electric plugin hybrid car in the coming years so I can at least save money on gas and enjoy the tax credit that's given from the state.

[joshuaking]

I wish I could get around without a car. Unfortunately, I live in Los Angeles and that is not possible, but I have cut down on my driving. I used to drive close to 400 miles in 2 weeks, now it is closer to 400 in 3 weeks.

I used to live in Los Angeles also and there is NO WAY anyone could live there and not drive! The worst city for public transportation ever.

[marvholly]

I have given this a GREAT deal of thought. My answer is NO WAY!

I live just outside Chicago. Nearest grocery (Aldi-VERY limited selection) is 1.7 mi and public transport would be $2 + 25 minutes. driving is about 0.40 in gas and 7-10 minutes.

Drug store (both CVS & Walgreens) is walkable.

I see & help w/my 94 y/o fathe's PT 2x/week. 15 mi rt. Public transport would be $5 and 1.5 hr each way. Driving is <$4 and 20-25 min eachway. I am also able to do a bunch of differnet shopping (cheaper grocery stores, ethnic markets, pet supplies, post office, bank.....) enroute.

DD1 + grands lives 35 mi rt. NO reasonable public transport timewise.

DD2 + grands lives 80 mi rt. NO public transport of any sort.

I will be driving until either the car or I die.

[Nsmith508]

I wish I could ditch my car! I think it would have to live in the city though.

[nimisht]

It depends on where you live. In NYC where I live it is possible. You may also want to look at zipcar and some other altneratives that would allow you to save money.

[Marius]

Anything's possible

I've never lived anyplace where the use of public transportation exclusively was practical, but I would forgo owning a car if the circumstances were right. We moved from rural upstate NY to suburban MA for my wife's job in Dec. '11, and she has been commuting to Boston by train for work. It's not cheap: that ticket alone is costing in the neighborhood of $400/mo. But if we actually lived in Boston? I'd certainly consider ditching the car. The costs are high. But having been a country boy for most of my life, the thought of actually living in a city seems insane. The painful fact is that life is getting expensive everywhere--there are tradeoffs no matter where you live. That auto expense, to my mind, is more than mitigated by the lower cost of property and living in general. I could see where a city dweller might try to make the opposite case. It depends on an INDIVIDUAL perception of quality of life. I enjoy my visits to NYC and Boston immensely, but you couldn't pay me to live there!

[carolinee]

Human vs. Car. Who eat more?

Interesting thing: I spend on food about $150-200/mo for ME. And. I spend about $200-250/mo on food for my CAR. Will call my car the Hungry Snail

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

That's interesting, Sammy Joe because my son lives in St. Paul, works in Minneapolis. He said he hardly uses his car. Between the well maintained bike paths (even in winter! and the bus system, he mostly only uses the car for shopping. But he probably chose his apartment keeping in mind being able get to and from work easily. He belongs to a program with the public transit wherby bike riders are promised free motorized transit home should they need that in emergency. I understand he took them up on it once when there was a night time snowfall, and the paths were not yet cleared.

[The Budget School]

Ways To Save on Car Expenses

Between gas, tolls, maintenance, car registration, insurance I spend around $350 and I have a car payment of $300 so that is 650 a month. ugh

Would you live without a car? I have been toying with the idea lately, even if just for fun.
Of course I would need to calculate a transportation budget to use public transportation and taxis for emergencies...

what do you think (outside the box)

Answer: I wouldn't live without a car. I'd purchase one that I knew I could pay off within a reasonable amount of time. Because a vehicle depreciates in value the minute you drive it off of the lot, focus on choosing fuel efficient cars instead of the latest models. Think about the possibility of an older, pre-owned vehicle to decrease the amount of time that you're making payments on it. - Having a vehicle paid off will do wonders for your budget worksheet, saving you thousands each year. - For more money saving tips and free budget worksheets, check out The Budget School

[The Budget School]

Get Rid of Car Payments

I can live without a car it is just a matter on how can i manage my transportation things.Having a car might be very expensive and can cut the budget and if you think it wisely and calculate you can see the big differences on having and not having a car.

You can have a car that doesn't suck your budget dry. Choose older, reliable, pre-owned vehicles and get rid of payments faster so you can have more money in your pocket for the thing that matter.

[gogirlanime]

I take the bus because my boyfriend's mother works for a public bus service so I get a free bus pass. If I didn't have that I wouldn't be able to afford transportation. I sucks sometimes however I get around and can get generally anywhere I want with no trouble. I live in Washington state and we have a great metro system, the only places I can't get to are cities and neighborhoods that are in the far outskirts of the state. I also don't have to worry about paying for parking at my college or in downtown Seattle when I go. I say, if you always come straight home from work, try the bus, it'll save you a lot of money. I did the math, calculated how many miles I travel by how much gas costs and how many miles to the gallon I get etc etc and I save (because I don't have car insurance, gas, or parking) about $250 a month.

[Radiance]

If I was working from home, I could do without by getting an electric bike. ....
Unfortunately I live 45 minutes from work and not practical to move close to work
My next car, however, will be pre owned.
Still car insurance, gas, tolls, registration and maintenance add up! I spend as much on owning a car than I do in rent!
I rented a tiny stodio

[~bs]

I walk to work and do work from home, so I probably could. I use it mostly to run errands and for weekend fun. Also, I do like cars in general, so I probably wouldn't. Fast cars are best enjoyed when relatively young. By the time you get to your 60s, your reaction time is slow, vision bad, etc., and you simply wouldn't enjoy driving like you do when you're younger. (at least that's my general observation).

But yes, cars does suck money from you between registration, insurance, and maintenance. I average 16MPG on premium gas, and most of my driving is on open roads (V8 yay!). Tires are $250 a corner with installation (better than having to pay $500+ per corner for run flats, i suppose), oem brake rotors+ pads are $2k for all 4 corners, not including installation. Fun stuff! If I commuted daily, I would not own a sports car at all. I've seen MPG averages of 6-8 during rush hour traffic, not to mention the additional wear and tear from all the extra miles.

[Copper]

Fairly I could. In Europe and America transport system is so nice that one may not need to use a car. To cross a short distance as 5-10 kilometers, cycling is a pretty nice option both for your health,environment and pocket.