I don't factor in depreciation. It's not like I am keeping an asset. I am buying it to use it. It's not a Rembrandt. It has a cost, that's what I pay. Anything I get for it when/if I sell it is a bonus.
Chat Forum
[closed]
No car? How do you cope?
-
Posted 1 year ago #
-
Mrs STR doesn't drive (but is having lessons on and off). She uses public transport to get to work 3-4 days a week.
Her business is 12 miles away, it costs her about £30 per week on buses and if she misses one/has a late client, £20 per single journey in a taxi. Each way takes approx an hour on two buses. She can't open up as early, or close as late as she'd like, so that costs us further.
Having a second car would be a no-brainer for us, she just needs to pull her finger out and pass her test.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I stopped driving about 26yrs ago. Never regretted it. Coincided with my chopper licence!
Posted 1 year ago # -
easiest/cheapest way to get there
that would be cycling. hope that helps
seriously, i rarely hire a car for trips. occasionally i'll get lifts further afield, the odd train here and there. sometimes i'll ride out from edinburgh and just get a train back (say, into east lothian or across to fife). mostly i just keep it local.
it totally works for me though i'm certain there are plenty of naysayers too.
and i did own a car til a year ago, so i know what it's like to own one too...Posted 1 year ago # -
never had a car! never will, if you cant ride or get train or bus their, i dont go!
Add two kids into the equation, schools/childcare & jobs 20 miles apart & a car soon becomes a necessity I'm afraid. Nice idea though, but unless your in a big city you've no chance unless your prepared to compromise on pretty much everything.
I spent 2 yrs without one once, but was working 5 mins away, & was single. I used to hire one for hols/xmas etc for visiting. Getting another was like passing my test again.Posted 1 year ago # -
I can't cope...
Posted 1 year ago # -
With life in general Fred, or are we still on about cars?
Posted 1 year ago # -
The comments about it being impossible unless you live in a big city are untrue. We live in a small market town. Buses to Salisbury, which is hardly a city, are every 20 minutes during the day. I'm married with 1st child due in 2 months. Our habits and activities will simply evolve around not owning a car. And not owning a car does save you a lot of cash, because it's not just the direct costs involved.
Posted 1 year ago # -
We live in a small market town. Buses to Salisbury, which is hardly a city, are every 20 minutes during the day
Then you are extremely lucky imo. Proportionally speaking very few places in the countryside have a good bus service.
Busses in Herefordshire where I grew up were a joke. I could not get a bus to see my mate in Tenbury Wells. Or rather I could at something like 10am on a Tuesday but the only return bus was 3pm on Thursday or something stupid.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I just drive a sub £700 car (pretty much worthless so depreciation is zero) and can fix it myself. Insurance is £200, tax is £200, MOT £50.
Repairs and servicing cost me no more than £250 a year.
Where I live now the bus costs me about £5 each way into Bristol and the last bust is at 5.20pm so pretty bloody useless. It is 15 miles away but very hilly. No train near by and the train also costs over £4 and requires extra transport.
But fuel cost is killing us at the moment.
I wish affordable electric cars would hurry up!
Posted 1 year ago # -
We aren't comparing the same thing molgrips. You generally will find it tough to get between small towns ans villages by bus, that's what the bike is for. I also think that as fuel gets prohibitively more expensive, bus services will improve.
Posted 1 year ago # -
You generally will find it tough to get between small towns ans villages by bus, that's what the bike is for
I did used to ride to my mate's a lot. His mum however didn't enjoy it so much!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I also think that as fuel gets prohibitively more expensive, bus services will improve.
Really?
Hasn't fuel been getting prohibitively more expensive for decades now?
Can't say I've noticed much improvement in any bus service since I used to get on a double decker in Sheffield as a nipper, chuck tuppence in the ticket machine, and take my ticket with the imprint of said tuppence stamped onto it. Tuppence got you anywhere in Sheffield 30 something years ago btw.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hasn't fuel been getting prohibitively more expensive for decades now?
No, because it doesn't appear to have changed the way people think. When I heard a mate of mine talking about how his next car choice will be influenced by fuel economy though I found that interesting. He earns at least £100k, so if he's thinking about it there are probably a lot more people doing so. At the bottom end the choice will be between car and no car. For me it was either car for a year or a month in Australia. That was a **** ace month
Posted 1 year ago # -
On the flipside, I don't earn £100k (well, not after overheads & costs), but do drive 40k miles pa, yet don't really get worked up about the fact that my vehicle does 30mpg.
Posted 1 year ago # -
We have two cars. I reckon we could easy cope with just one. I'd happily ride into work every day and we could use my wife's car for doing the weekly shop in and visiting relatives. I normally nip down the shops for bits and pieces on my bike anyway. The time we'd miss my car would be emergencies I reckon. Not real emergencies but urgent stuff where we need to rush around to get things done.
Posted 1 year ago # -
jenbe - Member
never had a car! never will, if you cant ride or get train or bus their, i dont go!
Presume you cant drive then?
Posted 1 year ago # -
my main prob with cars is that i need different cars for differnt things
ive got a pickup truck for towing and delivering logs
a transporter van for work
and a 4 seater 4x4 for when i need 4 seatsa landrover 130 hi cap would do the job of the pick up and the 4x4 but I cant afford one so till then I have to insure and tax 3 vehicles - oh and a motorbike
and to save money Im thinking of getting a little lpg van for running about in !
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hasn't fuel been getting prohibitively more expensive for decades now?
When I stated driving fuel was about 75 p a litre (unleaded). It's now 1.30 that was 12 years ago. That works out as 4.6 % pa increase. Factor in inflation and it's not rising that fast. Above inflation yes but not that much. Other cost involved with motoring have fallen. A big sign that motoring is infact overall cheap is that more people are about to afford cars now, car ownership has increased over the last 20 years.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I did read yesterday though that car usage has fallen very recently, and so have average speeds. Anecdotal evidence and a few surveys.
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
This topic has been closed to new replies.
