I worked out that owning a car cost me £250 a month over the past year (VED, fuel, insurance, servicing/mot .. depreciation irrelevant on a 10-year-old Vectra).
I would love to go carless. Driving is tedious and expensive. But going carless presents numerous issues that I am not yet prepared to work around:
My sons school is a mere 15 mins walk, decent shops are only 20 minutes walk (& on a bus route right past our front door).
However where we live (Marple) the public transport is useless unless you want to go to Stockport (bus) or Manchester (train).
To get to work (Wythenshawe) would take me at least 90 minutes each way on multiple buses/trains, compared to 35/40 minutes each way on the bike or in the car.
Until I actually can't afford to run a car, I refuse to more than double the time I spend commuting each week to save a bit of money.
Whilst I have the choice, I prefer to spend the time with my wife and kids.
To visit my parents or many of our friends (Poynton/Cheadle Hulme/Bramhall area) would take half a days travelling to get there and back, as opposed to maybe 20 minutes each way in the car.
If we wanted to go out for an evening, without a car we'd be restricted to the local pubs/restaurants. There'd be no more visiting friends/family except at weekends.
We also have relatives in Wirrall. Hiring a car would be acceptable, but in light of all the above I won't be getting rid of the car just yet.