[Closed] How much cash do you save by not running a car?

Is this a serious question?

How about "How much cash do you save by not going on French touring holidays?"

It all gets spent matey, it just depends what you decide to spend it on!

How much money do you save by not having a coke and gambling habit like the fella at the desk over from me?

Hmmm. Sounds like his MOT expense is not really representative.

Not sure how the title relates to the thread content?

To answer the question though:

you'll save the amount you currently pay towards running a car, less any public transport costs.

I don't think many people are under the illusion that running a car isn't costing them anything

Hmmm, not getting my point across.

"It all gets spent matey, it just depends what you decide to spend it on!"

This relates more to what I'm getting at. It is my choice to have the holiday and spend my money on that whilst riding into work every day. My point is that the folks at work just see the holiday without accepting how I paid for it.

I do run a car, but not for commuting use, do I get the best of both worlds?

It would cost me money if I got rid of my car, as it allows me to get money out of my company tax-free by paying myself a mileage allowance for travel to client sites.

I priced it up, and commuting by train would leave me £00's of pounds worse off a month.

Aye. I have a car which I use a little bit but mostly I commute by bike. This saves me about £25-£30 a week I reckon (with the obvious petrol costs being £20 a week when I drive into work).

So £100 a month, over a grand a year. Sounds good to me. Plus I have the added bonus of being able to drive about at the weekend beeping my horn at scum on bikes.

Plus I have the added bonus of being able to drive about at the weekend beeping my horn at scum on bikes.

🙂

I have a car that I use to commute to work in. It's just over 30miles each way so riding both ways each day isn't really an option.

I know it costs me money but it gets me to work in order to earn money.

This relates more to what I'm getting at. It is my choice to have the holiday and spend my money on that whilst riding into work every day. My point is that the folks at work just see the holiday without accepting how I paid for it.

So this thread is actually a subtle rant that your work colleagues don't agree with you on some financial point?

[i]I have the added bonus of being able to drive about at the weekend beeping my horn at scum on bikes. [/i]

I save my wrath for those who choose to export all their disposable income to France rather than spend it within the UK economy.

So this thread is actually a subtle rant that your work colleagues don't agree with you on some financial point?

I think he doesn't like France.

I thought he was saying he'd rather run a car than holiday in France?

I would rather be run into by a car than holiday in France.

EDIT: Not true, just said for comic effect. Was in Morzine at the weekend (working) and wanted to book a biking or boarding holiday there and then. 🙂

What transport was used to tour around France?

I save my wrath for those who choose to export all their disposable income to France rather than spend it within the UK economy.

what if you book it through a UK travel company who specialise in accommodation provided by French-domiciled UK citizens still paying tax in the UK and who come back to the UK to buy all their groceries that are all produced in the UK therefore providing a unique UKish experience, in France?

[i]what if you book it through a UK travel company who specialise in accommodation provided by French-domiciled UK citizens still paying tax in the UK and who come back to the UK to buy all their groceries that are all produced in the UK therefore providing a unique UKish experience, in France? [/i]

I'd hate you for being a smartarse 🙂

I would rather be run into by a car than holiday in France.

A mate was recently driving through France (in his car, no less), and was hit by another car. Needless to say, he felt the need to start a thread on STW.

Apart from riding into work, what are your other transport costs? Assuming that your partner doesn't run a car either.

simple... £65 a month on insurance. Got rid of my car, £65 a month on finance for sexy new road bike. Plus fuel/tax/running costs/mot/environment/my health etc.

[i]£65 a month on insurance[/i]

blimey.

I pay less than £20 a month for insurance.

I'm still confused...
I drove to France in my car for our last holiday. Nobody complained.
If I didnt have a vehicle I'd be turning up to fix your boiler with a pump and punture repair kit.

Talking to the photographer (that I was working with in Morzine) at the weekend. He got insurance for his recently-passed son's Mini 1 (worth £2,500). Costing him £380 a month!!!

£65 a month on insurance

blimey.

Ouch.

yeah, £65 a month is cheap for me as well (30 year old camper van, 12 years no claims, clean license, Advanced driving qualifications, HGV license, vehicle kept in garage etc etc)

i'd rather ride a bike!

Conversely, running my car for work this earned me several thousand pounds at 45p/mile for the last 26,000 miles (6000 of that at 25p) I reckon I've made about £5k profit out of that.....

Ahh, but do you holiday in France?

No, we don't really like France. But we went to the Isle of Man for the TT, which costs more, especially as we lumped £5k on a motorbike to get there on!
Been to Spain twice in the last year too, and next year we're off to the USA.

Is that the correct answer?
🙂

I've spent about £4750 on fuel in the last 12 months (quick mental addition, but I do keep exact records, per vehicle, if you like?)

🙂

I don't know if that is the correct answer because I still don't know what the original OP question was 🙂

Costing him £380 a month!!!

I know not everyone can use a bike all the time, but I am astonished that somebody would think that was a sum worth paying. Surely there are better things to put £4.5k (+ fuel, tax etc.) a year towards?

If you don't have a car how do you get to the trail center?

I save £526 per month, now that the lease car has gone back. Of course cycling-related expenditure is errrrr, coincidentally, about the same 😳

We still have another vehicle for family duties.

I know not everyone can use a bike all the time, but I am astonished that somebody would think that was a sum worth paying. Surely there are better things to put £4.5k (+ fuel, tax etc.) a year towards?

I'm pretty sure my cycling habit costs a great deal more than my car each year, I'm not even going to think what motorbikes cost me

I pay less than £20 a month for insurance.

I pay around £200 per month 🙂

He is a semi-pro rugby player and needs it to get to training and with his dad being a freelance photographer, he can't always be there to drive him around. Or something like that - basically it was the best solution to their transport problems.

Pretty sure he could have found a cheaper car to insure, though.
However, it might not have been as "cool".

[i]I pay around £200 per month[/i]

don't worry, you'll be an old fart with a people carrier one day and then you'll see the benefit 😉

[i]I do keep exact records, per vehicle[/i]

Those long winter evenings must fly by, eh Pete? 😉

Pretty sure he could have found a cheaper car to insure, though.
However, it might not have been as "cool".

A lot of people don't have the option of not running a car. We run two - one family car so the missus can get the kids about (no, she can't realistically walk everywhere), and one so I can get to work. I've started cycling but it's a 35 mile round trip and too tiring at the moment to do more than three times a week.

If we can move closer to my work we'd love to drop to just one car and save some money, unfortunately that hasn't happened yet.

I get to not drive [i]and[/i] pay for the wife's car. The worst of both worlds.

I also have to pay for the dogs, who I may hate more than the car. At least the car doesn't fart while I'm eating.

I've saved about £1600 in fuel by riding to work rather than driving for the last 14 months. Of course I have spent far more than that on bikes & bike bits, plus I'm still paying insurance, VED, MOT, etc. Maybe I should "run the numbers" and see just how much I could save by getting rid of the car entirely (GF has one, I use mine only once a fortnight on average!). There is a big fear-factor about being car-less, although I seemed to manage fine when I was younger!

Not much if you run a car within your means. If you go and buy one on credit then you'd save absolutely loads by getting rid.

I reckon all in my main car has cost around £750 per year over the last three years including depreciation (apart from petrol) and in that time has been completely dependable.

I had a foreign holiday and I have a car ( I am living the dream) 😆

I save enough in fuel by riding to work to pay for the car to sit on my drive for when i want to use it.

Its a savin based on the fact that my previous house was an 80 mile round trip in the car.

We average about 6000 miles a year in our car, 1000 of which is on the summer camping holiday. Our per-mile costs for insurance, VED, MOT, etc. are ridiculous.

I'm confused. I've been to France [i]and[/i] the Isle of Man this year, but was in the car both times. Will I die?

falkirk-mark - Member
I had a foreign holiday and I have a car ( I am living the dream)
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

I have a car that I use to commute to work in. It's just over 30miles each way so riding both ways each day isn't really an option.

I know it costs me money but it gets me to work in order to earn money.

+1

well, just under 30 miles actually. I did try cycling one summer, bike in boot, drive in, cycle home, cycle in next morning, drive home with bike in boot. but it took over 2 hours each way (I'm crap at going up hills, as anyone who's ever ridden with me will know, & there are 4 of them between home & work). That and the laptop would have made me unbalanced. And the eejits in cars.

anyway, I've just had my car serviced, MOTd & one new tyre for just over £200. £2k is almost as much as it's worth.

£70pw fuel at today's prices. £200pa servicing. £220pa (ish) VED. £28pm insurance. £100pm finance £5600pa in total.

but if I didn't have it I'd spend £4160pa on train fares & spend 35 minutes each way standing around on draughty/rainy/cold/wet platforms and a ten minute walk at each end. So I think the car, relatively speaking, costs me £1440 a year. For the convenience, time saving & ability to move my drums around, I think it's worth it

Given your name, I assume you regard England as abroad and that doesn't count.

£7,750 ish per annum on the car which is

Diesel @ £70 per week

Lease @ £311 per month

Insurance @ £500

But running a Driving School means I need it 8)

If I was in my old job where I commuted, I would Definatley use the Bike day in day out.

Aside from the school car, I dont like cars anymore. Sounds daft but ive lost and spent too much over the years.

I bought a one owner, 97 Polo 3 years ago for £1200 with 52k on it and its prob cost me £350 since then on tyres etc.

Just been through MOT needing a bush and cost under £100 all in so I take care of it servicing myself etc but if anything major went I could get stuff from the breakers or just scrap it and get something else.

I use it to transport the bike on the roof rack and the bike is worth more than the car 😳

Another dopey thread. Why are there so many dipsticks on this forum?
I'd 'save' a fortune by not running a car but i'd spend the same having a life.

Excluding petrol, my car has cost me less then 10% of what I have spent on bikes this year.

And I've been on holiday for 6 months of the year so far. My colleuges hate me

If I could do only one, I'd rather drive my car than ride a bike.

I drive a car, ride a bike AND go on holiday......ooooooooooohhhhhhh get me!

I saved over £200k today by not buying a Ferarri 458....

Just taken some figures from my budget spreadsheet and running and owning my 'car' costs just shy of £16,000 p.a. or just over £1300 p.m.

I do use it for work though...

nobody will ever appreciate a tight ar5es boasts

How do people with no cars cope when they have to do things like go to the hospital or go shopping, or go and collect a takeaway or take day trips, or go to job interviews etc?

How do people with no cars cope when they have to do things like go to the hospital or go shopping, or go and collect a takeaway or take day trips, or go to job interviews etc?

walk, use public transport, skip, ride a bike, use a taxi... you could even use a horse if you really really wanted...

Any other non-drivers here? I'm 35 and haven't got a driving license.

Saves on arguments over who drinks and who drives whenever we visit people at Christmas 🙂

I need a car for my job.

But that's because I'm Mercury Morgan, and without my car, a rocket pack, a huge ramp, and twenty elephants all lined up in a row, I'd have no show to put on......

DrP

[i] How do people with no cars cope when they have to do things like go to the hospital or go shopping, or go and collect a takeaway or take day trips, or go to job interviews etc? [/i]

I wonder how did people ever cope before there were cars?

I wonder how did people ever cope before there were cars?

Or electricity, running water, piped gas, telephony, cooker, oven, shower, television, Internet etc, etc, etc...

The car is an integral part of modern life. Many things are made considerably easier by their presence. May not be perfect but it's there.

The car is an [s]integral[/s] heavily over-used part of modern life **for some**. Many things are made considerably easier by their presence. Many things are also made considerably harder by their presence

(FWIW - I do have a car)

not better up totting up the cost to travel without a car and then compare?

I'd reckon my yearly travel costs are:

Bike: £800/5 years(I've buy a new one every 5 years) + 100 year maintenance.

Bus: when the weathers bad and I can't be bothered cycling, probably spend about 150 on bus fares a year

Train: for trips on the bike up north, dunno, 7 or 8 trips a year, roughly 20 each, so 160

gutties: £100, tis amazing up much you wear trainers down over the year when you trek quite alot.

I'll obviously not add in flights and foreign travel, but that's probably what I spend a year in normal travel around glasgow and short jaunts away where I would use a car.

So not to run a car probably costs me, around 670 per year. call it £800 to add some leeway to the above.

I wonder how did people ever cope before there were cars?

I find grown adults who choose not to learn to drive a bit unsettling to be honest.

I find grown adults who choose not to learn to drive a bit unsettling to be honest.

Why? I find grown adults who are unsettled by the decisions of other grown adults to be unsettling 😉

I find grown adults who choose not to learn to drive a bit unsettling to be honest.
Why? I find grown adults who are unsettled by the decisions of other grown adults to be unsettling

agreed, why is it unsettling? it's not a requirement, and for many it's not even desirable.

Can't really put a finger on it, but I feel the same way about men over the age of about 25 with earrings. Something about them sits wrong with me. [IMG] [/IMG]

how odd 🙂

I've had a car for about 3 months now. It costs me a fortune to insure because I've held a license for 10 years without actually driving or gaining a no claims discount.

Since owning it I've:

* Been on holiday (In the car) in France with the OH
* Seen my family more
* Ridden my bike on better hills more frequently
* Seen far away friends more
* Saved money on booze due to "I have to drive" (It's a nice excuse since I've been attempting to curb the habit recently anyway).
* Had none of those "I would go but I don't think its worth it to get 3 trains to do it" moments.

I now consider it a pretty essential part of my life and enjoy life much more with it - definitely worth the money.