Having no car....

bosseyed

Sigh. I've had a car of some description ever since I passed my test 14 years ago. Have just paid off the outstanding finance on our current car (borrowed money from family) as we simply can no longer afford to pay for it now that my wife is not working.

So once the car is sold, we'll have to see how we manage without a car and I can tell you, whilst I'm looking forward to not having to fork out for the finance, the insurance, the diesel and the tax, I'm not looking forward to losing that instant freedom to go anywhere we like whenever we fancy.

So who here doesn't have a car and how do you find it? To be honest, I suspect we'll manage for a month or so carless, hate it and ending up buying a cheap run around for a few hundred quid :rotfl:

Ebe_Scrooge

Depends to a very large extent where you live. We live in a very rural area, the bus service is infrequent and inconvenient at best ( 1 bus every 2 hours during the week, none at weekends ). When my car was off the road for a week recently, it was horrible - thankfully we have very good neighbours who gave us lifts.

On the other side of the coin, I have friends who live in London. When I first went to see them in their new house, I couldn't believe they'd sold their car - how did they manage ? But I soon saw how good the public transport is round them, and it runs from early morning to very late at night, they're loving all the money they save by not running a car. And if, say, they're going on holiday for a week, they tend to just hire a car for those sorts of occasions.

So you can manage perfectly well without a car, or it can be damned inconvenient.

Outpost

I'd loathe not having a car for the reasons you describe. Just being able to pop out to shops, see friends, go for a few hours out or day trips further afield.

bosseyed

Middle of Bristol so public transport is useable. And I cycle to work so no issue there.

But I hate public transport. Its full of other people. Plus public transport turns even the briefest of expeditions into something requiring more thought and effort, especially with a 1 year old in tow.

I shall miss my car greatly. I bet we'll last a month before crumbling and rushing down to Crazy Roy's house of dodgy chop shop motors.

Beki88

Our car is off the road again for the second time in a few months, awaiting repair for which we don't have the money for right now.
And its blinking horrible, having to rely on my best friend for a lift to tesco and back with the shopping, my partners been late for work in a morning as he hasn't adjusted to getting up earlier with him having to walk.
Its just the whole having to rely on other people and knowing like you said you can't have the same freedom! Can't wait till we get it back, although by that time we probably won't be able to afford the petrol!

Strider590

bosseyed wrote: »

ending up buying a cheap run around for a few hundred quid :rotfl:

You shouldn't have bought something you couldn't pay cash for in the first place.... But to be fair this is a symptom of British class systems, we all want nice shiny cars to improve our imaginary social status. Then we struggle with the debt for the rest of our miserable lives.

p00hsticks

bosseyed wrote: »

But I hate public transport. Its full of other people. Plus public transport turns even the briefest of expeditions into something requiring more thought and effort, especially with a 1 year old in tow.

Have you considered using taxis for at least some of the journeys ? A taxi a couple of times a week is likely to be still considerably cheaper than the running costs of a car, but more convenient than pubilc transport, especially for thing like the main super market run where you need to manage a number of bags ?

lilac_lady

I''d miss my car. I have a bus pass but seldom use it. If I'm travelling to a city I usually take the car to a local station and get the train. Not everyone can cycle on busy roads and jump on and off buses with agility so I'll keep my car as long as I can (but not if I consider myself unfit to drive anymore)

My family will intervene if I think I'm still ok on the road but not. We've had the conversation and I initiated it. As I'm in my early 60s I hope it's a fair bit away timewise.

Outpost

lilac_lady wrote: »

My family will intervene if I think I'm still ok on the road but not. We've had the conversation and I initiated it. As I'm in my early 60s I hope it's a fair bit away timewise.

A couple of months at least.

mikey72

Strider590 wrote: »

You shouldn't have bought something you couldn't pay cash for in the first place.... But to be fair this is a symptom of British class systems, we all want nice shiny cars to improve our imaginary social status. Then we struggle with the debt for the rest of our miserable lives.

You need to learn to budget.
You can either save your money in a sock under the bed for 5 years, then have enough to buy what you want, or budget the same amount, and buy it five years early.
You'll end up with the same thing after the five years either way.
What you shouldn't do though is buy something you couldn't afford either way.

LandyAndy

Strider590 wrote: »

You shouldn't have bought something you couldn't pay cash for in the first place.... But to be fair this is a symptom of British class systems, we all want nice shiny cars to improve our imaginary social status. Then we struggle with the debt for the rest of our miserable lives.

Thank God I had a spare £350k sitting around to buy my house.