Living with no CAR!!!

squeaky

I gave up my car several years ago. I'm on incapacity benefit and don't work - so I was really only using it in my village (lazy) and usually for one trip per month into town. Oh, and my big supermarket shop.

Apart from the basic costs of tax, insurance etc I realised that car parking fees in the local town were more than the bus fare was!

I'd even reduced my insurance to just third party. My car was so old no one was going to steal it - and if it burnt... so what?

But that third party was still £30 per month.

So on that basis alone I could comfortably go into town by bus (cheaper than the car park) once a month, get all my shopping and stuff done and then, because I'd be exhausted and didn't fancy struggling with loaded bags on the bus - I'd just pay the ten quid taxi fare home.

Counting the cost against my minimal insurance premiums alone I'd still be £20 ahead of the game

On line shopping (with codes from the boards here) has solved the big shop problem - and although I'm a bit slow getting about I can still manage mini top up shops in the village.

My car was in fact my biggest annual expenditure. Now gone, not much missed, and my current transport costs by bus and taxi are wa-a-a-ay below what they were when I had a car.

It doesn't work for everybody; work, family and location all have a bearing on the decision - but I costed it all out (and included the loss of instant transport factor) and it works for me.




Edit: If I book on line reasonably well in advance I can get a return fare on the train into London from here in Sunny Suffolk for less than it costs me to get a taxi to the station!

betterlatethannever

I got rid of my car two years ago, and have never regreted it.

Thankfully i live close to local shops, though not large, cheap supermarkets. I use home delivery every now and again and bulk buy the items that are pricey where i live. Ok i pay £3/4 for delivery, but i spend less and theres no petrol costs.

I've also found those friends and family with cars are more than happy to drive me around when needed and pick me up to take me places.:rolleyes:

Saved myself a minimum of £80 per month just by getting rid of it, and have improved mine and DD's health by walking more:j

Badger_Lady

I have recently moved house and got a car, but I was without for 2 years, purely because I couldn't justify the cost.

- I cycled to work (4-5 miles) and also picked up bits of shopping on my bike, with a backpack.

- I walked into town / to pubs / friends' houses, which kept me fit and meant that I never had to worry about having a drink and getting home.

- I took the occasional taxi if I was travelling far / late at night when it was less safe to walk.

- I used public transport to go on holidays, particularly trains. There's a magic website that can calculate any journey for you (trains, planes, busses): www.transportdirect.co.uk

After a while, you don't miss the car at all and life's actually more relaxing without it. I won't deny, getting one back now is very much appreciated, but only because now I can afford it and am getting value for money out of it.

I still choose to walk and take trains a lot of the time, just to save on the hassle of parking / staying sober etc

squeaky

betterlatethannever wrote: »

I got rid of my car two years ago, and have never regreted it.

Thankfully i live close to local shops, though not large, cheap supermarkets. I use home delivery every now and again and bulk buy the items that are pricey where i live. Ok i pay £3/4 for delivery, but i spend less and theres no petrol costs.

I've also found those friends and family with cars are more than happy to drive me around when needed and pick me up to take me places.:rolleyes:

Saved myself a minimum of £80 per month just by getting rid of it, and have improved mine and DD's health by walking more:j

Check out the Discount Codes 'n Vouchers (online & offline) board. There are usually codes for free delivery or a percentage off a sizeable shop for most of the major stores available. And for lots of other shops too.

Penelope_Penguin

There's a long-satnding thread on Green and Ethical - Living without a car.

HTH, Penny. x

redmel1621

Danz01 - I agree with the out of town shopping complexes meaning you need some kind of transport to go spur of moment shopping, I suppose I am really trying to talk myself into this and can also say that we live about a 20-30 min walk away from the cheshire oaks and coliseum outlet village so could walk there when kids are in school, patience is the answer reall, instead of just nipping out if we want something we would have to plan to go when more convenient...

betterlatethannever - I would love to have family that didn't mind giving lifts out, but mine a bit mean when it comes to this, to be honest this is one small area that worries me slightly dh would expect them to give us lifts if we needed and I wouldn't want to ask so we would inevitably end up arguing about it (as proven in the past) hmmm maybe a gag for him too out of the maney we would be saving.

Badger_lady - thanks for that website link, we do have a train station nearby but it is about 1-2 mile away.

Overall I am definately in favour of giving up.

mel x

Badger_Lady

redmel1621 wrote: »

Badger_lady - thanks for that website link, we do have a train station nearby but it is about 1-2 mile away.

Same as mine Takes me 15 minutes to walk there, 20-25 minutes with the kids.

redmel1621

That's not too bad then, I wondered if it would take a lot longer with the kids.

I think my youngest would need a piggy back some of the way though as he suffers with weak hips and legs, and sunk in-step

mel x

G-G_4

I don't have a car as I had to sell it before I went bankrupt

Since the age of 16 (I'm now 24), I have always had a car or motorbike, and sometimes both.. always worth quite a bit aswell (hence the bankruptcy I suppose)..

The thought of getting the bus scared me as I had never got the bus on my own before, sad I know, but true.. and so as soon as I was declared bankrupt I was hatching plans to get me a car again..!:p

In the meantime I had to do without, don't get me wrong OH has a lovely range rover, so we go out in that to places, but even without that we would manage. He works at home, I work in the centre of town (3 miles away), I am a regular on the bus now, and I actually enjoy it! It drops me off right outside work, and I have a pleasant 2 min walk to the stop from home.

I'm really not that fussed for a car now.. I can happily manage without..

We get our shopping delivered anyhow, so no worries there..

You can do it! :beer:

redmel1621

The Tax runs out at the end of the month so i will not be renewing, instead i will declare SORN and park the car at the back of the car-port blocked in by wheelie bins etc...If in 2months we are quite happy without it I will sell it and put the money in our new-car fund pot....

Mel x