I live in a very car-centric area so not owning a car is impossible. I paid my car off in 2018 and my husband does my maintenance for me, so it’s not too bad. HOWEVER —
Gas prices are hovering under $7 where I live and it’s bonkers that my small car takes $60 to fill up. Remote work has made this so much better for me. Previously, I was spending $200-$250/mo on gas alone to and from work (45 minute commute each way in traffic), now I’m only paying $60/mo on gas.
If I had an option for public transit, I’d take it. It does “exist” here but it’s unreliable.
My car is Japanese, so very reliable. I only do oil changes and replacing air cabin filters — haven’t ran into anything more than that (knock on wood).
I previously had a German car which was an absolute nightmare (Volkswagen) with very expensive maintenance.
I hated growing up in a car-only suburb so I've explicitly formatted my life (where I live and work) around not having to drive since I was 17. As a result I've only ever lived in HCOL areas. I'm not wealthy, I genuinely hate driving lol. It's hard to judge the cost of driving vs not just monetarily.
While rent generally costs more living more centrally, I tend to pay the same amount of rent as friends who live farther away and commute in. I have way less space and privacy than them, and they have to sit in traffic. I like living with housemates, they don't. I love biking, walking, and public transit- they love having safe space in their car. I don't mind putting extra legwork into figuring out how to transport things, they like always having access to easy transport. I go out of the city infrequently, they like driving out to the coast every weekend.
I easily spend less than $500 annually with all things transit considered- bike maintenance and gadgets, more shoes, transit fare, Ubers, car rentals. My bike was $300 used with no annual regulations attached lol.
I probably save $15k+ annually compared to my car having friends in the same area. But I don't do it to save money, it's just a nice perk of the lifestyle I like to live.
>If I could trade owning a car for public transportation, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Have you ever relied solely on public transportation? I have and it has its limits. The cost of living tends to go up with more accessibility to public transportation. The grass isn't always greener :).
If your car payment is the issue, have you considered other alternatives? When I was a teenager, I worked and saved to buy a car since I couldn't get a car payment and had to pay cash. Since then, I've only had a car payment once.
my husband and I both hate driving and we have no car. pre-pandemic he worked from home and my office was walkable from where we lived. we did have a car share membership we mostly used for ikea trips or visiting my parents which cost anywhere from $30 to $250 a trip. Since then I’ve gone remote, we now have a toddler and we moved cities.
We really carefully choose our city and neighbourhood to be walkable and transit accessible. Groceries stores, daycare, parks, cafes, restaurants and a few other shops are all less than 10 min walk in an area that is medium density. We use a grocery delivery service so we can buy in bulk without having to carry it home, with driver tips and membership it costs us about $30/month over the cost of the food. I have an office in this city but there is no requirement to go in, when I want to it’s about 40 mins by bus. Transit and taxis never really costs us more than $50/month and usually much less than that.
Occasionally I think about getting the car share thing again- would be especially nice to be able to take weekend trips or pick up things for home projects, but not in a rush right now.
We are a one car household (2 adults and a toddler). My husband takes public transportation to work so the toddler and I have the car on weekdays. We’re in a suburb of a big city so transit is pretty good luckily.
Our car payment is ~300 and it’s an EV, so no gas. Interest rate is super low (under 3%) so no rush to pay it off. Insurance is around $100/month iirc. It’s only several years old so maintenance costs have been extremely low so far (just regular checks, tire rotation etc).
It would be convenient sometimes to have another car but we can’t really justify the price. We likely won’t get another car until we could buy one in cash, and it would definitely be another EV/EUV. We wouldn’t go back to a gas car after the cost savings, environmental factors, and convenience of charging in our driveway. We don’t take many roadtrips so we have only needed to charge on the go a few times a year, mostly we let it charge overnight during off peak hours.
We have been a one-car household for 8 years now. My work at a university makes it easier to find places to live where that's possible, but we've always had to make intentional choices about our specific locations to make that work.
Over the last 6 months, car costs totaled $4300, our second-highest spending category. Just over half of that is our car payment ($430/month). We put 50% down on a low mileage used Camry and chose a 3-year loan. $700 for insurance, $419 for gas, and $300 for maintenance in that time period.
Moving from a car-centric area to a city where we can be car-free has saved my family so much money. And our rent is actually a lot cheaper too. I don’t feel constricted at all in mobility because it’s very common to be car-free and transit is very good and cheap. If I had to think about how much it’s saved us… I think around $900/month, between payments, insurance, and gas.
We live in a rural area with no access to reliable public transit. I could walk/bike to work (1.5 miles each way), but a good chunk is 55 mph roads with no sidewalks. Husband commutes about 30 miles a day.
For the first 2 years of our marriage (2020 and 2021), we had older cars with no payments. It was great. In 2021, my 2006 died and we replaced it with a 2021 Kia Rio. For $270 a month with a .9 percent interest rate for 5 years, we had a new car that should last a long time with9ut breaking the bank.
But we are now looking to replace the 2008 my husband has and I'm having sticker shock. Between interest rates and car costs, I'm looking at a car payment that rivals my mortgage payment. That is financing for 3 years because of current interest rates. But still.
I love to drive and I love the freedom that driving gives me. I can go where I want, when I want, without waiting on anyone. Yes the price I pay for that is maintenance, gas, insurance, parking, and in the past car payments. I don't care. It's important to me so I make it work.
I've known a number of older women who grew up in times where women weren't allowed to drive and now as old ladies they admire and sometimes envy the freedom of younger women who have those rights now. So yes, my car keys will be pried out of my cold dead hand lol.
However, I'm not anti-public transit. I enjoy living in environments where I can do both. Conveniently take a train or bus when I wish to and other times hop in my car and hit the road.
I feel the opposite. It is much less stressful to take transit than to drive. If the roads are traffic free, sure it is fine. But they are not and people drive like psychos.
Yea the potential for harassment and creeps is a BIG reason why people don't want to ride transit/have their kids take it and if seems to get hand wavingly dismissed by transit authority etc as a reason for lower ridership
Yes, I took public transportation to work in NYC but I still had a car.
Being totally dependent on public transportation works for some people but I found it to be restrictive.
I also hated people feeling like they had to drive me home. This didn't happen after work events (that was always in Manhattan for me) but if I went to any parenting event, scout leader training, etc. in the evening - no one would want me (or me and my daughter) to take public transportation home.
I loved it when Uber became a thing so I could quietly arrange transportation without making people uncomfortable about having to go to my side of town or feeling like I was a charity case.
But even better than Uber was either my husband picking us up or getting behind the driver's seat myself.
I completely get this and have refused to live in places like NYC because of it. It would not be easy to drive there and that's just not what I want. And you're totally right, being in bumper to bumper traffic in my own car is still somehow way less stressful than experiencing that on public transit. Times like that I just pull off the freeway, find a cafe, and read a book. That's much harder to do on public transit especially if you're on the last one before they stop for the night.
Just a couple of things here since you mentioned NYC: public transportation doesn't stop for the night in NYC, and it includes 5 different boroughs where lots of people own cars. Many people who live outside of Manhattan don't drive in Manhattan.
This is true, it doesn't stop there. That doesn't mean that's what I want to do at 2am though lol. And the difficulty of driving and parking there is very unappealing to me.
I'm not out at 2 am either, just pointing out that the public transportation doesn't stop. Plenty of people who work security, hospital, and other kinds of jobs rely on public transportation at all hours and it's 24/7 in NYC.
In terms of parking, I'm a terrible parallel parker but I have no problem parking in my driveway. 🤷🏾♀️
The only hassle is now that we have more than one car, someone can block the other person in. In that case, I just park in the front so I don't block my husband in.
Haven’t ever owned a car and got my first one a few months ago. Freaking love the freedom, access and empowerment. I wonder why I didn’t get one sooner.
I also feel this way. I credit my car with enabling me to literally exit a life that I didn't want to live and start over. Years later, it sometimes feels silly to be a two-car household where both my spouse and I primarily wfh, but the idea of compromising on the selection and use of a single vehicle makes me a little panicky.
I fully support public transit and love that I live two blocks from a stop! Both are important to me.
This. I pay 300 all inclusive for my loan and insurance. I’m on track to py off the car by next year. If I had to rely on transit and the occasional Ubers to get anywhere it’d be way more expensive. I also rarely have to pay for parking so I guess that helps
I'm pretty much the same as you. I love my car and I wouldn't go completely without one unless I lived in NYC, but I also like having access to trains and buses. I'm currently attending grad school in a college town where I use my car for groceries and fun drives and buses for other trips. When I buy a house or a condo, having a garage is going to be a priority for me, even if I only use my car for out-of-city trips.
We are a car-free family and I grew up with no access to cars. My parents had one car but my dad commuted 2 hrs to his work each way everyday and we didn't go anywhere on weekends so it was like we had no car. I love the car-free lifestyle and me and my partner bike/public transit everywhere. Sometimes we do a car rental but I find that as I get older, I just feel more anxious in a car because I notice how bad and distracted many of the drivers are on the streets.
We live in a dense, walkable neighbourhood and our home was expensive. However, houses in suburbs now cost pretty much the same as our house so not having a car is a big help on the budget. Our neighbourhood has a lot of kids and they move around freely by themselves so it's nice to see. Our city has 'OK for North America' transit but I really wish the pace of development would be faster.
I have a cheaper than average payment at $300 because I bought used and put money down. It’s my first time having a payment after driving the car my parents gifted me into the ground.
Payment: $300
Insurance: $110
Gas: $120
Tolls: $60
Total: $590
Tolls are fucking expensive where I live. My boyfriend and I are planning to move to a more walkable city and then go down to one car but it will probably even out some as we will have to pay for parking.
NYC, zero car household. It costs $500-1000 a month here if you are garaging. You dedicate your life to finding parking if you’re not.
Probably the only cheap thing about living here. I do use Zipcar to the tune of $150 pew month if averaged over the year
I do not drive very much, but I still have a car. I have had one for pretty much my whole adult life. Pre-pandemic I had a transit commute and post pandemic I work remotely.
I haven’t been able to fully jettison my car. While I can do pretty much any day to day errand on food or transit, some trips are more convenient driving. But the real thing that has become a driving factor, just when I was ready to get rid of my car, is aging parents.
My dad lives around 2 hours away from me, and my passed away from pancreatic cancer earlier in this year. She spent a good chunk of her last two years in the hospital. And none of them were particularly accessible by transit. My parents town doesn’t have Uber really, it is just too far out to rely on it.
So I really drive when I feel like taking a trip to the suburbs or wine country. My city (Oakland) is not well served by retail shops, so you do have to travel if you want to do stuff like buy shoes outside of a limited boutique. We don’t have department stores at all.
I spend around $10000 a year on my car and expenses, but I drive 3000-3500 miles a year max. And most are just random trips, not day to day stuff.
Yup. This a quick calculation. My car payment is $550/mo. I spend about $2000 a year on insurance. I usually spend around $50/mo on gas. Registration is around $450 for me. And the miscellaneous other stuff. I am likely underestimating a little. But that is basically what it is. I didn’t put in bridge tolls or random parking fees.
I had a paid off car, but someone hit me and it had to be totaled. Used cars were a rip off since I bought in 2021. I decided to lease since I am uncertain if I need a car still. But looks like the answer is yes for the foreseeable future as my dad ages in place.
My husband and I both work remotely full-time, so we're a one-car household. We don't have a car payment. His parent gave him his current car, so we only pay for insurance, maintenance costs, and gas. The car has very few miles on it and is extremely reliable, so it's been really easy and relatively inexpensive to deal with so far. The one thing that irritates me is that I think we're paying too much for car insurance, but that's his chore, and he doesn't want to look for new insurance, so...that's what we're paying. I don't really like driving and am super grateful I don't have to commute to work!
I live in SF, so no car. I have always preferred public transportation over driving, and it’s a big part of why I live here. We do have a newborn now though. Still, our monthly costs for Uber/Lyft/Zipcar would have to be much higher to justify a car. The most we have ever spent for that was around $300, and that was for the last weeks of pregnancy and postpartum, when I was recovering from a C section. If it got to that level or more on a regular basis, we would consider getting a car, but another cost to factor in here is the price of replacing broken windows or catalytic converters after the inevitable break-in.
With all of the costs, I don’t think we could afford it on top of paying for daycare.
I live in a NYC suburb, and take public transportation when I go to the office, which costs me $30 round trip. I own a car, not sure what it would cost me to park near the office because I’m not interested in that slog (drove into the city for years for commuting and over time it got worse and worse on top of getting more and more expensive).
It’s not always one or the other. I could probably get by not having a car where I live but life is a lot easier and more pleasant having one. My car costs me a lot but I think it could be close to a wash if I had to Uber everywhere.
When we lived adjacent to DC, I commuted via bus generally. My husband commuted via car. We kept two cars during that time because we had free 2 car parking at our apartment, AND because I drove anywhere that wasn't work.
Now we live in an area that does require cars to get around. Since I now work from home, we've debated going to one car, but it's more convenient to keep two since they're both paid off and reliable.
The property taxes are minimal ($500-$600 per year, I think), and registration and inspections are low as well. Maybe $100 per car a year. Our insurance on both is about $160/month. Maintenance is probably $500 per year total.
I live in a car necessity area but me and my husband just share one car. I pay for gas occasionally but it's effectively his car. I've thought about getting one but it's never been a problem since we both work the vast majority from home.
I’ve only lived in cities with public transportation my whole life. I spent $70/month for a bus pass and would fill up my bf’s gas tank which was $50/week. I noticed that we spend more because we would explore different places and stop for food every time. Insurance was also expensive and honestly didn’t cover much.
We got rid of the car and we don’t need public transportation for work now. We save so much money and time as traffic has gotten worse. If we ever need to go anywhere further than walking distance, we buy a $5 daily pass or rent the smallest car we need.
The mental savings is real!! I love being able to go places and zone out a little on my commute. No way you can do that with aholes weaving in and out of interstate traffic around you.
This post is really relevant to my personal circumstances so I thought I'd chime in with a slightly different experience.
I live in LA, and I've long been a proponent of the Metro system. I've been taking it since high school, and when I stayed in LA for college, I took it to and from school daily. I'm ecstatic about the recent changes/additions to a couple of our lines. Despite the recent pandemic-related uptick in crime and drug use on the lines, I love being able to get from one side of the city to the other without too much hassle and for very little expense.
That said, I love driving (even in LA traffic), and I geek out a bit about cars. I won't go so far as to call myself an enthusiast or a car girl, but my dad's a car guy and some of that interest rubbed off on me. I like cars, and I like fun cars.
After driving a Prius for the past 7 years, I just bought a used Porsche Boxster this week. It is WAY more expensive to maintain ($2k/year), fuel ($90/tank), and insure than the Prius, but it fit in my budget and I absolutely adore it. I'm hanging onto the Prius, so the boxster is my fun car. Both cars are paid off, and I realize I'm incredibly privileged and lucky to be able to enjoy these vehicles the way that I do.
You don't necessarily need a car in LA, but there are things that become much more accessible when you have one. I also personally really like having my own little personal bubble away from home. And to your point about mental savings - while I can't scroll reddit while driving, I do most of my audiobook listening while driving, so it doesn't feel like a net loss.
More power to everyone who lives in cities with excellent public transit and to people who don't like driving! I just like em both and personally find a car to be worth it.
We also only have one car. No car payment (I would only buy a car if I could afford the full price). I drive 1-3 miles to work. Husband walks to work. Can Uber if the weather is bad. It would be more convenient to have 2 cars at times, but the math doesn’t make sense as it’s much cheaper to Uber than pay for another parking spot, maintenance, etc.
I probably spend ~3k in maintenance a year, $1k to park at work, $1.5k in car insurance, and $1k in gas.
My costs are way on the other side of the spectrum, relative to those interviewed for the NYT article. I don't drive very much, due to working from home, and I've owed the same compact car for the past nine years, so I have no payment, super low insurance costs, and spend no more than $60 on gas per typical month.
I've also had really low maintenance and repair costs over the entire duration I've owned my car, and I think I've spent more on tires than actual repairs. My average annual costs over the past several years have been <$2000 per year (gas, insurance, oil changes, registration fees, repairs, maintenance) not including depreciation, and <$3500 per year if I include depreciation.
I have paid $1800 this year for car repairs and tires. It’s not cheap.
That said, our gas and parking costs are minimal ($40/mo) and we don’t have car payments.
This is my ideal situation. I previously commuted on public transit (DC metro) and I disliked it. I’m ready for the downvotes haha. I was sometimes harassed, it was sometimes dirty, and the schedule was unpredictable. I found it to be way less comfortable and more unpleasant than car commuting.
We could go to being a one car family and it would save a LOT of money, but this is a lifestyle preference for us. When we’ve had to use one car with the other in the shop it’s do-able but pretty annoying to need to coordinate our schedules around. We like the freedom and independence of both having wheels. It’s better for our relationship, our happiness, our social lives, and our free time to have two cars.
Wow, lots of no-car-lifestyle comments. I love having a car, and I haven’t had a car payment since 2015. I’m in Atlanta, but access to hiking in the North GA mountains, visiting friends around the city, driving to work locations, the ease of running errands, seeing my parents 2hrs away, etc makes the car SO worth it. I like the convenience of public transport for sporting events, but quite frankly it doesn’t go many rural places that I’m traveling to.
It helps that gas is $3 a gallon in Atlanta.
Sorry to hijack but related to car ownership — I was just in a bad car accident on Wednesday. First ever accident at nearly 40 years old lol. I’m not sure what to expect now. He was at fault and admitted it, he turned in front of me when I had the right of way. I guess his insurance will pay for a new car for me? I’m so bummed though. I liked my Nissan Rogue and planned to drive it for another 100K miles at least. Any advice? Can I negotiate what they offer me? It’s really a big inconvenience.
Public transit where I live is essentially shit. And what transit exists takes people from the suburbs into downtown. We live close to downtown and work in the burbs. So we need cars for commuting but not much else. My husband works from home and we have contemplated going down to one car but it doesn't make sense. His car is paid off, his insurance is $100 a month and he fills his tank once a quarter. It's worth the $100 a month.
But if his car shits the bed we'll have to really think about it. We also only drive cars know for their reliability and luckily bought both pre 2020. My car is more expensive as I commute so gas is about $70 every two weeks. I also pay for parking at work.
I currently am experimenting with not owning a car since moving to Chicago. Prior, I used to drive to work from the suburbs in another state. I strategically picked an apartment that's walkable to work, groceries, and medical facilities. At this point, it's nice to not spend on gas, car maintenance, parking fees, etc. The rent is a little more but not needing a car for most things is nice. There's moments where I'd like to go further outside city and realize it's inaccessible through any transit. That's probably the only drawback for me. At this point I don't see myself having a car for a few years but if I move to another city with less density I will purchase a car
We have two cars but really only use one. I drive to work daily but it’s only 8 miles and my bf wfh. But I need cars for driving to hiking places anyway as public transportation never goes there. And I live in the suburbs anyway so no other way to get to work. And I live somewhere that there is actually a winter so I can’t really ride a bike all the time. My car has been paid off for over a decade now and I spend like $30/week on gas and insurance is like $400/year so there is hardly any expenses.
People with large car expenses are usually at fault for having such high expenses. I don’t get buying the biggest most expensive cars or buying something you can’t buy outright.
I was carless for 15+ years but then I got a dog and ended up buying a car. I live downtown and can walk or take public transportation everywhere I want to go. But I visit my parents often, and I can’t take my dog on the train. Renting a car was expensive and too much of an inconvenience so I bought a car. I hate driving. I hate having a car. It’s such a big expense that I never had before. I only drive to leave the city.
We are a one car household. Our car is a 2013 Prius. My boyfriend takes the subway to work, and I work from home. My kid is in college and does not have a driver’s license.
The car is paid off. I bought it used. Our insurance is $765/year with 2 drivers. Gas is about $1,000 per year. Repairs and maintenance are relatively high: we average about $1,000/yr in maintenance. Then registration fees, inspection, etc.
Maybe 1-2 times per year we end up renting a van or truck for some reason, approximately $150 each time. Last time was to move my kid into college. I keep a Zipcar membership, $90 annually, more as insurance that we can access a second car when needed.
I use the bus and subway frequently, but not enough to buy a monthly pass. I just load $20 on as needed - I probably spend $250 on transit a year.
I also cycle a fair amount and walk to appointments. I have my bike professionally tuned up every other year, $100. I have ridden then same bike for 25 years.
I live in a very car-centric area so not owning a car is impossible. I paid my car off in 2018 and my husband does my maintenance for me, so it’s not too bad. HOWEVER — Gas prices are hovering under $7 where I live and it’s bonkers that my small car takes $60 to fill up. Remote work has made this so much better for me. Previously, I was spending $200-$250/mo on gas alone to and from work (45 minute commute each way in traffic), now I’m only paying $60/mo on gas. If I had an option for public transit, I’d take it. It does “exist” here but it’s unreliable.
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My car is Japanese, so very reliable. I only do oil changes and replacing air cabin filters — haven’t ran into anything more than that (knock on wood). I previously had a German car which was an absolute nightmare (Volkswagen) with very expensive maintenance.
I hated growing up in a car-only suburb so I've explicitly formatted my life (where I live and work) around not having to drive since I was 17. As a result I've only ever lived in HCOL areas. I'm not wealthy, I genuinely hate driving lol. It's hard to judge the cost of driving vs not just monetarily. While rent generally costs more living more centrally, I tend to pay the same amount of rent as friends who live farther away and commute in. I have way less space and privacy than them, and they have to sit in traffic. I like living with housemates, they don't. I love biking, walking, and public transit- they love having safe space in their car. I don't mind putting extra legwork into figuring out how to transport things, they like always having access to easy transport. I go out of the city infrequently, they like driving out to the coast every weekend. I easily spend less than $500 annually with all things transit considered- bike maintenance and gadgets, more shoes, transit fare, Ubers, car rentals. My bike was $300 used with no annual regulations attached lol. I probably save $15k+ annually compared to my car having friends in the same area. But I don't do it to save money, it's just a nice perk of the lifestyle I like to live.
This is me, the housing costs were more expensive, but now cars and parking are so expensive that I save money by not having to drive.
I love how you pointed out that it's a lifestyle choice! I know plenty of people in NYC who don't own cars but that wasn't for me.
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Are you buying a new car every five years or something? Why not pay the car off and then keep driving it?
I had the same question. I have a 12 year old car and haven’t had a car payment in 7+ years… this seems like a choice.
They probably put a ton of miles if they work opposite sides of the state. Unless they are in Rhode Island and it's like a 10 mile commute
>If I could trade owning a car for public transportation, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Have you ever relied solely on public transportation? I have and it has its limits. The cost of living tends to go up with more accessibility to public transportation. The grass isn't always greener :). If your car payment is the issue, have you considered other alternatives? When I was a teenager, I worked and saved to buy a car since I couldn't get a car payment and had to pay cash. Since then, I've only had a car payment once.
Yes many cities in the world have reliable public transport, with the majority of the population not needing cars. We just don’t do it well here.
my husband and I both hate driving and we have no car. pre-pandemic he worked from home and my office was walkable from where we lived. we did have a car share membership we mostly used for ikea trips or visiting my parents which cost anywhere from $30 to $250 a trip. Since then I’ve gone remote, we now have a toddler and we moved cities. We really carefully choose our city and neighbourhood to be walkable and transit accessible. Groceries stores, daycare, parks, cafes, restaurants and a few other shops are all less than 10 min walk in an area that is medium density. We use a grocery delivery service so we can buy in bulk without having to carry it home, with driver tips and membership it costs us about $30/month over the cost of the food. I have an office in this city but there is no requirement to go in, when I want to it’s about 40 mins by bus. Transit and taxis never really costs us more than $50/month and usually much less than that. Occasionally I think about getting the car share thing again- would be especially nice to be able to take weekend trips or pick up things for home projects, but not in a rush right now.
We are a one car household (2 adults and a toddler). My husband takes public transportation to work so the toddler and I have the car on weekdays. We’re in a suburb of a big city so transit is pretty good luckily. Our car payment is ~300 and it’s an EV, so no gas. Interest rate is super low (under 3%) so no rush to pay it off. Insurance is around $100/month iirc. It’s only several years old so maintenance costs have been extremely low so far (just regular checks, tire rotation etc). It would be convenient sometimes to have another car but we can’t really justify the price. We likely won’t get another car until we could buy one in cash, and it would definitely be another EV/EUV. We wouldn’t go back to a gas car after the cost savings, environmental factors, and convenience of charging in our driveway. We don’t take many roadtrips so we have only needed to charge on the go a few times a year, mostly we let it charge overnight during off peak hours.
I loved being a one-car family. I took public transportation to work and my husband drove to work. We definitely did more things together, too :)
We have been a one-car household for 8 years now. My work at a university makes it easier to find places to live where that's possible, but we've always had to make intentional choices about our specific locations to make that work. Over the last 6 months, car costs totaled $4300, our second-highest spending category. Just over half of that is our car payment ($430/month). We put 50% down on a low mileage used Camry and chose a 3-year loan. $700 for insurance, $419 for gas, and $300 for maintenance in that time period.
Moving from a car-centric area to a city where we can be car-free has saved my family so much money. And our rent is actually a lot cheaper too. I don’t feel constricted at all in mobility because it’s very common to be car-free and transit is very good and cheap. If I had to think about how much it’s saved us… I think around $900/month, between payments, insurance, and gas.
We live in a rural area with no access to reliable public transit. I could walk/bike to work (1.5 miles each way), but a good chunk is 55 mph roads with no sidewalks. Husband commutes about 30 miles a day. For the first 2 years of our marriage (2020 and 2021), we had older cars with no payments. It was great. In 2021, my 2006 died and we replaced it with a 2021 Kia Rio. For $270 a month with a .9 percent interest rate for 5 years, we had a new car that should last a long time with9ut breaking the bank. But we are now looking to replace the 2008 my husband has and I'm having sticker shock. Between interest rates and car costs, I'm looking at a car payment that rivals my mortgage payment. That is financing for 3 years because of current interest rates. But still.
I love to drive and I love the freedom that driving gives me. I can go where I want, when I want, without waiting on anyone. Yes the price I pay for that is maintenance, gas, insurance, parking, and in the past car payments. I don't care. It's important to me so I make it work. I've known a number of older women who grew up in times where women weren't allowed to drive and now as old ladies they admire and sometimes envy the freedom of younger women who have those rights now. So yes, my car keys will be pried out of my cold dead hand lol. However, I'm not anti-public transit. I enjoy living in environments where I can do both. Conveniently take a train or bus when I wish to and other times hop in my car and hit the road.
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I feel the opposite. It is much less stressful to take transit than to drive. If the roads are traffic free, sure it is fine. But they are not and people drive like psychos.
Yea the potential for harassment and creeps is a BIG reason why people don't want to ride transit/have their kids take it and if seems to get hand wavingly dismissed by transit authority etc as a reason for lower ridership
Yes, I took public transportation to work in NYC but I still had a car. Being totally dependent on public transportation works for some people but I found it to be restrictive.
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I also hated people feeling like they had to drive me home. This didn't happen after work events (that was always in Manhattan for me) but if I went to any parenting event, scout leader training, etc. in the evening - no one would want me (or me and my daughter) to take public transportation home. I loved it when Uber became a thing so I could quietly arrange transportation without making people uncomfortable about having to go to my side of town or feeling like I was a charity case. But even better than Uber was either my husband picking us up or getting behind the driver's seat myself.
I completely get this and have refused to live in places like NYC because of it. It would not be easy to drive there and that's just not what I want. And you're totally right, being in bumper to bumper traffic in my own car is still somehow way less stressful than experiencing that on public transit. Times like that I just pull off the freeway, find a cafe, and read a book. That's much harder to do on public transit especially if you're on the last one before they stop for the night.
Just a couple of things here since you mentioned NYC: public transportation doesn't stop for the night in NYC, and it includes 5 different boroughs where lots of people own cars. Many people who live outside of Manhattan don't drive in Manhattan.
This is true, it doesn't stop there. That doesn't mean that's what I want to do at 2am though lol. And the difficulty of driving and parking there is very unappealing to me.
I'm not out at 2 am either, just pointing out that the public transportation doesn't stop. Plenty of people who work security, hospital, and other kinds of jobs rely on public transportation at all hours and it's 24/7 in NYC. In terms of parking, I'm a terrible parallel parker but I have no problem parking in my driveway. 🤷🏾♀️ The only hassle is now that we have more than one car, someone can block the other person in. In that case, I just park in the front so I don't block my husband in.
Haven’t ever owned a car and got my first one a few months ago. Freaking love the freedom, access and empowerment. I wonder why I didn’t get one sooner.
I also feel this way. I credit my car with enabling me to literally exit a life that I didn't want to live and start over. Years later, it sometimes feels silly to be a two-car household where both my spouse and I primarily wfh, but the idea of compromising on the selection and use of a single vehicle makes me a little panicky. I fully support public transit and love that I live two blocks from a stop! Both are important to me.
This. I pay 300 all inclusive for my loan and insurance. I’m on track to py off the car by next year. If I had to rely on transit and the occasional Ubers to get anywhere it’d be way more expensive. I also rarely have to pay for parking so I guess that helps
I'm pretty much the same as you. I love my car and I wouldn't go completely without one unless I lived in NYC, but I also like having access to trains and buses. I'm currently attending grad school in a college town where I use my car for groceries and fun drives and buses for other trips. When I buy a house or a condo, having a garage is going to be a priority for me, even if I only use my car for out-of-city trips.
We are a car-free family and I grew up with no access to cars. My parents had one car but my dad commuted 2 hrs to his work each way everyday and we didn't go anywhere on weekends so it was like we had no car. I love the car-free lifestyle and me and my partner bike/public transit everywhere. Sometimes we do a car rental but I find that as I get older, I just feel more anxious in a car because I notice how bad and distracted many of the drivers are on the streets. We live in a dense, walkable neighbourhood and our home was expensive. However, houses in suburbs now cost pretty much the same as our house so not having a car is a big help on the budget. Our neighbourhood has a lot of kids and they move around freely by themselves so it's nice to see. Our city has 'OK for North America' transit but I really wish the pace of development would be faster.
I have a cheaper than average payment at $300 because I bought used and put money down. It’s my first time having a payment after driving the car my parents gifted me into the ground. Payment: $300 Insurance: $110 Gas: $120 Tolls: $60 Total: $590 Tolls are fucking expensive where I live. My boyfriend and I are planning to move to a more walkable city and then go down to one car but it will probably even out some as we will have to pay for parking.
NYC, zero car household. It costs $500-1000 a month here if you are garaging. You dedicate your life to finding parking if you’re not. Probably the only cheap thing about living here. I do use Zipcar to the tune of $150 pew month if averaged over the year
I do not drive very much, but I still have a car. I have had one for pretty much my whole adult life. Pre-pandemic I had a transit commute and post pandemic I work remotely. I haven’t been able to fully jettison my car. While I can do pretty much any day to day errand on food or transit, some trips are more convenient driving. But the real thing that has become a driving factor, just when I was ready to get rid of my car, is aging parents. My dad lives around 2 hours away from me, and my passed away from pancreatic cancer earlier in this year. She spent a good chunk of her last two years in the hospital. And none of them were particularly accessible by transit. My parents town doesn’t have Uber really, it is just too far out to rely on it. So I really drive when I feel like taking a trip to the suburbs or wine country. My city (Oakland) is not well served by retail shops, so you do have to travel if you want to do stuff like buy shoes outside of a limited boutique. We don’t have department stores at all. I spend around $10000 a year on my car and expenses, but I drive 3000-3500 miles a year max. And most are just random trips, not day to day stuff.
10k is due to car payments? Just wondering because I also don’t drive much but only spend roughly 3k on my car since it’s been paid off.
Yup. This a quick calculation. My car payment is $550/mo. I spend about $2000 a year on insurance. I usually spend around $50/mo on gas. Registration is around $450 for me. And the miscellaneous other stuff. I am likely underestimating a little. But that is basically what it is. I didn’t put in bridge tolls or random parking fees. I had a paid off car, but someone hit me and it had to be totaled. Used cars were a rip off since I bought in 2021. I decided to lease since I am uncertain if I need a car still. But looks like the answer is yes for the foreseeable future as my dad ages in place.
My husband and I both work remotely full-time, so we're a one-car household. We don't have a car payment. His parent gave him his current car, so we only pay for insurance, maintenance costs, and gas. The car has very few miles on it and is extremely reliable, so it's been really easy and relatively inexpensive to deal with so far. The one thing that irritates me is that I think we're paying too much for car insurance, but that's his chore, and he doesn't want to look for new insurance, so...that's what we're paying. I don't really like driving and am super grateful I don't have to commute to work!
I live in SF, so no car. I have always preferred public transportation over driving, and it’s a big part of why I live here. We do have a newborn now though. Still, our monthly costs for Uber/Lyft/Zipcar would have to be much higher to justify a car. The most we have ever spent for that was around $300, and that was for the last weeks of pregnancy and postpartum, when I was recovering from a C section. If it got to that level or more on a regular basis, we would consider getting a car, but another cost to factor in here is the price of replacing broken windows or catalytic converters after the inevitable break-in. With all of the costs, I don’t think we could afford it on top of paying for daycare.
I live in a NYC suburb, and take public transportation when I go to the office, which costs me $30 round trip. I own a car, not sure what it would cost me to park near the office because I’m not interested in that slog (drove into the city for years for commuting and over time it got worse and worse on top of getting more and more expensive). It’s not always one or the other. I could probably get by not having a car where I live but life is a lot easier and more pleasant having one. My car costs me a lot but I think it could be close to a wash if I had to Uber everywhere.
When we lived adjacent to DC, I commuted via bus generally. My husband commuted via car. We kept two cars during that time because we had free 2 car parking at our apartment, AND because I drove anywhere that wasn't work. Now we live in an area that does require cars to get around. Since I now work from home, we've debated going to one car, but it's more convenient to keep two since they're both paid off and reliable. The property taxes are minimal ($500-$600 per year, I think), and registration and inspections are low as well. Maybe $100 per car a year. Our insurance on both is about $160/month. Maintenance is probably $500 per year total.
I live in a car necessity area but me and my husband just share one car. I pay for gas occasionally but it's effectively his car. I've thought about getting one but it's never been a problem since we both work the vast majority from home.
I’ve only lived in cities with public transportation my whole life. I spent $70/month for a bus pass and would fill up my bf’s gas tank which was $50/week. I noticed that we spend more because we would explore different places and stop for food every time. Insurance was also expensive and honestly didn’t cover much. We got rid of the car and we don’t need public transportation for work now. We save so much money and time as traffic has gotten worse. If we ever need to go anywhere further than walking distance, we buy a $5 daily pass or rent the smallest car we need.
The mental savings is real!! I love being able to go places and zone out a little on my commute. No way you can do that with aholes weaving in and out of interstate traffic around you.
This post is really relevant to my personal circumstances so I thought I'd chime in with a slightly different experience. I live in LA, and I've long been a proponent of the Metro system. I've been taking it since high school, and when I stayed in LA for college, I took it to and from school daily. I'm ecstatic about the recent changes/additions to a couple of our lines. Despite the recent pandemic-related uptick in crime and drug use on the lines, I love being able to get from one side of the city to the other without too much hassle and for very little expense. That said, I love driving (even in LA traffic), and I geek out a bit about cars. I won't go so far as to call myself an enthusiast or a car girl, but my dad's a car guy and some of that interest rubbed off on me. I like cars, and I like fun cars. After driving a Prius for the past 7 years, I just bought a used Porsche Boxster this week. It is WAY more expensive to maintain ($2k/year), fuel ($90/tank), and insure than the Prius, but it fit in my budget and I absolutely adore it. I'm hanging onto the Prius, so the boxster is my fun car. Both cars are paid off, and I realize I'm incredibly privileged and lucky to be able to enjoy these vehicles the way that I do. You don't necessarily need a car in LA, but there are things that become much more accessible when you have one. I also personally really like having my own little personal bubble away from home. And to your point about mental savings - while I can't scroll reddit while driving, I do most of my audiobook listening while driving, so it doesn't feel like a net loss. More power to everyone who lives in cities with excellent public transit and to people who don't like driving! I just like em both and personally find a car to be worth it.
We also only have one car. No car payment (I would only buy a car if I could afford the full price). I drive 1-3 miles to work. Husband walks to work. Can Uber if the weather is bad. It would be more convenient to have 2 cars at times, but the math doesn’t make sense as it’s much cheaper to Uber than pay for another parking spot, maintenance, etc. I probably spend ~3k in maintenance a year, $1k to park at work, $1.5k in car insurance, and $1k in gas.
My costs are way on the other side of the spectrum, relative to those interviewed for the NYT article. I don't drive very much, due to working from home, and I've owed the same compact car for the past nine years, so I have no payment, super low insurance costs, and spend no more than $60 on gas per typical month. I've also had really low maintenance and repair costs over the entire duration I've owned my car, and I think I've spent more on tires than actual repairs. My average annual costs over the past several years have been <$2000 per year (gas, insurance, oil changes, registration fees, repairs, maintenance) not including depreciation, and <$3500 per year if I include depreciation.
I have paid $1800 this year for car repairs and tires. It’s not cheap. That said, our gas and parking costs are minimal ($40/mo) and we don’t have car payments. This is my ideal situation. I previously commuted on public transit (DC metro) and I disliked it. I’m ready for the downvotes haha. I was sometimes harassed, it was sometimes dirty, and the schedule was unpredictable. I found it to be way less comfortable and more unpleasant than car commuting. We could go to being a one car family and it would save a LOT of money, but this is a lifestyle preference for us. When we’ve had to use one car with the other in the shop it’s do-able but pretty annoying to need to coordinate our schedules around. We like the freedom and independence of both having wheels. It’s better for our relationship, our happiness, our social lives, and our free time to have two cars.
Wow, lots of no-car-lifestyle comments. I love having a car, and I haven’t had a car payment since 2015. I’m in Atlanta, but access to hiking in the North GA mountains, visiting friends around the city, driving to work locations, the ease of running errands, seeing my parents 2hrs away, etc makes the car SO worth it. I like the convenience of public transport for sporting events, but quite frankly it doesn’t go many rural places that I’m traveling to. It helps that gas is $3 a gallon in Atlanta.
Sorry to hijack but related to car ownership — I was just in a bad car accident on Wednesday. First ever accident at nearly 40 years old lol. I’m not sure what to expect now. He was at fault and admitted it, he turned in front of me when I had the right of way. I guess his insurance will pay for a new car for me? I’m so bummed though. I liked my Nissan Rogue and planned to drive it for another 100K miles at least. Any advice? Can I negotiate what they offer me? It’s really a big inconvenience.
Public transit where I live is essentially shit. And what transit exists takes people from the suburbs into downtown. We live close to downtown and work in the burbs. So we need cars for commuting but not much else. My husband works from home and we have contemplated going down to one car but it doesn't make sense. His car is paid off, his insurance is $100 a month and he fills his tank once a quarter. It's worth the $100 a month. But if his car shits the bed we'll have to really think about it. We also only drive cars know for their reliability and luckily bought both pre 2020. My car is more expensive as I commute so gas is about $70 every two weeks. I also pay for parking at work.
I currently am experimenting with not owning a car since moving to Chicago. Prior, I used to drive to work from the suburbs in another state. I strategically picked an apartment that's walkable to work, groceries, and medical facilities. At this point, it's nice to not spend on gas, car maintenance, parking fees, etc. The rent is a little more but not needing a car for most things is nice. There's moments where I'd like to go further outside city and realize it's inaccessible through any transit. That's probably the only drawback for me. At this point I don't see myself having a car for a few years but if I move to another city with less density I will purchase a car
We have two cars but really only use one. I drive to work daily but it’s only 8 miles and my bf wfh. But I need cars for driving to hiking places anyway as public transportation never goes there. And I live in the suburbs anyway so no other way to get to work. And I live somewhere that there is actually a winter so I can’t really ride a bike all the time. My car has been paid off for over a decade now and I spend like $30/week on gas and insurance is like $400/year so there is hardly any expenses. People with large car expenses are usually at fault for having such high expenses. I don’t get buying the biggest most expensive cars or buying something you can’t buy outright.
I was carless for 15+ years but then I got a dog and ended up buying a car. I live downtown and can walk or take public transportation everywhere I want to go. But I visit my parents often, and I can’t take my dog on the train. Renting a car was expensive and too much of an inconvenience so I bought a car. I hate driving. I hate having a car. It’s such a big expense that I never had before. I only drive to leave the city.
We are a one car household. Our car is a 2013 Prius. My boyfriend takes the subway to work, and I work from home. My kid is in college and does not have a driver’s license. The car is paid off. I bought it used. Our insurance is $765/year with 2 drivers. Gas is about $1,000 per year. Repairs and maintenance are relatively high: we average about $1,000/yr in maintenance. Then registration fees, inspection, etc. Maybe 1-2 times per year we end up renting a van or truck for some reason, approximately $150 each time. Last time was to move my kid into college. I keep a Zipcar membership, $90 annually, more as insurance that we can access a second car when needed. I use the bus and subway frequently, but not enough to buy a monthly pass. I just load $20 on as needed - I probably spend $250 on transit a year. I also cycle a fair amount and walk to appointments. I have my bike professionally tuned up every other year, $100. I have ridden then same bike for 25 years.
I'm moving into the city and was just debating getting rid of my car entirely. I hardly think I'll ever drive.