I'm going to try going car free

[Lainey]

The thought crossed my mind to go car-free after retirement, but one problem is my friends are geographically spread out. It would be difficult to visit or even arrange get-togethers at places we like. Also I think there's a grandchild coming in the next 2 years whose parents live about 15 miles away, so I'm figuring on lots of back and forth there.

But if going car-free is doable, it's definitely a big plus for a frugal lifestyle. I remember the classic book "Living Poor with Style" (title later changed to "Living Cheap with Style") where the author said no truly poor person should have a car. That seemed almost anti-american but it really stuck with me, and I think he's right.

[ToomuchStuff]

Oddball mentioned DUI, and that reminded me of a couple of people. One did get one, the other was a kid who wasn't real money smart (bought expensive rims and tires, instead of making the car payment, car with them, repo'd). Both bought those sub 50cc scooters and one did build a trailer for runs to Costco, or his step fathers house for laundry, etc. We have a couple of roads that while people use them as a regular road (see bikes in the gravel on the side), they are technically and legally highways. (40 and 45mph through town and slick in winter time)
Just one more option for longer distances.

[miradoblackwarrior]

Hi, awakened--
One of the keys to living car free is planning. If you have to buy that much dog food, can you double up on the purchase and store it someplace where the mice can't get it? Your pantry should be full (or filling--again, if you call a cab, load it up! You still pay the same price for it!). And, when you buy footwear, get really good footwear. Your feet are your best tools.

Actually, your body is going to get stronger! I'm glad you've decided to do this. Question to all--should we start a thread of tips for car free people?

Susan

[awakenedsoul]

Susan, Can you the tips here? It's really helping. I'm soaking up all of this information. I've also googled "living car free," and found some great stories. Many of them are humorous. Some couples are even doing it. I have a metal trash can where I store the dog food outside. That's no problem. If I get a trailer, I can buy the dog food at the Feed store, which is just around the corner from my cottage. I have a 7,000 square foot lot with a 567 square foot cottage, so there's plenty of space for a bike trailer. (The driveway is now a landscaped garden! It looks really pretty...flowers, herbs. vegetables, and citrus trees.)

Today I took the bus and bike to pick up my box of organic produce from the co op. The pick up point is 11 miles from my home. I ran into some friends on the bus. I told them what I'm doing. One of the guys said, "You are going to save SO MUCH money. I've been car free for ten years." I talked to him about being the only one in my neighborhood without a car. He lowered his voice and said, "Most of those people are $200,000.-$300,000. in the hole, anyway..." He lives in a trailer and he owns it outright. The trailer parks here are very nicely landscaped and well maintained. He seems really happy and relaxed. He's always so friendly and in a great mood.

I was afraid I'd have trouble fitting all of the box contents in my backpack, but it worked out perfectly. The bus schedule coincides with the co op's pick up time. I think it's going to be fine, as long as I don't try to carry too much on my back. I may start growing more vegetables. I have the space, and now I have more time!!!

I love hearing everyone's input. Please keep posting if you think of anything else...

Lainey, I'm going to check out that book. It sounds really good. Thanks for mentioning it.
ToomuchStuff, I used to have a Yamahopper when I was 15. It was a small motorcycle, and it only went 30 miles an hour. I used it to to get to work, school, and around town. I loved it. I've been eyeing some of the scooters I see, too.

Oddball, Yeah, all that psychological stuff came up in my mind last night, as I was falling asleep. I'm already adjusting. I had just smogged the car, filled the gas tank, changed the oil, and paid the registration. Last year I'd put on new tires. It's really freeing to just let those responsibilities fade.

[iris lilies]

This will be a very interesting experiment. It's a no-fail experiment because if you find that you must have a car at some point in the future, well, you'll get one!

It's also possible that zipcar will expand to where you can pick one up closer to where you live. Or the citizen taxi services coming out now such as Lyft, that's another possibility.

[miradoblackwarrior]

Gosh, awakened, where to start?

To echo everyone else, you will save SOOO much money! You WILL be tempted to buy a brand new car in a year or two because you will save SOOO much money! Don't! You will get creative about how/when to purchase things. You will go back to the basics of cooking, and find your diet improves. You will suddenly touch your legs and say, "What the heck is that--oh, a muscle!" You will discover new friends, and rediscover old ones (which you seem to already be doing). Someone suggested a website which I found very enlightening: google "life after money", which is about a woman in the UK who was laid off, and had to retire. She still had a car, but the way she has shaped her life, discovering new walking paths, taking pictures, and reinventing her life on the cheap is very interesting, and very enlightening.

If I come up with some more stuff, I'll let you know. Meanwhile, enjoy the experiment! This is a whole new world! And just think, all those people with their fancy, expensive cars, will never, ever get to retire someday. And you will.

Good luck!
Susan

[awakenedsoul]

iris lilies, One thing I realized was that the main reason I was driving once a week, was to "keep the car running." My mom's car had problems because she rarely drove it. Now she and my dad have one car. I didn't have a car when I lived in NYC or in Europe. (Five years total.) None of my friends did, either. It just was a different lifestyle.

Susan, I've been car light for the past three years. It's been a gradual transition. Yes! I love the meanqueen's blog. I think Aqua Blue recommended it to me. That's kind of what happened to me. I didn't plan to retire, but then my circumstances changed, and I was able to try it. My expenses dropped so much that I started approaching it as a long term plan.

The guy I was chatting with on the bus told me, "In Los Angeles, cars represent wealth." It's true. For for some reason, people will choose to have a huge car payment over having the basics. It's a strange mentality. One thing that really shocked me, was how expensive used compact cars are now. I did some on line searching. I thought with all of these SUV's, I could get a great price on a compact, fuel efficient car. Wrong. The prices for a car with 90,000 miles or more started at $7,000.! It just doesn't make sense to me. When I was working, I had to have a car. Now, I don't.

One thing I didn't expect was to feel kind of a grief over the car dying. I was really attached to it. It was so cute, and so reliable. I have so many memories of that car. It took me so many places. But, it's time to move on and bank the money!

[Dhiana]

I think one of the reasons people cringe when they hear you don't have a car is that they think you'll be asking them for a ride. Don't.

We were new to SoCal and just quietly took the bus/taxi wherever we went and as people slowly started getting to know us did they even realize we were taking the bus.

Their first question was always, "Why don't you have a car?" and my answer was always because we didn't need to own one All that bus time is ME time, time to read uninterrupted, time to crochet, etc...can't do that driving a car

After a while when people realized we were just as responsible as car owners in their mind, we would start getting offers to drive us places they knew we were going to also. Not often but enough to see we were accepted despite our eccentric non-car ownership. We just led by example and it was surprising how many others began looking at their own car ownership a bit differently.

[awakenedsoul]

Oh I would never ask people for a ride, Dhiana. I've lived in the same house since 1998, so people here have known me for years. One of my neighbors saw me at the bus stop with my bike. She came up to me and said, "We're downsizing. I told my husband, 'We've got to get the bikes fixed!' How do you put them on the bus?" When the bus arrived, I showed her how to secure the bicycle on the front rack. She looked interested. She's an avid runner. I saw her a few weeks later and she mentioned that she had tried biking to the store. She told me that she got way too tired. I responded that I had needed to stop 5 times on my first attempt. Now I can cruise. It took some time to build up the stamina.

[Float On]

I just checked and there are a lot of dog foods available on amazon. I think there are other pet supply companies that ship to the door as well.

There is a man in our town that has been car free by choice because he liked drinking....but he's always had an attitude and expects people to pick him up and take him 12 miles to work. Course he'd never offer money in exchange for a ride either.