You could save a ton of money by getting rid of your car
By Michelle Singletary
I've had a car of my own since I was about 22. I couldn't wait to get that first car. For years, I had been held hostage by my grandmother, Big Mama.
She kept tight reins on me and my whereabouts by requiring that she drive me to most of the places I had to be. I went to just three dances in my entire high school career: the ring dance, junior prom and senior prom.
As a parent now, I understand Big Mama's desire to keep me parked at home so she could keep an eye on her granddaughter. Still, I remember the liberation I felt when I finally bought that car.
So when I picked up Chris Balish's new book "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car," I put it right back on top of the piles of personal finance books I get every week.
No sir. I ain't giving up my wheels, I thought. I live in the suburbs, have three children and there isn't a bus stop near me for miles.
But as I thought about the rise in gas prices, I picked the book back up.
Balish's mission is simple. He wants all of us to challenge the notion that we need a car. Most importantly, he says we all should re-evaluate the cost of car ownership.
Can more of us live without our cars?
I think it's about time we all seriously contemplated this question and not just because of the whiplash we've been getting with gas prices. This is why I'm recommending "How to Live Well Without a Owning a Car" (Ten Speed Press, $12.95) as the September pick for the Color of Money Book Club.
Balish, who lives in Southern California and is an award-winning broadcast journalist, has been living without a car since 2003. He began his car-free existence after deciding to sell his $36,000 Toyota Sequoia SUV because of its gas addiction. His intention, he writes, was to buy a smaller, more fuel-efficient car that was still "sexy and impressive." He sold the SUV before he had a chance to find a replacement vehicle.
Those initial days without a car liberated him and his budget, he writes. At the end of the first month, Balish says he had an extra $800.
"I was actually angry with myself for never sitting down before this to figure out how much money I was spending on my car," he said.
In the three years he's been without a car, Balish said he's saved $36,926.
Here's how he broke it down for me:
"With that money I paid off all my credit cards, a personal loan, and became debt-free for the first time in my adult life," he said.
The average annual cost to own a car is $8,410, including car payments, insurance, gas, oil, car washes, fees, taxes, parking and repairs, Balish reports. The average American spends 18 cents of every dollar earned on transportation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2003 Consumer Expenditure Survey.
There are other reasons to go car-free. Balish, who is 39 and single, said his social life actually improved.
"Being car-dependent is a solitary existence in many ways," he writes. "When you don't own a car, you'll meet new people and develop new relationships because you'll be carpooling and sharing rides more. You'll get to know other residents in your community because you'll no longer be zooming through it."
Mostly, Balish gets to where he wants to go on his own by taking public transportation, a taxi, a rental car or biking.
Throughout the book, Balish highlights more than 100 people who live without owning a car in communities from Seattle to St. Petersburg.
Now before you get all defensive, even Balish admits not everyone can do without a car.
"Most families with children in the U.S. have at least two cars," Balish said. "For them, the best way to approach this is to begin by getting rid of one of the cars, what I call living 'car-lite.' I think families will be surprised how easy it is. If one spouse can find a car-free way to commute to work, they're golden."
