The Economic Impact of Getting Rid of Your Car
Posted on July 21, 2008
Filed Under budget, economy, finance |
Recently as my wife and I were looking at our budget and seeing how much of it was “gas”, I did a little bit of math to see what the impact on our budget would be if we got rid of one of our cars. Here is what I came up with:
Car payment = $379
Insurance for that car = $130
Gas (one month) = $240
Maintenance (monthly average) = $100
Total = $849 per month
WOW, that’s a lot of money we could save. Imagine the vacations we could take with an extra $849 per month. But it gets even better. That’s the net amount, which means we are reducing our income requirement by $1,415 per month (when you consider taxes) which is $16,980 per year. You know what that means? We can work less and enjoy life more.
For some of you this may not be practical, but for others, you might want to consider. I don’t think we are going to lose a car right now, because it certain would require more planning since we both work. Not to mention, I am going to win a Lexus tomorrow 
My local dealer sent me a key that opens the vault with the key to a brand new IS350! I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
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4 Responses to “The Economic Impact of Getting Rid of Your Car”
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Yeah that would be awesome. Oh except for the part that if I dont have a car I dont have a job part.
Great advise if you live in a city that does not require your own transportation to get around.
I’ve been trying to convince my wife that we don’t need a second car (we do live in an urban neighborhood, and I telecommute)… these numbers will help my argument… thanks!
Our car broke down, but we decided instead of spending a ton of money to fix it, we would just get rid of it. We live in DC and are able to get around quite easily without it, and we’re saving somewhere around $500 a month.
If we do need a car, we use Zipcar. If you live in a city that Zipcar services (www.zipcar.com), it’s well worth it. They pay for gas and insurance, and you pay a monthly fee based on your estimated usage. It’s not costing us nearly as much as when we had our own car.
@Tim - I do wish you well on finding a job as a first step. Here is a site that may help: http://www.tfgstaffing.com.
@Jeff - Glad I can help. When you get rid of that car and start saving hundreds per month, feel free to come back and buy me a drink. I checked out your blog as well, so feel free to drop me a line about doing a guest post. We don’t do enough to cover “green” topics, but I know it’s important - especially for the next generation.
@ Kari - I am glad you were able to make that work; I truly get excited when I see people having financial success. When I lived the the “suburbs of DC”, it just wasn’t feasible as my wife and I both often has to cross the American Legion bridge from MD to VA (and go to different cities). Life is much better in sunny AZ!