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Home > Decision on the car question! (at least for the short term)

Decision on the car question! (at least for the short term)

March 4th, 2012 at 08:15 pm

I spent an hour or so today laying out our transportation options for next winter, and we were able to agree unanimously:

We're not getting a car, but we are investing in a really sturdy 2-kid stroller, accessories, thermal cover, and better winter gear for the adults.

We were leaning toward this last week, but there was a slight hitch when we realized that the double stroller wouldn't fit through our condo door. However, we figured that we can see if we can keep it under the storage locker of our parking space. We'll offer the renters a discount if that's an option and they're willing to share. If it doesn't fit or they don't want to do that, we'll just stop renting it and keep the stroller there anyway. (It's in a garage, so relatively secure and out of the elements. We'll look into a wheel lock or something.)

We considered but dismissed taking a taxi during the winter and taking our carshare service during the winter. They both seemed like they would take a lot of wrangling and arranging; you can't set up recurring orders for either. We didn't really consider getting a daycare parent to take AA because it seems like a hassle getting someone else involved, especially since we had four other viable options that seemed better.

I'll paste our calculations and thoughts below, but a few advantages to our decision that aren't reflected there:
- We can pay for nearly all the expenses with the Amazon.com gift cards we've been collecting from credit card offers.
- We can still sell all of the accoutrements later at not much loss of value if we decide we made the wrong decision.
- I get a good amount of exercise by being forced to walk to daycare every day. Even more when it's winter! I would almost certainly need to implement an exercise regimen to make up for it.
- We just don't WANT a car! AS was saying that she really agreed with MonkeyMama that it seemed like an extreme solution in proportion to the problem. I agreed, but said I was worried for a couple days that we were being extreme NOT having a car. One of our very frugal friends wrote on my Facebook post to say "Yes, it's reasonable for a family of five to have a car." But then AS and I realized that people would say that about ONE person. Not many people know if they could survive happily without a car because they've never tried. We have, and we like it.

That said, here's the dorky spreadsheet I made to help us consider our options:

OPTION 1: Buy car
1x cost: purchase $6500
1x cost: smaller 2-kid stroller $200
Total: $6700

Monthly: gas $30
Monthly: insurance $120
Monthly: repairs EF $100
Monthly: tags/fees $15
Monthly: lose parking income $85
Savings: $90/month Hourcar -$90
Total monthly: $260

First year total cost $9820
Second & subsequent years $3120

Pros: more/easier mobility
Pros: could sell car in 4 years
Cons: most expensive out of pocket
Cons: most expensive annually
Cons: costs are unpredictable

***
OPTION 2: Buy bigger stroller & cover
1x cost: chassis, jogging attachment & bike attachment $795
1x cost: thermal cover http://www.strollerideas.com/waaslawistco2.html $150
1x cost: bivy $80
1x cost: bunting bag $85
1x cost: infant sling $85
1x cost: baby supporter $50
1x cost: winter gear for adults $450
Total $1695

Monthly: lose parking income? $85

First year total cost $2715
Second & subsequent years $1020

Pros: Cheapest annually
Pros: Could sell eventually
Cons: Most effort/hardest to get to/from daycare

***
OPTION 3: Take taxis
1x cost: 2-kid stroller $200

Daily: to daycare $6
Daily: from daycare $6
22 weekdays/month = $264
Max 6 months/year

First year total cost $1784
Second & subsequent years $1584

Pros: one-way rides
Cons: pricier than Hourcar
Cons: pickup timing unreliable

***
OPTION 4:
Take Hourcar
1x cost: 2-kid stroller $200

Daily: to daycare $4.50
Daily: from daycare $4.50
22 weekdays/month = $198
Max 6 months/year

First year total cost $1388
Second & subsequent years $1188

Pros: cheapest first year of all options
Cons: must pick up/drop off same place
Cons: availability?

10 Responses to “Decision on the car question! (at least for the short term)”

  1. retire@50 Says:
    1330894678

    excellent work thinking thru the problem and solution that works best for you

  2. Looking Forward Says:
    1330895825

    I think that is a great way to weigh all the options. Writing down pro vs. cons and the cost.
    You are also in a good position to live without a car. That wouldn't fly where we live, so for us a car is a need.

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1330901048

    Yay for making a money-saving decision.

    Wait - so whose idea was it to get a really nice stroller? Genius! Big Grin

  4. ceejay74 Says:
    1330901204

    Totally! You really talked me down from the ledge on this issue. Smile

  5. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1330901316

    You know, even with getting the better stroller/thermal cover, you can still use the option of the taxi/hour car for the *really* bad days that aren't quite bad enough for working from home, but are bad enough that walking 20 minutes in it would not be good.

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    1330901533

    Exactly, frugaltexan! This way we don't feel tied to one kind of solution that's so expensive we don't have any wiggle room in our budget and so feel obligated to use it.

  7. MonkeyMama Says:
    1330915108

    I really meant - "Whose I idea was that?" I thought someone else mentioned a stroller. I guess that was your idea? I just really thought that was a genius idea - I guess I nudged you in that direction, but I can't take credit for the idea. {I was more ranting how I hate strollers - LOL}.

  8. baselle Says:
    1330915304

    I salute your carless commitment and thinking outside the box even with this issue. We have one car between the two of us, which I drive maybe 1x/yr. So many of my friends have said, "yeah, but if you ever had kids, no way would you still go carless." Far too many people use kids as a way to justify buying a car, buying a house, etc.

  9. ceejay74 Says:
    1330960577

    Thanks baselle! The unanimity of all our Facebook friends saying duh, yeah, you NEED a car now was in direct contrast to the more measured SavingAdvice feedback. This is a special place indeed where people aren't afraid to think unconventionally about money matters. (In fairness to my friends, none of them live quite as centrally as we do, so they probably find it difficult to visualize. We live within 1/3 mile of at least 6 bus lines, less than a block from three of them.)

    MonkeyMama, you're right -- it was NT who brought up the fancy stroller! I went back through the replies to my other posts. There's been so much great input from all sides that I got mixed up.

    Nonetheless, you can still take credit because your cautionary comment was a catalyst for us brainstorming other options. Smile

  10. My English Castle Says:
    1330964840

    What I particularly like about this is that if you change your mind later and do get a car, that's ok too. You wouldn't be out of pocket and will get lots of use from the stroller.
    It helps that most Minnesota sidewalks are at least somewhat maintained. We broke a stroller axle in the ice in London where no one shovels or salts.

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