this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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[–] amzd@kbin.social 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Deciding not to get a car; it saves ~400.000 euros in my lifetime which at 40k net a year income means 8-10 year earlier pension

[–] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ahh, European public transportation. Not an option in the US unless you live in NYC and rarely leave the city.

[–] weeeeum@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm so jealous. My work is only a mile away, which in a perfect world I could walk in 10 mins, but because of many slow crosswalks and busy intersections it's like 30 mins freezing my balls off. Plus there's a section of road that's 40mph (64kmh) with no sidewalk, and a bridge that forces pedestrians onto the high speed road. It's both slow and basically suicide if I tried to make a habit of walking.

There's another route but the intersection I would need to cross is excruciatingly slow. I had to sit for 15 minutes before I could cross. Plus it's another 40mph road and if someone runs a red I basically die.

[–] amzd@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

40mph is 64kmph not 93kmph but yeah that’s still uncomfortable to bike besides if it’s busy. I’d say instead of posting it here, send a letter to your local government.

[–] weeeeum@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

My bad, I have changed it now. Thankfully my town is already working on it, I'm just waiting for the pedestrian infrastructure to spread beyond the town square.

[–] GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I keep meaning to look at exactly what my small car costs per year.
Last estimate was £1000 a year on fuel, parts, and maintenance.

Which is equivalent to 50+ hours of car club use.
For now, I have too many "shit, I need to get this large/heavy object 5 miles away" moments to make it worth it.
But long term, I kinda like the idea of not having to worry about the car.

[–] amzd@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Insurance and depreciation are the bigger costs I think, but even ignoring those; if you have “heavy objects” less than once a week it would probably still be cheaper to just rent a van when you need it. Convenience might be an argument but yeah that’s what you pay the big bucks for.

[–] GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That figure actually includes depreciation and insurance! In fact, almost half of it is just the bloody insurance... Though I should possibly make an allowance in the figure for future repair work, as it's an older car.

I think once my big project (and associated last second trips to the builder's merchant) is finished, I'll have a go at living without the car.
My housemates may not be too happy about the private taxi service shutting down though!

[–] amzd@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Average car insurance cost in London is 1200-1600, surely yours isn’t less than half that?

[–] GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

That's the benefit of not-london and a small car: It's under £500!