” A car payment isn’t even factored in as debt. It’s just like a house payment. It’s a given.” This is what a co-worker said to me during a discussion about my goal to get out of debt. Basically, America tells us that to dream about getting a car when we’re kids. Then when we’re of age we rush out and get our license. From then on out a car is “a given.” I think it’s an idea left over from the roaring ’50s. Car ownership is a sign of ones status. In Orange County girls won’t talk to you unless you drive a fancy car (OK that’s not entirely true).

You get my point. Car ownership is ingrained into our society. I never realized just how ingrained until I dared to sell my car.

It seems that I have met the most resistance from baby boomers, especially my parents. My parents care about me. That is why they are so adamant against me selling my car. They came to visit me last night, and we had a 20 minute discussion where my parents tried to talk me out of selling my car.

“I just can’t fathom living without a car,” my dad said. That’s OK. I’m not you.

My mom said, “what if you need to get cough syrup in the middle of the night.” Again, I love my parents, but is this the best you can come up with? Cough syrup in the middle of the night? Then she said, “you can just count us out of your life then.” I reminded her that I can rent a car and visit her or that the Harrisburg bus system has a bus that goes 11 miles from their house. I plan on riding my bike down there once or twice this winter.

I think this is going to be particularly difficult for my dad. When I visit my parents I have a bet with myself to see how long it takes my dad to talk about my car. I stick the the standard five minutes. Usually I’m over. He always asks how many miles are on it. He checks to make sure I’m getting my oil changes. He is very involved with my car.  Yes. I’m twenty-seven. He just loves cars. More than that I think it’s his way of showing he cares. He keeps my vehicle in shape.

Honestly, I don’t know what he’ll talk about if I don’t have a car. He’ll probably start talking about cars I should get.

I have given this a lot of thought. I have thought of all of the variables. It’s like I said to try to assuage my parents; I can always buy another car if this experiment doesn’t work!

I love typing goal updates; because, I’m not even sure what the goal is anymore!

The goal was originally to fix my transmission when I could pay for it with cash and still have $1000. Then I found out my car is drivable without Over Drive.

Now I think the goal is to sell my car.

I planned on cleaning my car and listing it on Craigslist yesterday. I didn’t meet that goal. I had unexpected guests all day. This evening isn’t going to work either. I’ll have to clean it tomorrow.

In the meantime I have to get back on my bike…period. Like I said in a previous post, my excuse is that I’ll drive the car while I have it. It’s lame. My bike is in my car! It’s been in there for a week. Soon, though, I won’t even have a car to put a bike in.

I have been driving my car a lot. My excuse has been that I will drive it until I get it cleaned up enough to bother posting it on Craigslist. That excuse has worked for almost two weeks. I made up my mind that I’m going to do a major clean of my car on Sunday. Then have my car listed by Sunday evening. It’s time. I fear that if I don’t sell it soon I’ll rationalize my way out of selling it at all.

I have been doing very well with my finances. I have only $393 left on my first card. I’ve brought it down from $3200 in 10 months! I’m so close to paying it off! I’ve been saving a little along the way. It’s a piece of mind thing. I have $600 saved so far. So I’m still focused on getting out of debt.

As I did mention. I rode my bike to my girlfriend’s for the first time last Saturday. It was a perfect ride. The roads are in good shape. There are very few hills. It takes me through some beautiful scenery. Said and done it is a 23 mile ride. That’s not bad at all. I made a few detours and stops along the way, so I don’t have a good feel for how long it takes me. I imagine I’ll be making the ride a lot more now that I know how pleasant it is.

We went camping the next night, so I had to carry all the camping gear. Even with the extra weight it was a good ride!

I didn’t think about taking pics until I was about 17 miles into the ride, so you miss most of it. I took them with my phone so the quality may not be the best. Also, I figured out how to embed latitude and longitude with my phone, so in the future you may get maps of images of my rides you can interact with. Honestly, this is the prettiest stuff. It’s Autumn in Pennsylvania. It’s gorgeous! I’ll be back soon with some more posts, but I wanted to fill in the blanks with what’s been happening.

Click an image for more information. You can click the image on the next page for an even bigger shot.

Don’t worry; I’m still here.

Over the weekend I rode my bike to my girlfriend’s for the first time. I took some nice pictures of the ride that I’ve been meaning to post. Now here we are going into the next weekend.

I will get back to regular posting, and that’s not wishful thinking. I have ideas for quite a few posts.

Today is Blog Action day. The theme this year is eliminating poverty.

You may or may not know that I am a dedicated follower of Jesus. I’m not trying to inject religion into my blog. I’m just giving you a backdrop for this post; it’s nearly impossible for me to write about giving to the poor and not see it through a spiritual eye.

It seems to me that loving and giving to the poor should be natural for followers of Jesus. He himself loved the poor and tells us to do the same. So fighting poverty, for me,  is not simply an altruistic thing. It’s not political. It’s not a catchy campaign.  It’s loving Jesus.

To paraphrase Jesus, he says, “what you have done to the least of my brothers and sisters you have done to me.” He then goes on to say, “what you have not done to the least of my brothers and sisters you have not done to me.”  I take those as some serious words. Especially the “what you have not done…” part. There’s a lot I’m not doing.

OK, now let’s bring this down to earth.

It’s Blog Action day. The goal is to reduce starvation and poverty. After careful budgeting I now have quite a bit more time and money. I think it is only fitting that I give some of my resources to the poor. We actually have a great homeless shelter in Harrisburg. I went through the “make sure I’m not a serial murderer” interview. Now I just need to actually get down and start mingling with homeless.

A major theme of this blog is personal finance. Whether you are doing it for spiritual reasons or not I would recommend that you seriously consider donating some of your money to an organization of your choice.

I suggest Blood Water Mission

Better yet, get down on the homeless’ level and donate your time. I think you will find that it is rewarding for everyone involved.

I was happy to have my bike back from the shop. My wheel was all trued up. I had just wiped down and lubed up my components. I was excited to be out riding on this gorgeous day. Not only that, but I was actually on time for work! I’ve noticed that since I started riding I sleep in more, but that’s another post.

I noticed that it was hard to ride. My back tire was low. No problem. It had been a few days since I’ve ridden. I was about a mile and a half into the ride. I pulled over to pump it up. Not even ten feet in I realized that there was a flat.

Yet again. No problem. Flats are part and parcel of riding a bicycle. Although all of my flats have been from malfunctioning tubes and not road debris. The problem is, the tubes I had just purchased were in my car!

I had to turn around and walk home. In the interest of time I just hopped into my car. I wasn’t necessary late, but later than I wanted considering my new goal of coming in earlier.

About the time I get home I take my phone out of my pannier and realize my boss called me. I called him back. One of our clients needed some dates filled in for her newsletter. Of course, she wanted them 20 minutes ago! So I had to rush in and fill out this spreadsheet in lightning time.

I realize that I could have simply changed my tire and ridden my bike, but today I was glad I had my car. That document would have gotten out even later!

On Saturday I drove 150 miles: in my own car. A good friend of mine got married. I had to get out to his wedding. It was, most likely, a funny image, what with me limping down the turnpike at 55 mph.

Today I drove to work. My bike was in the shop. A spoke fell out. For some reason I don’t have a multi-tool to fix that myself.

So, where does that leave me? I took last week to sort out what I wanted to do. I was leaning towards selling the car. Your answers to my survey helped lock in my decision: sell the car.

This week I am going to spend my time calling around and figuring out what my options are. I don’t expect I’ll be getting too much money for the car, but hey, you never know.

The subject of this post is a question. Am I falling back into my old ways? Am I giving up on the carless experiment? It’s not for you to answer; it’s for me to answer. My answer is “no.” I am not. I have a few reasons why I can say this.

1. It was like pulling teeth for me to finally own up to the fact that I was going to have to drive to the wedding. Also, I am disappointed that I drove to work. I hate that I am going to have to put gas in my car for the first time in over a month. These negative emotions let me know that I am still moving towards getting rid of the car.
2. This morning when I was getting ready for work I starting gearing up for my bike ride. Then I suddenly realized that I didn’t even have my bike! When people invite me to things my first thought is, how am I going to get there without my car? That means my habits are being built around the new ways: which is the car-free lifestyle.
3. Most importantly, the ideal of being car-free is appealing to me. It’s still worth going for.

I am ashamed to have a blog called “Going Carless.” I need to hurry up and get rid of my car in order to build up my credibility again. But the way I see it, in every good story the protagonist has a setback. It builds tension and helps you get more interested in his or her plight. I see this, you know, car as a minor setback on the road to carlessness. We’ll take this as part of the experiment. The transition from having a car to being completely car-free. Isn’t that what this blog is ultimately about? Helping people know what to expect in all aspects of going carless, including: unloading the vehicle.

Any ideas about how to unload said vehicle? Put it in the classifieds? Call junk yards? It’s drivable. It’s just not 100%.

Well, things are a bit hazy right now. As you know, my car is laid up. The thing is, I don’t want to fix it.

That means I am no longer trying to save the $2700 to fix my car and still have $1000. As of right now I am just trying to be as vigilant at saving as I can be. My first focus is my debts, but I am putting aside a decent amount every month towards whatever goal I come up with.

I am thinking seriously about starting a green lawn care business. One of my readers did it this year. I figure if I scale it back and take it slow. I could make a few hundred extra bucks a week. It’s sort of a no brainer.

I’m thinking that I’ll save towards the startup costs for that business, but I’m not 100% sure that’s what I want to do.

I know for sure I’m going to save towards an emergency fund. Right now, I’m starting with $1000. Though when I reach $1000 I doubt I’ll stop saving.

So, I have the goal of getting out of debt. I’m attacking that with $300/mo in a snowball.

I have $497 in savings. Moving on up.

After a $1000 emergency savings what should I make my goal? Any suggestions?

Considering I have only driven my car once for 25 miles in the last 3.5 weeks I would still consider myself carless. That gives me the authority to continue writing about the idiosyncrasies being carless.

I ride my bike most everywhere I go. Still, there are times when a bike is just not possible. For those times I need to call someone for a ride. One of my greatest concerns about being carless is becoming a “mooch.” A mooch, by definition, is someone that takes without giving back.

One of the first days of this experiment it was pouring rain; I had to get a ride from a coworker. Since she lives close to me I had let her know in advance that I might be asking for the occasional ride. She said, of course, that would be fine.

It was humbling to actually take her up on it. There is that nagging feeling that I’m a burden. I feel as if I am breaking into her normal pattern.

In November I will be facilitating some training sessions in Hershey (eight miles from work). It’s an easy ride, but I don’t want to take too much of my work day to gear up and ride. So I might have to borrow a company vehicle. My boss offered to drive me and he could take care of business while he’s there.

My girlfriend lives thirty miles from me. That means when we want to see each other she typically has to drive to me. Of course, I make up for it with food and sometimes gas money.

It’s just a pervasive feeling. It seems as if I am gaining a reputation of being a nuisance. It could be in my head, but it seems real.

How can I overcome this perception?

Help Fill Their Tank

I mentioned before that I am budgeting $30/mo to give to people that give me rides. I see this as one of the most effective ways to not become a mooch. Having a few dollars budgeted to give to those that drive me is a small way of showing people that I am not trying to take advantage of them.

Also, depending on the level they allow you to use thier car or drive you you could offer to take care of all of their oil changes or buy every third tank of gas.

Exchange Services

Another way to not become a burden to your fellow drivers is to exchange services. A guy that I know pretty well moved in two doors down. Two weeks ago he gave me a ride. As we got to talking he said he needed a website. I offered to make his website in exchange for being able to use his car or for rides.

Switch it Up

Have a few alternatives and vary when you call for a ride. There are actually three coworkers that live in my town. I haven’t asked the other two if they can give me occasional rides yet, but I will. This way every time it rains or snows I can call someone different.

Find the Willing

I came across a post on Craigslist. This person offers to give people rides. His daily commute home from work goes straight through my town to my girlfriend’s town. There are quite a few rideshare sites. Sometimes people have moved and will pay you to drive their car to the new home and things like that. If you are simply creative you can usually find people that are offering you their car.

Meet Half Way

Harrisburg’s bus system goes to Dillsburg and Shippensburg. Both of these towns are more than half way to towns I go to frequently. Dillsburg is halfway to some of my best friends. Shippensburg is 2/3 of the way to my parents. The buses only run during rush hours on weekdays, but if I needed to I could take the bus. Your ride would still need to make an effort to get you, but this is a way to take some of the strain off of them. Harrisburg’s buses don’t allow you to take your bike, so that makes things a bit more complicated.

Another method is to rent a car and visit those that often drive to pick you up. You get bonus points if you surprise them. They are so used to getting you that it is a nice break for them to see you without having to pick you up.

Be Grateful

Another simple way to avoid being perceived as a mooch is to simply be grateful. I have found that thanking someone goes a long way. People want to be appreciated, and if they go out of their way to give you a ride the should be.

Watch Your Mouth

I don’t mean don’t swear in some one’s car. Although that’s probably a good idea too. I have found that the words you use will significantly change a person’s attitude towards giving you a ride. It may be subliminal, but if you say “mooch” or  “bum” the person will begin to think of you as a bum. Say something like, “Can I share a ride with you?” or “Can I come along on the adventure with you?” This may go hand-in-hand with being grateful, but having a positive spin on it helps the other person feel better about giving you a ride when you text at 7:30 am asking them to come out of their way for you.

Do you find that being a mooch is even an issue? What are some ways you avoid being a mooch?

The results of my survey are in. Thank you to the twelve people who responded. Over 70 people abandoned the survey without answering. You can see the stats below. I’ll break it down under the image.

First of, thank you to the one honest person that said they don’t care; it’s easy to change an apathetic world because no one cares what you do. For a while there the “NOs” were leading. It actually got to me. It started making me think that this experiment is not logical. Then the “YESs” pulled through for me in the clutch.

Here are a few of my favorite “why” comments and my responses. Let’s start with the “NOs.”

NO:

it doesn’t hurt you much, does it?

My first reaction was to agree. I thought, “you know, it’s really not that big of a deal to keep it around. It’s paid off, and I’ve had a car for ten years.” Then I thought of the $5000 credit card debt and the $41,000 student loans. The car doesn’t hurt me much, but the debt does. I’m in the ever continuing quest to slim my expenses.

Being completely car free is not practical. But try and not use it for any short trips (even laundry) and try and keep it to a couple long trips (gf, parents) a month.

When I first got the car back from the shop that was one of my ways to rationalize keeping the it. Using it for longer trips only. Then I started thinking about the fact that the car doesn’t have a fourth gear. My girlfriend lives thirty miles and my parents fifty; it’s probably not the best car for longer distances. In the comments someone gave the suggestion of putting the money saved in gas and insurance towards rentals. If I were to put 100% of it towards rentals then there is no point of me selling the car. But I was thinking of a hybrid version. I could put half or a third towards rentals and use the rest to pay off debt, of course. I have done the math. It’s still cheaper to rent a car twice a month (on the weekends) than own a car.

Use it for backup. Get your insurance reduced to ‘leisure driving’ only for a better rate.

This one has gotten me seriously thinking. I am going to call my insurance company and see what the “leisure driving” rates are. It can’t hurt to find out.

YES:

1) To get the extra cash to pay down credit cards.
2) To save more money. (This blog has a strong financial undertone.) Even though I suggested only spending $30/month in gas, how much would you be spending with Insurance, registration, inspections. . .?
3) You’ve said you’d drive a car if you had one, and it doesn’t sound like you’ve missed a car so far.
4) I don’t know what you demand of a car, but you can probably buy a mostly-reliable older used car for what you would have paid for the transmission.
5) If the car is parked, you’ll start having other problems if you don’t run it every so often.
6) You’re going carless, dammit!!

1 & 2) I really do want to pay my credit cards off. I’ve been slimming down everywhere else. This seems like a good time to try the carless thing.
3) I really have been getting by just fine so far. It’s been three weeks. I only drove the car from when I picked it up to my house.
4) Honestly, this experiment has changed my perception about cars. My coworker made an offhand comment that her friend buys $1000 beaters and drives them into the ground. $1000 a year? That would be four months of a new car payment.
5) You’re right. A car develops problems whether you’re driving it a lot or not.
6) I’m going carless, dammit!!

I sold my car, then recently my scooter…now I just bike everywhere. Someone at work saw me riding the bike and asked: “How do you stay motivated?” my reply: “If you want to get motivated to bike more….sell your car”

That pretty much sums it up!

Conclusion:

I believe you can tell which direction I’m leaning. I agree with the sentiment that I haven’t really missed the car so far. I realize it’s going to get colder for bike riding, but that’s why I got the winter gear. I’m taking a few days to process everything. I have to go through the hoops of trying to sell a car with no fourth gear. Any ideas?

I will leave the survey open as I continue to think about what to do and how to go about it. I have even created a page (link above).

I will keep you in the loop about developments.