This past weekend BF and I rented a car for the weekend. We spent three lovely days driving around to suburban shopping malls and big box stores stocking up on everything from paper towels to body wash. The entire car rental cost us $200 from Thursday to Sunday and that includes gas. Not a bad way to spend Easter weekend. Our families live far away so holidays are usually just a time to relax for us. Sometimes we travel but it can get very expensive very quickly to travel on holiday weekends. So we usually just stay low key watching Netflix and eating takeout food.
Having a car makes life a little bit easier
Some people may think $200 is a lot to spend in three days, but let me tell you it was worth it. Since selling our car in 2010 we are limited to eating at restaurants within walking distance of our apartment and we are limited to only buying as many groceries as we can carry at one time. This weekend it was nice to pack everything into the trunk of the car and not have to worry about walking 15 minutes with two bags of groceries on our shoulders.
When we rent a car we can also buy items in bulk such as a case of water or a case of beer. We usually buy these items in smaller quantities which can be costly. It was definitely nice to have the car all weekend because it made running errands a lot easier, but it was also nice to give it back yesterday.
Owning a car is not worth the expense
We bought our car in 2007 and we sold it three years later with less than 30,000 kilometers. Since we live downtown in a big city we rarely used our car. Other than the occasional weekend road trip and for groceries on Saturdays our car usually sat in our very expensive underground parking lot.
We used to park on the street for free but after one break-in and one towing incident during snow removal we decided to start paying for underground parking. Just like that we added $130 to our monthly expenses to make sure our car was safe and sound in underground parking.
When we add up the car payment, the price of insurance, underground parking fees and the cost of gas owning a car was just not worth the $800 per month.
Not owning a car is a healthy decision
Not having a car forces us to get outside. Walking everywhere is good for the body and fresh air with sunshine never hurts. I have to tell you that walking 15 blocks in the winter with two bags of groceries is not fun, but in the summertime it lets me work on my tan.
When I had a car I would rarely get outside and enjoy the fresh air. I would take the car absolutely everywhere because I felt like I had to. If I walked somewhere without taking the car I felt like I was paying for nothing so I ended up taking the lazy way out and driving everywhere. That’s a very unhealthy habit.
Photo from Flickr
I think owning a car is a good choice in certain circumstances. It really depends on where you live and how you utilize the car. For your situation, living downtown, it sounds like getting rid of the car really was the best option. However, those who live in areas where things are significantly spread out and public transportation is not very practical, owning a car can be worth it. Its always good to hear when a decision has turned out for the best.
Thanks for this tip, it really do help me. Me and hubs are thinking to buy a car, but we are on the stage of thinking of planning everything. But for me, we don’t necessarily need a car, we live in a small province and transportation is not really a problem.