Slow FIRE: How To Live Without a Car - #moneyhungry (2024)

Right now, F.I.R.E. is all the rage. Financial Independence Retire Early is a buzzword that is shared everywhere. But, in order to attain F.I.R.E. practitioners save at an accelerated rate typically 40% or more in order to reach their ultimate retirement number. Whether you are working towards: Slow, Fat, Skinny, and every other acronym F.I.R.E. all versions require folks to take a deep look at where they are spending their money. For many of us, that means doing things…differently. And, areas such as “The Big Three” (food/housing/transportation) are typically were people find savings. As a Slow F.I.R.E. practitioner, I’m cutting expenses everywhere and transportation plays a big part in where I’m saving money on expenses. Because, I’m still paying off debt. If you’re F.I.R.E. and thinking about getting rid of your car-read on.

*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsem*nt, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosurehere.*

Average American Car Payment

According to Lending Tree, the average American Car payment ranged between $391-$554 depending on whether it was leased, purchased new, or used. That works out to be $4692-$6648 a year in expenses not including other aspects of keeping a car running such as: insurance, gas, and upkeep. It becomes obvious that the ability to save money in this area of your budget could accelerate your savings rate significantly.

But, what are your options? Realistically? Let me tell you LOL!

• Two or more car family-eliminate the number of cars that you have. You could become a one car family and use a car share or ride-share such as Lyft/Uber when the other person is using the car.

• Get rid of your car and bike around town like Mr. Money Mustache does.

• Bike around town, use public transit, and use a car share!

My Story

For those of you who are new to me, you may not know that I learned to drive as an adult. I grew up in a small town and was able to walk around, then I lived in Denver and took the bus or walked. My mom had the somewhat hippy view that I would decide when I would do certain things…like learn how to drive. Now, before you ask, why didn’t she teach me how to drive? Because she was typically working 3 jobs and didn’t have time for that. Also, we didn’t have money for lessons.

Then, I went to college and didn’t need a car then. I returned to my hippy town and was within walking distance to every place that I needed to get to-so, I still didn’t learn how to drive.

However, what started to happen was that I was becoming self-conscious about not knowing how to drive. And, this lack of knowledge created some awkward situations during dating.

Finally, I decided to force my hand because I’d developed a fear of driving. Why? Because people in Colorado drive like a$$holes and are awful drivers. We’re so bad that I’ve had people from Boston and New York mention how badly we drive. If fact, recently, it has apparently become a thing to not signal.

It was a legitimate fear.

But an opportunity presented itself to me. A friend of mine was moving and decided to sell her car for $1500. It was a wonderful car and it was only $1500. SOLD.

The only issue…I didn’t now how to drive yet. Because I had the car, I had to learn how to drive. And two of my friends were kind enough to come over to my house (where the car was parked) and teach me how to drive.

It was a great car until it broke down and I was kind of broke when it died on me. So, I made the choice to join a car share.

Joining a Car Share

I LOVE MY CAR SHARE. I’d thought about it even before my car died. But, because I didn’t have enough driving time behind me-I couldn’t join one.

I belong to a non-profit car share that is based in Colorado and serves only the cities of Denver/Boulder/and Longmont. What I love about this non-profit, Ego CarShare, is that it’s 100% in alignment with my values and personal needs.

• Locally run organization
• Majority hybrid vehicle fleet
• Simple to use
• Affordable

How Does a Car Share Work?

It’s pretty straightforward.

• In order to become a member, you must have a minimum of 2 years on your driving record. It must be a clean driving record. Each company may have nuances specific to the company that you’re signing up with and the state/city that you’re in.

• There is a group insurance policy. I also had the opportunity to upgrade my coverage which I did for a small fee of $45 for the year.

• There is a online platform for the company that I use, but it doesn’t currently have an app.

• It costs $150 a year to be a member around $13 a month

• You pay for the actual trip plus gas mileage. Fortunately, these are hybrid cars. Also, I hate Prius’ as a result of driving it through the program LOL!

• Trips for my program costs $4 an hour plus the mileage.

• There is a gas card for each car that members have access to during their trips. There is a process for refueling the car and it’s pretty straightforward.

• The company manages all of the maintenance related to the car. With my program there is an opportunity to become a “car captain” and help with basic maintenance. You earn credits towards your usage. It’s worth checking to see if there is a program like that in the programs that you’re checking out.

• There is a certain point where you have to refuel the car so that the next member is good to go.

• Schedule your trip via the scheduling portal.

• Please note: because I use a local non-profit, I do not have access to this specific car share program outside of the Denver/Boulder metro area.

Car Share Best Practices and What to Know

I’m going into my second year of using a carshare and I love it. There are some things that you need to consider before ditching your car and going car free.

• There is a learning curve when you first begin using a carshare. It will be very tempting to schedule a car all of the time for everything. Eventually, you will decide that it’s unsustainable and you will change your process. The most expensive months for me were the first two of my membership.

• Spend time observing yourself so that you can make the best decisions related to your car usage. For me, I use the car for the following:
  • Trips to the mountains for hiking/day trips/or short road trips. In fact, going to the mountains was the #1 reason why I decided to learn how to drive. And dating. It is difficult to get to the majority of mountain towns/hikes/etc. that I wanted to enjoy. It was creating a problem with my lifestyle because I love spending time in the mountains and transit into the mountains is limited.
  • Night time events where it would cost the same for me to drive vs. taking Lyft-specifically if I’m NOT drinking.
  • Daytime errands that would be difficult to do without a car or would take a long-time to do by light rail/etc.

• Find a program that has a car located within walking distance of your home. My most frequently used car is within 8 minutes walking distance of my house.

• Try to use the same car as often as possible so that you get a “feel” for the car.

• Have a winter kit with you in the event that you have an issue with the car. Typically, there is a number to call if there is an issue, but for those of us who live in colder climates-winter kits are important.

• Schedule your time 15 minutes after the last member returns it. NOT, exactly when they are supposed to return. You run the risk of starting your trip late if they run into a problem.

• If you’re running late add twice the amount of time to extend your trip then you feel like you should. Trust me, it will save you some grief.

Things to Consider

• It may be difficult to schedule a car at the last minute. As a member of a carshare, you have to be much more deliberate about your car usage.

• The longer the trip-you need to spend a few minutes figuring out the cost.

• You may be charged for your trips within a day or two of taking them. So, you can only spend what you can afford.

• Trips you might want to avoid with the car:
  • Grocery shopping-Try to get your groceries delivered whenever possible. I currently have Amazon Prime(click the link to sign up for your free trial) and now Prime members have Amazon Fresh delivery as part of that membership. This saves me time and I don’t waste time impulse buying in the store.
  • Any location that is close-you probably shouldn’t drive to. If you can walk to it, you don’t need the car.

• You might not be allowed to have your dog in the car.

• The types of cars that your program has available to you may be an issue. I actually HATE the Prius. And, the program I’m with has several in their fleet. The Prius models that they have:
  • Are weirdly shaped, especially in the window area and they cut off my view.
  • Have a stupid control stick that feels like some gamer created it.
  • Is WAY TOO QUIET so I can’t tell if the car is actually on…

  • It will shut off and then I have to start it again. But, since it’s so quiet, that always catches me off-guard.

Verdict: I LOVE CAR SHARING!

I live within walking distance of 5 grocery stores, 3 light rail stations, and I regularly walk downtown. I’ve lowered my overall transportation budget by thousands of dollars. When I owned my paid off Nissan, I was paying around $3,600 a year on car maintenance, gas, and insurance. This isn’t including bus/train fare because I still took the bus depending on what was going on.

Current spend on car related expenses for 2019.

• $916-Car usage

• $175 Estimated gas usage

• $350-$500 in light rail fare for the year up to the end of November

• Total car cost so far: $1,091

• Total transportation cost with light rail included=$1591 (I added the high end for light rail usage)

• 229 hours of use so far in 2019

• Average per month 21 hours

• Lowest month=1 trip for 4.25 hours

• Highest month=4 trips for 34.75 hours (my first month as a user)

As a person focused on Slow F.I.R.E. eliminating this expense has helped me pay off debt. So, if you’ve been on the fence about using a car share-I hope this has given you some insight into how you could effectively incorporate this into your life.