Yesterday I scrapped my car. I had it for two years before it dissolved and had to be scrapped. Previous to this I managed to avoid owning my own car for many years. I could borrow a neighbour's van if I had to get somewhere and used my wife's car in the evenings and weekends if I needed to.
Since yesterday I have wasted all my time looking for a new car. At some point this morning I snapped. I realised that excluding the cost of actually buying a car it costs me around £200 a month in tax, insurance, fuel etc. £200 a month for something I really couldn't give a toss about. The car I was about to buy was a Mondeo worth £500. The cheapest insurance quote I got was just under £900. The most expensive was a hilarious £4,342, third party, for a car worth £500! I have had a clean licence for 23 years and over ten years of no claims bonus.
So I'm trying to break down the need for my own car into problems with manageable solutions.
The first problem is the school run. The school is two miles away so isn't easily walkable with a five year old. This problem can be fixed by buying a cargo bike. I've got a £500 budget. What excites me is that if I spend £500 on a cargo bike it won't cost me £200 a month after that!
The next problem is family holidays. My wife is a gardener so owns a wee van. The van only has two seats. But the cost of hiring a car for holidays is surprisingly reasonable.
I'm a musician so it's useful to be able to get about. But I still have the neighbour's van I can use most evenings and weekends.
We're treating this as an experiment. I'm not saying I'll never own another car, but I'm going to try and do without one for a while.
