I picked up the book,How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life at the library last week and found it to be an interesting read. I didn’t really think there was enough information about living without a car to fill up a book but I was surprised. The book had a lot of good information and none of it seemed like filler. I suppose you could consider the insets where people share their stories of living without a car as filler but I found them entertaining. The author shares his story of going car-free and gives some information about how much having a car is likely costing you. The average cost of car ownership is about $8000 a year. Mine is much less than that but it is still a significant number. The author also provides information about alternative methods of transportation such as scooters, motorcycles, public transportation, bicycles, and walking. If you are considering giving up your car this book has lots of helpful information.
I have lived without a car myself several times in my life and I didn’t find it to be much of a hardship. In fact it made life simpler. And it also allowed me to save a lot of money. If I had owned a car all of last year I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford my trip through Central America. Not having a car allows you to live better on less money.
It would be difficult for me to go without a car now though. My wife and I do have just one car between us which I suppose might qualify us as car-lite. My wife is going to be working at home soon and I mostly work at home. If I was sure of my future job status I probably could give up the car. I doubt my wife and stepdaughter would be crazy about the idea. If I ever do try to get rid of the car that will be another post.