comments
How to Kill Your Car
Email
 Print
|
With gas prices being so high, I have been thinking about how to save at the pump for the last few months. I realized that becoming self-employed was going to help since the commute to my day job was causing me to need to fill up every 5 or 6 days. Since quitting your job isn’t an option for everybody, I also tried to think of other ways a person could kill their need for a car. I have come up with several main options. You too can save yourself some money on gas and vehicle maintenance by opting for alternative forms of transportation. Here are a few of the ways I can think of that you can kill your car.
Carpooling
Carpooling has become fashionable again. More people are finding that it makes financial sense to ride to common destinations together. Carpooling can also help you get to your destination faster since you can use the carpool lane in major cities. You can pretty easily put together a carpool for work, school, and church. You can either alternate drivers or everyone can chip in some cash to the main driver on a regular basis. In the end, carpooling saves money gas as well as tolls and parking. I have found that sites like Nuride.com make it easy to find fellow carpoolers to similar destinations.
Biking
Nice Spring and Fall days are a great time to bike. Bike rides are not only great for cardiovascular activity but can get you all around town. If you live close, you may be able to bike ride to and from work while avoiding stop-and-go traffic as well. More people are biking now since it is environmentally friendly and efficient. Biking is great for small errand runs too. I personally did not bike to work since I would have had to deal with major highways, so please be sure to take your own safety into account before biking away.
Public Transportation
Metro trains and buses can altogether replace the need for a car in major metropolitan markets with better public transportation than Houston. In cities like New York and Chicago, lots of people shun driving and opt instead for public transportation. It is a much cheaper form of travel and can save you from the headache of being stuck in traffic. In most cases, a monthly pass is a whole lot cheaper than paying for a whole month of gas. If we had public transportation in my area, I would jump on it in a heartbeat since I could save money and avoid driving to boot. I really dislike being a driver around here.
Car Rental
Over the past few years hourly car rentals have been popping up at major car rental carriers like Enterprise and Hertz. Business travelers can rent a car for an hour or two to go to a meeting, attend a lunch, or travel to their hotel. Hourly car rental companies offer cheaper rates than having to pay for a car for a whole day. There are also services like Zipcar.com that allow you to reserve and use cars only as needed.
What other ways can you think of to kill your car?
(Photo: jcolman)
{ 7 comments, please add your thoughts now! }Related Posts
|
By Crystal Stemberger |
 Stumble It! Bookmark reddit.comTags: Biking, Cars, Rental Cars Jul 26, 2011 | Read more in Cars |
Like this article? Get all the latest articles sent to your email for free every day. Enter your email address and click "Subscribe." Your email will only be used for this daily subscription and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Good, old fashioned walking has helped me reduce fill ups to once every two-three months for my car.
I’d walk everywhere but it takes too long. I have zero patience and even less time, lol.
I actually read that usage on carpool lanes was going way down in the past few years, making them another expensive environmental policy that failed.
it is a brilliant idea in theory. it’s just that it is extremely hard for 2 people, let alone 3 or 4, to sync up their schedules so that they can all carpool and be to work at the same time. personally i don’t have to drive to work because i live in a metro area with great public transportation but even if i did i don’t even have anyone i work with that has to be in at the same time as me. there is a 7 am guy, an 8 am guy, a 9 am guy etc etc til 11. unfortunately great ideas in theory sometimes just fail in implementation.
having said this i try to use hov lanes as much as possible when traveling. they’re awesome when making long drives with friends/family and being able to avoid the trucks and absolutely horrendous drivers.
Programs like Nuride try to make it easier to sync schedules. I was looking into it before I quit my day job.
i am in the fortunate position to be able to essentially walk anywhere i need to, more or less. i love it.