So, I finalized the sale of my car today. While I was at my office, my girlfriend confirmed over the phone that my car was being driven away by it's new owner, on to a new life in some other town with new places to go. I wonder where it will travel to now?
I know where I will be traveling now. Straight to a place called "new-found financial freedom", that's where. Recently, I had become nauseated by the amount of money i was spending every month on my car. I owned it, had a loan out on it that i was
repaying every month, then suddenly the
"overhead" light in my brain suddenly came on. That familiar ding of the "open door" was loud a clear.
"My car is making me broke!"
I payed every imaginable cost for my vehicle over the 5 years i had it. Monthly payments, diesel fuel (it was a VW TDI, seen above), repairs, monthly parking fees at my building, oil changes, extra add-ons like rims and a sport shift knob (dumb idea), washes, waxes, taxes, the list goes on. And a lot of it was paid with a credit card that's balance has slowly bloated over the years.
I never batted an eyelash every time I shelled out hundreds of dollars ON TOP of the monthly payment was paying to just drive it. It always seemed normal. It needed to be done. "Everyone spends this much on repairs, right"?
Month in and month out I was frustrated balancing my budget and wondering why at the end of the month I never had any money to spend or save. "Where does it all go"?, I would ask. I consider my self to be a thrifty person. I live pretty well within my means. I do appreciate the finer things in life from time to time, and considering my annual salary, I feel I do pretty damn well with with what I earn. But in this current economy, it's hard enough just to keep pace let alone get ahead. I was not getting ahead.
My birthday was in April. Spring was in all it's glory. My girlfriend comes home with a birthday gift for me one day. A brand new
Specialized bicycle. It was a great present. I had been talking about getting one for a while but never had the extra cash (duh). Now it was here. So, just like a 10 year old kid on his new banana seat bike, (only
this time it was a sophisticated hybrid) I started riding. A ton. I found that pedaling around my neighborhood (I live in Stamford, CT which is a small but vibrant and rapidly growing city outside of NYC) and found that I could get from place to place much faster than I ever did in a car. I could get to my office in 12 minutes when it would take 20 in my car. This, my friends was a serious wake up call.
So, I started keeping the car parked all the time. Every time I headed out to the store or to visit friends, our weekly tennis lesson, or to the movies I'd take the bike. I started commuting to work everyday (weather permitting of course because riding in the rain is pretty dangerous) and loving it! I would get to work energized and ready to take on the day, looking forward to 5pm when i could blast home on my bike, easily coasting by all the drivers miserably stuck in traffic.
Now I consider my self a very good driver. However, when I am at the wheel of a car I often get surly, impatient, aggressive and generally annoyed. I can't help it. As hard as I try, traffic congestion, slow left-lane's (you know, those people who go 45 in the left lane on a highway or Parkway and refuse to merge to the right even though your clearly trying to pass them but they still don't move and force drivers to dangerously pass on the right? you know, those guys??), pedestrians, stalled vehicles all "drive" me up a wall when I need to get somewhere. But by biking everyday, I freed myself from an activity which would regularly leave me wound up and stressed by the time
I got to/from work. And my commute is only 2.5 miles!!! Now I return home, invigorated and in a great mood and a bit sweaty.
I know that 2.5 miles is ideal and most people don't have these luxuries. But driving a car was so ingrained in my own "life-vision" that it never seemed possible to exist without one. "Everyone has a car.", I thought. "If I don't own a car, I'm not a part of society". But, as i found, that is complete bullshit. It is possible to exist without owning a car.
It is an adjustment to your daily routine, though and I am lucky enough that my company has locker room facilities for me to shower before heading to my desk. But just by rearranging a few things I was able to make it easier and easier to bike everyday and live a bit better. Get daily exercise, improve my cardiovascular health, maybe get trimmer, without the "chore" of working out in a gym.
"But Driving a car is so convenient", they say but I don't think I buy that anymore. What's convenient about gridlock, pit stops, finding a place to put your vehicle when you get to your destination (usually at a price too!), people hitting, dinging, scratching your parked car, theft, vandalism, etc. Not to mention your passengers leaving everything from granola bar crumbs to vomit in you back seat. Let me assure you that I'm not a radical hippy who scoffs at the use of modern private transportation on moral grounds, I do understand that cars are necessary for everyday living for most people to do what they need to do. But let's face it. Is it a pleasure own and drive a car? I do know that when I first bought my car, I was in love. But as time goes on, loves fade away, I guess.
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