WEBVTT - No Car No Problem! #242 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.960 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and Matt, 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:25.560 and today we've decided no car, no problem. That's right, Joel, 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:28.880 we're talking about automobiles. We live in an age where 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:32.680 everyone has a car, probably right depending on where you live. 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:34.320 Even two and three year olds. Man, I've seen driving 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.519 around the streets. Everybody's got a car. There's those two 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.160 year olds have two vehicles. That drives me crazy, ridiculous, 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:41.440 it's gotten out of hand. We can all agree, but 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.360 as we know, there are lots of benefits from from 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.480 having one less vehicle, and there are more ways today 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.800 than ever to make that happen. So I'm excited to 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.880 talk about owning fewer vehicles with you today. Man. Yeah, 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:54.880 I don't want Henry Ford to roll over in his 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:56.840 grave or anything, but I think even he didn't intend 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.360 for us probably to have as many cars as we 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:01.360 have typically, And I think a lot of people can 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.640 benefit from having one fewer vehicle in their lives. And 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:06.520 so we're gonna talk about that and get into some 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.440 depth on what that might look like, on how much 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.480 money you can save, and think outside the box on 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:12.479 how you can actually make it happen. Today on the show. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:14.360 But Matt, before we get to that, I want to 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.399 let you know I had to hire a plumber recently 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.200 to come out to a rental property to fix a 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.000 couple of things. They did a great job. They were responsive, 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.040 and they were quick and thorough, and yeah, it was 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.600 a good experience. But I will say I paid for 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.720 that experience, and I was out of town, so I 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:32.760 didn't really have another option. I was gonna say. I 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:34.839 was like, normally you feel like you handle your own plumbing, 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:36.959 but when you're out of town, that's definitely an instance 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.040 where you want to be hands off. You wanted to 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:40.320 be taken care of where you don't have to worry 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:42.560 about it. Yeah, for sure. And I will say I 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.960 take care of my own extremely basic plumbing, and this 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.000 was pretty basic. I will plunge that's about it. But 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.920 I talked to the plumber afterwards and he said, you 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.400 know what, you might need a toilet rebuild. And I 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:58.559 was like, what do you What do you mean gotta 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:03.800 flush the fluids because basically, if any little rebuild, put 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:07.080 some air the tires. Because if you know what a toilet, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.920 how a toilet works, there are essentially two parts. The 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.320 flapper in the phil valve and they are extremely inexpensive 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.760 parts and they are incredibly easy to replace, and so yeah, 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:19.000 he explained to me what this toilet rebuild would look 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:20.400 like and made it sound a whole lot more fancy 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.079 than it actually was, and he quoted me a price 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.680 of three fifty dollars, oh my gosh, to do the work, 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.560 and uh yeah, so I decided off against that. I 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.200 actually because I have way too many toilets in my life, 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:34.720 because I own multiple properties. In our own house, I 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.400 had to replace the phil valve and the flapper at 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.079 my place on one of the toilets just the other day. 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:44.160 It took me about minutes and the parts cost me 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.400 eighteen dollars. So yeah, the difference in price between hiring 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.400 the super professional plumber who does a great job and 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.080 is very nice and very skilled. And I'm not against 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.359 paying people for work that needs to be done if 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.919 you don't feel like taking it on yourself or you can't, 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:00.799 but I think it's important to know that sometimes when 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.440 someone is trying to do a service for you, they 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.080 might even make it sound a little fancier, a little 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.079 more in depth than it actually is. Like a toilet 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:10.720 rebuild is a really fancy way of saying, I'm replacing 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.720 the two most basic and easy to replace parts of 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.360 your toilet. Yeah, definitely he was looking for the up 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.600 charge to maybe get a little bit extra out of you. 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:19.520 But yeah, I'm with you, and especially too, I mean, 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.760 three fifty bucks. That's ridiculous. One because you know he 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:25.520 was trying to pull that over on you. I wasn't 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.880 gonna happen. But secondly, because you can get a lot 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:31.880 of new toilets for a hundred bucks exactly like ninety 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.639 bucks if you've got a like a Lows or hone 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.400 depot coupon. And then not to mention a lot of 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.720 cities like oftentimes you can get a rebate if you 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.760 haven't changed out that toilet in your home. If you 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:44.200 have proof that you've purchased a new toilet and you've 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.280 replaced it, you'll get a rebate for that toilet on 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.880 your water bill, and it'll pay for that toilet completely 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:52.080 in a lot of cases and so and I've even 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.600 replaced a toilet full on, and it's not really all 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:56.440 that hard you do once you do it once and 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.000 you know kind of how the little work and the 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:03.280 wax that. But speaking of toilets. So actually I discovered 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.800 something recently. So do you do you have dirty toilets 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:10.400 at your house? I mean my dirty dirty, I mean 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.119 so dirty from the sense of stains that you can't 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.200 get off. Because we've had this one toilet in the 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.360 house when we moved into the house. It's always been 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.040 dirty and we've never really seemed to be able to 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.640 get it clean down in the like the lower part 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.160 of the toilet. Uh. And we've tried bleach and all 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.000 sorts of cleaners before. And I did a little bit 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.279 of research and it turns out it's not a stain, 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:32.359 it's a mineral deposit. Yeah. Is that something that just 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.360 happens over time because you've used the toilet a bunch? 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.280 I mean either that or like, in my mind, it's 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.240 maybe from like the water as well, maybe if you 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.200 have hard water. But I did a little bit of 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:42.919 research and turns out all you have to do to 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:46.360 get rid of that is, uh, use acid. By acid, 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:48.800 I don't mean fancy acid, I just mean vinegar. And 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:50.960 so you turn off the water using the water cut 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:53.000 off valve, and you flush the toilet, try to get 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:54.760 as much water out of there as possible, and then 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:56.760 just dump some vinegar in there and let it sit 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.520 in the The acid in the vinegar kind of breaks 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:01.279 down the minerals a little bit, and a lot of 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.240 times all it takes is then just using a brush 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.000 and those calcified mineral deposits on there get flush right 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.480 down the toilet. In our case, we got a lot 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:11.080 of it off, but there were a couple of spots 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.080 that I swear must have been there for like ten 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.920 years or something, maybe twenty years. So I had to 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.520 get like a little plastic tool and got some gloves on, 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.279 and what's a town on. I had to like scrape 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.200 it so hard to to kind of pop them off 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:24.240 the porcelain. But once I did, man, I was I 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.839 couldn't believe how brand new the toilet looked. But just 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:28.760 a little tip if you ever have some some toilets 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.880 that you can't get clean with bleach dry vinegar. There 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:33.920 we go. So it sounds like now our listeners they 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:35.599 don't even need to go buy the hundred dollar toilet. 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:37.920 They can fix up their old toilet for eighteen bucks 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.200 in a little elbow grease. So exactly, all right, that's 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:42.039 enough toilet talk. Yeah, we're not even this old house, Like, 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.960 what are we going? We spent wait too much of 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.680 time talking about toilets. Let's talk about our beer this episode, 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.480 we are drinking ourson. Oh you are I s O N. 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:56.520 How would you say it? Eison? That's like, uh, eurison, 0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:00.960 maybe arison. But this is a beer by Tired Hands Brewing. Uh, 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.280 this is a says on And I'm looking forward to 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.240 enjoying this one on the show, buddy, and we'll talk 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:07.080 about it at the end of the episode. No doubt, 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.719 man me to love Tired Hands. Looking forward to having 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:11.720 this says on with you. All right, but let's get 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.760 onto the subject at hand. Today we're talking about no car, 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.720 no problem, and obviously reducing your car ownership is not 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.560 something that is going to work for everybody. Right, Let's 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.040 say you're a traveling salesperson. You need your car. It's 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.680 part of your livelihood. So we're not talking to you 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.040 necessarily in this episode. Single people that they might find 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.560 going from one car to zero cars even more difficult, 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:34.520 right than a family, let's say going from three to 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:36.680 two or two to one. But singles, you're still not 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:38.360 off the hook, though. We're gonna challenge you as well 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.520 later on. Yeah, exactly. So today we are going to 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.520 think through why ditching a car might make sense for 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.880 you and the benefits you'll find from having one less 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.359 car in your life. And people also, Matt, are thinking 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:49.559 a whole lot more about this topic right now. Working 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:50.960 from home has caused a whole lot of us to 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:53.560 use our cars a whole lot less. Some of us 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.919 might not even have opened the door of our vehicle 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.320 for months, and that's not great for our cars either, Right, 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.760 you might find a nest of squirrels or something, or ants, 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.839 like seriously, like this summer we had an ant infestation. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.320 I don't think we We had gotten in the van 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.160 for like close to a week, which was maybe close 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.120 to a record for us. But yeah, we opened the 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.080 door and there was a freaking ant infestation in there. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:15.200 Oh yeah, you can't let the kids eat in the car, 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:17.440 or if you do, you gotta like vacuum up all 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:19.320 the chromes. True, yeah, but yeah, a lot of people 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:21.560 are having car problems because they haven't used them for 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.520 such a long period of time. Right, But yeah, that's 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.080 part of the reason we wanted to tackle this subject 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.920 on today's show. Right now is actually probably the perfect 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.240 time to consider if the number of vehicles you own 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:33.720 is actually best for you and your family. Yeah, man, 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:36.000 that's what we're going to discuss today. And here's a 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.560 little stat for you. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:43.000 transportation costs are typically the second highest budget category every month, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.280 the average American spends nine thousand, two or and eighty 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.840 two dollars annually on average in vehicle ownership costs. And 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.920 this is according to Triple A. Dang. Yeah, that's a 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.400 lot of money, dude. And so while we're all four 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:57.600 smaller moves to to put a dent in your budget 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.840 every month, you know, like fewer lattees, maybe ditching that 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.239 licks getting rid of a car can have a massive 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.080 effect on your monthly spending very quickly. And then, on 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.920 top of the positive financial ramifications of eliminating a car 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.720 from your driveway or you know, the street in many cities, 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.760 there are other awesome side effects as well. So we're 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.080 gonna get into all of those, and who knows, you know, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.560 even if you love your car, you might find some 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:21.840 reasons to think again about whether or not owning that 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.800 car still makes the most sense for you. Yeah, for sure. 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:26.840 But it's important to note too that eliminating a car 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.640 from your family's life isn't for everyone. Well, for one, 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:31.760 if you live in New York City, it's super easy 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:34.719 in all likelihood to own zero cars. But if you 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.199 live early dropping a car may not make much sense 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.800 depending on your availability to work from home or your 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:44.360 kids activities. It's gonna differ based on kind of your lifestyle. Right. Also, 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:45.880 if you do decide at the end of this episode 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.199 that ditching a car doesn't make sense for you, at 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.480 least do your best. Matt and I would suggest to 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:52.720 limit the cost of the cars that you do own 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:55.240 to Really expensive cars in the driveway can put a 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.079 major strain on your finances. It can inhibit your ability 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.720 to save for the future. Well, so you would suggest 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.479 if you do have to have multiple cars, think reliable 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.319 and inexpensive. That's the sweet spot of car ownership. Well, 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.480 and Joel, you just mentioned cars being parked in the driveway. 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.480 That's something else to consider because the average car is 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.400 part of the time in your driveway, so most of 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.320 the time you aren't even using your car. You know, 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.440 our our cars are certainly one of our most underutilized 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.960 but also most expensive assets. And that's even more true. 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.160 Because of the coronavirus. You know, many folks have found 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.560 a new normal working from home, and that could continue 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.720 for years to come, making it even more likely that 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:33.880 you can ditch a car. So, you know, we're gonna 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:37.160 challenge ourselves to think creatively and not just assume that 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.000 we need our our very own personal vehicle just because 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.040 it's a societal norm. Especially if we have big financial 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.839 goals that almost ten thousand dollars every single year, that 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.559 would be much better off in our savings, uh and 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.679 investment accounts. I just said personal vehicle. It actually kind 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.520 of made me think of personal pain pizzas also not 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.200 a lot of value there, you know, like you want 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.480 to get the big pizza. We're you're all sharing it together. 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:00.600 But I understand why they're appealing. I like a good 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:02.719 personal paying pizza. I don't order them anymore, but they're 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.000 too expensive. That's the problem if if everybody gets their 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:10.000 own personal paying pizza. Remember we're arguing against vehicle to uh. 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.480 So we're gonna discuss more about the reasons that you 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.280 should consider cutting a car friend your life, and then 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.200 how to accomplish it without too much difficulty. We're gonna 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:29.839 get to all that right after the break. All right, Matt, 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:31.640 we're back from the break. We're talking about how to 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.160 ditch your car and save money and other things too. 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:35.920 Write there. There are a lot of benefits, we think 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.360 to eliminating a car from your daily life, and of 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.400 course our biggest concern is money, right, the upkeep costs, 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.880 the insurance cost the depreciation costs. You mentioned a statues 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:48.360 a second ago. The average car costs almost eight hundred 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.319 dollars a month when you factor in all those costs. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.840 So much money did It's so much money sunk into 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.320 something that is idle. Most of the time. You likely 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.440 won't realize the full amount of that savings if you 0:10:57.440 --> 0:10:59.640 do ditch your car, because you'll still need insurance on 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.280 the one car you do have, and you might have 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.720 other increased commuting costs. But you'll definitely see big money 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:07.200 back in your life every year. Right, We're paying for 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.160 these cars. Even if your car is paid off, it 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:12.280 is depreciating, and you're paying for insurance and taxes every 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.520 single year. So the financial impact of acting that car 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:17.960 is the biggest check mark we would say in favor 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.720 of making that decision to downsize your vehicle fleet. Yeah, 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.640 j will certainly the financial implications, you know, the money saved, 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:25.800 that's gonna be the top benefits. This is how the 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.439 money after all, But there are lots of other benefits 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.439 when it comes to, you know, reducing the number of 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.120 vehicles in your life, and one of those is the 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.280 health reasons. Right, If we can remove a car from 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.520 our lives, that's gonna likely mean that we're gonna be 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.000 walking more, that we're gonna be biking more. And you know, 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.680 like both of those things counts as exercise, which we 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.200 need in order to stay healthy. Sitting in a in 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.640 a car commuting is rough on our bodies. So the 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.719 more changes that we can make in our life to 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.360 decrease the time spending a car, it's gonna pay off 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.120 in us feeling better and being healthier. You might even 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:58.080 be able to drop that gym membership to you know 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.160 that you're gonna realize even more saving uh. And then 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.640 you know, don't forget about the increase in your mental 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.679 health as well. For a lot of Americans, their car 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.560 community is probably the most stressful part of their day 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:12.240 unless they're listening to how to money, in which case 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.080 it's just pure bliss. It makes it commune a little 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.880 bit better. I love podcasts, and now everybody wants to 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.000 clean their toilet when they get home. I'm sure they're inspired. Right, 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.920 maybe so, But Matt, let's talk a little more about 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.000 the happiness and driving a car and how that commune 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.079 affects us. And we actually talked way back in the 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:30.679 episode twenty about how commutes are killing us. And there 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.079 was a lot of evidence that came up against long 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.040 commutes because they are really really bad for for us 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.319 as individuals. Right, And there was this book called Happy 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.000 City by Charles Montgomery, and he writes that a person 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.640 with a one hour commute has to earn forty more 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.000 money to be as satisfied with life as someone who 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.280 walks to their office. On the other hand, for a 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.680 single person, exchanging a long commute for a short walk 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.640 to work has the same effect on happiness as finding 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.640 a new love. I was like, it's pretty cool, astounded 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.760 when I read that that that commute. It's that it's 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.640 that big of a deal that it influences your happiness 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:03.440 level to that amount. You just have to make a 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.559 much much bigger salary to make it mute feel like 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:07.760 it's worth it. And if you're single, finding a new love, 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.240 like that's like one of the greatest things that could 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.800 happen to you, right, And eliminating your commute and being 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:13.679 able to walk or bike ride or something like that 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.200 to the place where you're gonna go five days a week. 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.640 It's amazing that I can have that much of an impact. 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.360 But I believe it does. Like I think, the less 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.680 we commute, the happier we are going to be. And 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.600 it's not just this minor increase in happiness, it's it's 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.800 a pretty overwhelming amount of happiness that gets added into 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.240 our lives. Yeah, it's so good man. Hopefully we're starting 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.600 to convince some folks out there who are considering dropping 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.800 a car. Another benefit, you know, Joel, is something that sucks. 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.560 Oil changes, car repairs, check engine lights, all those things. Uh. 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.480 Life is simpler when you have one less car to 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:44.240 think about keeping clean, uh and in good working order. 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.000 I couldn't imagine if I had two vehicles that I 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.400 had to deal with an ant infestation in because of 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.360 all the crumbs left there from eating in the car. Yeah, 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.040 I've got two cars, right, And so actually, this episode 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.360 I think is partially to help me convince myself to 0:13:57.559 --> 0:13:59.040 ditch your car. But I will say one of the 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.800 cars is an electric vehicle, and those are much simpler vehicles, 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:03.600 and so there's a lot less to worry about when 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.840 it comes to maintenance and stuff like that. So that 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.520 does help. But but even still, I'm feeling the poll 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:10.480 I'm feeling the I'm feeling the need to ditch one 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.000 of those cars in favor of a simpler life. Yeah, 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.080 you know, so, like whether you do the work yourself 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:16.600 or if you just have to take it somewhere to 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.800 get worked on by a mechanic car issues like regardless 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:21.640 if you have a gasoline vehicle, if you have an 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.280 e V. These car shoes, they cost headaches and inconveniences 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:27.760 in our lives in addition to the money that we 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:29.880 have to fork over to fix them. You know, back 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.600 in episode to fifteen, we talked about simplicity when it 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.720 comes to our finances, and we know, we talked about 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.280 how we gain so much more focus and clarity of 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.440 mind when things are simpler. And so we believe that 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.400 if if you have one less car in your fleet 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:45.960 to worry about, that you're going to be able to 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.280 to have increased clarity. Uh In life is gonna be 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:52.080 a lot better just because of the simplification involved there. Yeah, 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:53.520 you know one other thing that will make your life 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.240 better if you have fewer cars, you can have a 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.800 nicer car. I feel like, right, you can have one 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.880 nicer car than the two cars you currently owned. Yeah. Possibly. Yeah, 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.640 we're still not in favor of spending bookoo dollars on 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.560 a vehicle because its appreciation costs in particular. But Matt, 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:09.520 we're still a two car family and the two cars 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.440 that we own are pretty cheap vehicles. But you guys chose, 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:14.680 obviously not to break the bank, but you did choose 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:16.720 because you are a one car family, to have one 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.960 vehicle that's a little bit newer with a few miles 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:20.680 and that's just gonna be a reliable car for you 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:22.960 guys for years to come. Yeah, Like we almost thought 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:24.800 as a sort of like a reward. You know, it's like, 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:26.440 all right, you know what, we only have one car, 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.400 and so there are some slight difficulties and we'll kind 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:30.800 of get to some of those hurdles that you have 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:33.400 to overcome when you do have one vehicle later on 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.680 in the show. But almost as a reward for that though, 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.040 it's just like, you know what, we can spend a 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.720 little bit more and get a slightly nicer vehicle. We've 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.440 been a one car family now for for over twelve years, 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:44.520 and for the most part, you know, we've driven like 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.360 very old vehicles, typically around like ten years old. But 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.120 when we finally decided to upgrade to a van, you know, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.040 we decided that we wanted to spend a little bit 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.200 more on something newer, and so the van we got 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.240 was about five years old. Because of that, you know, 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.400 we saved a ton. It had already depreciated about but 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.840 it was still by far the most expensive vehicle that 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.480 we've ever purchased. We probably, we know, would have gone 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.040 a little bit cheaper, maybe a little bit less fancy 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.720 if we did have two cars sitting in the driveway. 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.800 And so that's maybe just another sort of side benefits 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.680 of having one vehicle versus having to, yeah, get a 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.680 slightly nice for one, Matt. And another big bonus of 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.640 ditching a car and going down either from two to 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:23.400 one or one to zero is that it's going to 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:25.920 have major benefits for the environment as a whole. Cars 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.000 and vehicles are actually responsible for about one third of 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.480 our current pollution levels, right, And we've actually seen since 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.400 COVID started a lot of major cities, the guys are 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.680 clearing up above those cities because there is so much 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.400 less traffic, fewer cars on the road, right, I've seen 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:43.360 those photos pretty remarkable. It is in just a small 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.720 amount of time. So if you are in favor of 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.280 like a greener future with less smog for all of us, 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.040 then taking a car off the road has this meaningful 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.920 impact on the environment around us, right, Yeah, and not 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.000 just emissions as well, but the manufacture of vehicles. If 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.240 you have one less vehicle, that's one less car that 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.360 needs to be manufac acture that gets used and put 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.960 on the road, that then ends up in a landfill somewhere. Yeah, 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.159 completely all right, So I think Matt, we've given some 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.840 solid reasons for people to consider getting rid of a car. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:11.359 It's not necessarily going to be easy, though, right, So 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.440 let's take a break, and after the break we'll talk 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.919 about the hardships of owning only one car. You in 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.880 particular can give some horror stories maybe, and then how 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.119 to actually make the one less car thing, uh in 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.560 actual reality in your life? How do you overcome those hurdles. 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:35.840 We'll get to that right after this. All right, Gel, 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.200 we're back from the break. We're talking about dropping a vehicle, right, 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.840 removing a car from your life. And right before the break, 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.359 you kind of hinted maybe at horror stories, do you 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.080