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Electric bikes are a close in commuters dream. Lots of naysayers on here, again looking at their own lives and how previous choices have prevented them from realizing the savings in both money and time a much simpler lifestyle would offer.
My point is there can be an alternative life for you long term if you buck the trend and think out of the box. One with a lot less hassle and headache. It might involve some planning and long term investment.
I love the convenience of Lyft and do use it to avoid paying for extended parking or areas with limited or undesirable parking.
I also live on an area where I have never had to wait more than ten minutes for a ride, it's often been more like five.
Would not give up the convience of an SUV good luck finding a Lyft driver who wants to load their car with bags of mulch or drive you and your vomiting Siberian Husky to the vets office.
Young single urbanites who never really stray far from home may be able to make dependency on ride sharing work but for anyone else it's going to be costly and somewhat limiting.
Electric bikes are a close in commuters dream. Lots of naysayers on here, again looking at their own lives and how previous choices have prevented them from realizing the savings in both money and time a much simpler lifestyle would offer.
My point is there can be an alternative life for you long term if you buck the trend and think out of the box. One with a lot less hassle and headache. It might involve some planning and long term investment.
Yea, that electric bike will be great for the commute, to get some household goods (just got a bunch of paver bricks from Home Depot), and to bring the family out. Not seeing the savings as I still will have the car, I guess save some gas, but still have the cost of of the bike.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoHoVe
I love the convenience of Lyft and do use it to avoid paying for extended parking or areas with limited or undesirable parking.
I also live on an area where I have never had to wait more than ten minutes for a ride, it's often been more like five.
Would not give up the convience of an SUV good luck finding a Lyft driver who wants to load their car with bags of mulch or drive you and your vomiting Siberian Husky to the vets office.
Young single urbanites who never really stray far from home may be able to make dependency on ride sharing work but for anyone else it's going to be costly and somewhat limiting.
Lyft is great when needing a taxi, would never depend on it as my only source of transportation unless need to. I learned from experience living in DC all those car-free people love to use the person with the car for things like grocery shopping, shopping in general, the "hey, next time going to Shenandoah, I want to come!" because they have no means to get there unless they rent a car, the always bring their pet to the vet because hardly any Lyft/Uber will allow it, etc.
I find those that are car-free have a very limited lifestyle and area of living, they stay very close to home...works for some, but not for me, hell, I just did a 116 mile round trip just to eat at a specific restaurant today.
Wheelsup, I would have loved living close to my work, but doing so would have at least doubled my housing costs. It was a technical job, not easily replaced that I really liked, I made a 33 year career out of it, but had to commute 22 miles per day round trip. And again, an electric bike in Chicago would have been good for maybe 6 months a year, and that's if I didn't get killed on the congested streets between home and work. Plus, since I worked long hours, I took the dogs to day care for several years, not doable on a bike. The money I made easily paid for the cost of a car (much less than the $0.50 per mile you quoted, probably closer to $0.30 - for example, I put 90,000 miles on one car that got 25 mpg that I paid $5000 for and very little in repairs). Shunning the convenience, time savings, and freedom of an automobile would have been the dumbest move I ever made. Now that I'm retired, I drive a lot less (maybe 6000 miles per year, unless I go on a long trip), and again, have no intention of moving into the city where I wouldn't need a car. In fact, my plan is to move as far away from Chicago as I can, it's a friggin' cesspool as far as I'm concerned. Masochism for the sake of frugality may be your thing; I chose comfort and convenience at a reasonable cost.
"Cars cost a fortune in maintenance and insurance and just the amortization, which means as they go down in value, you're losing money," O'Leary explains. "Let's say I pay $25,000 for it. Two years later, it might be worth only 12 [thousand dollars]."
That why buying a used car, that's been inspected, a better value. The value has dropped enough to make it possible to buy for cash and usually has a warranty still in effect (Hoping it's transferable)
"Cars cost a fortune in maintenance and insurance and just the amortization, which means as they go down in value, you're losing money," O'Leary explains. "Let's say I pay $25,000 for it. Two years later, it might be worth only 12 [thousand dollars]."
That why buying a used car, that's been inspected, a better value. The value has dropped enough to make it possible to buy for cash and usually has a warranty still in effect (Hoping it's transferable)
Not news to most savvy buyers. The greatest cost of a car is in its first year of operation. Choosing a near-mint lease return vehicle with 30k miles and two years of new rubbed off can save more than 50% in the long run, and with very little downside. Careful third-party purchase can save even more.
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