apparently, my friends either don't use cars or are as suitably ashamed of it as i am, because only biff responded to my last post. i expected at least something snotty from chance. he has failed me.
anyway, i thought i'd bang on a bit more about this subject.
i just visited the link on biff's website called "drive to work, work to drive" and this is what i found:
-if i didn't own any automobiles, every month, i would save $612.69
-if i didn't own a car and began investing my monthly automobile savings at age 25 at 5% interest, i would have $1,048,543.33 by the time i retired (if i retired at age 67). of course, now i'm 26, so it would be slightly less.
-If i didn't own a car and invested my monthly automobile savings for 18 years at 5% interest, i'd have $213,956.07 for my children's college education. According to the College Board, i would be able to send a total of 4.54 children to college 18 years from now using just the money i saved from not owning an automobile. of course, i'm not planning on having more than 3 kids tops, so i'd have a lot left over for other things.
-If i didn't own a car and bought a house using my monthly automobile savings, i could obtain a 114,134.74 home mortgage, assuming a 5% fixed, 30-year loan. This would be enough to cover 72.10% of the purchase price of the median existing home in the US in 2002, according to the NAR. of course, now it would be far less, but everyone knows how much i like owning houses and being a landlord.
one objection i get from idiots for why they won't use public transportation is that they don't like living in the sorts of places (meaning large cities) that have viable public transportation. they need land and lots of it, and God forbid they have neighbors. i suppose it takes a whole acre to house their fat asses.
I found this info on biff's link about average speed over a vehicle's lifetime:
Hugh Smith of San Jose, California, installed a timer on his vehicle that measured the hours the engine was running over an eleven year period (125,000 miles) and found he averaged just 17 mph during all that time (including both long trips and times when he was stopped). In downtown areas, the traffic crawls, and some people do most of their travel in this zone, where average speeds have been stated to be 13 mph.
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3 comments:
I gotta ask....Why the sudden interest?
Here is the calculator she did for the rest of you peeps.
Austin's public transit is TERRIBLE. Your only option are late busses. They work - and you can get around just fine - but they're freakin busses. If you want a look at a great city that has good proportions, public transit, and lower income housing close to the city - check out Portland. It rocks.
I'm reading this book right now called, "The Geography of Nowhere". I should be done with by this weekend...you'd dig it..I'll send it to you. Give Nathan the beats 'till he reads it too.
Biff
hey at that price you could buy a pretty substantial life insurance policy, you should probably look into getting an annuity!!!!
hey biff and jorge,
thanks for commenting. i love to hear from you guys, and it's nice that you comment consistently.
it's not a new interest. i've always hated how we use vehicles but until you and nathan started getting into bikes, i didn't know that it could be a viable option. i didn't have much news to blog about, so i thought i'd start a new rant. i never felt the need to rant to you guys about it, because that would be like the congregation preaching to the preacher. you like that one?
if i sold my cars jorge, i would definitely let you invest all that disposable income for me. unfortunately...
we tried to sell the truck last year. with such low rates, no one was interested. and until i get somewhere that i feel safe enough to bike, or have good transit, i suppose i'll have to keep the friggin car.
sucks to be me...
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