You know, I didn't think to include those numbers. Thanks for the suggestion.
After writing yesterday about how I've saved a little over $16,000 in gas costs by being able to walk to work for the past twenty years I received several notes from people, either telling me how lucky I was or asking that I share some of the windfall with her (hi, daily blog reader Carly of Marquette!). But I also received a note from someone else who pointed this out--
“Along with the money you've saved on gas, maybe you should have also included all the other costs that go along with owning a vehicle, such as insurance and maintenance. That way you'd have a true idea of just how much you've not shelled out”.
That's a good point, and I might even take it a little farther. Aside from insurance and maintenance costs, I also haven't had to buy a car in those two decades. So let's do a little more math here, and remember that until 2010 or so I DID own a car, even if I didn't use it. Starting with that assumption, here's what I came up with--
I actually pay half of the insurance and any needed maintenance on Loraine's car. But since SHE also walks to work every day and doesn't drive, that amounts to an oil change a year, as far as maintenance goes. So...let's just take a wild guess and say I've saved $100 a year over 20 years. That's another $2,000 saved.
Insurance? Like I said, I pay half of hers, so over the time span I haven't had a car (2010 or so) let's say that works out to another $4,000 I haven't had to shell out.
Finally, there's the big ticket item. Not having a car means I don't have to replace a vehicle when it wears out. I have no idea how many cars I would have had to buy, but for the sake of argument let's say that I would be on my second car after getting rid of my last one in 2010. That's just an arbitrary call; you might be on your third or even fourth in that time span.
So...two vehicles that would (and I'm just spit balling here, based on the kind of (small) car I would have purchased) have cost around 14 or 15 grand each. Let's split the difference and say $29,000 right there.
Now, this will be dangerous, because I'm doing math. So you may want to step away from your computer, phone, or tablet, lest it go up in flames. But take the $16,000 in gas, the $2,000 in maintenance, the $4,000 in insurance, and the $29,000 in new cars, add it all together, and that means that's I've not spent...
$51,000 in twenty years. Now THAT number's even more impressive that the one I came up with yesterday. In fact, it's a bit stunning when you stop & think about it, especially considering that I'm very low-end and low-key as far as cars go. I can just imagine what that number would be if I wasn't and went for all kinds of gizmos and stuff.
But $51,000 is nothing to sneeze at. So to whoever sent me the (unsigned) note about totaling EVERYTHING up, thanks. Now I know. And now I have to go figure out what to do with that extra fifty grand.
8-)
No comments:
Post a Comment