You don’t owe a shit ton of money

You don’t have to find somewhere to leave it

You don’t have to remove the fucking snow and ice off of it

You don’t have to move it when the snow plows come

You don’t owe a shit ton of money.

To brag about it…

I’ve got wrid of my car 3 years ago. The benefits I’ve encountered.

1. I save about 500 euros a month (this is a conservative calculation)
2. Commuting has become something I can’t control so I’ve let go.
3. I ride my bicycle a lot more. It has made me healthier and I’ve lost about 15 kgs
4. No more searching for parking spots, paying for parking fines,…
5. The mental load of owning a car is gone. No maintenance, no insurance, no low emission zones.
6. I’ve become more aware about the room cars take up in our streets and our society.

On the occasions we need a car I rent one or use a car sharing service.

For me, the biggest benefit is the mental load I no longer have. I used to have to think about maintenance, MOT schedule, road tax scheduling, insurance scheduling, renewing my parking certificate, how much I drink, where I’m going to park, did I run out of time on the parking meter, is there traffic on my route, where are the road works…

The mental energy I’d waste just to deal with a car was massive. There’s still mental energy with public transit, like what is the schedule and which bus do I need to be on to make it in time, and what do I do if a stop isn’t near my destination, but it’s a lot less mental load than having a car.

Less stressful. I never have to worry about accidentally killing anyone, except for that time I bought worcestershire sauce because I didn’t know it had anchovies