In Houston, I share a car with my girlfriend since I work from home. But some days I don't feel very independent when I want to run an errand while she's at work.
I'll look up the price of a used Corolla and think about all the additional expenses, and I'm immediately disabused of the idea.
Instead, I decided to book some motorcycle lessons so I can use a $3000 moto. But then I need to pay for life insurance!
Like it's not even close. I pay about the same per mile for it as I do fuel (!!!!). The cost of my shitty cars is a rounding error. Tires are a rounding error. And my driving record is squeaky clean for close to a decade now. I'm sure they're screwing me for being a statistical contradiction (high income, not diverse, lives in zip code and drives cars opposite of that) because insurance generally hates anything that doesn't conform to the fat parts of the bell curve but it's still insane.
The story on the house side of things is similar. You add in health and the sum total of insuring my life is within spitting distance of my mortgage. I could shove the money into bonds and in all but the worst cases come out ahead, pick stocks and the comparison gets even worse.
I have an old jeep that I use for local driving. Bought it for about $5k. I live in Michigan, where insurance premiums are top 5 in the nation. I pay $60/month for insurance. Probably could get it lower with a bit more shopping around.
Total maintenance has been $150 for a set of used tires that will dry-rot before I kill the rest of the tread.
I'll get a $6000 Mazda this weekend and put liability insurance on it. Now I can stop moping around on HN. I'll miss it though.
Don't forget disability insurance. And fill out your organ donation card!
In Houston, I wouldn't even consider a vehicle without A/C!
I guess to pay for your funeral costs if cashing out all your savings and possessions wouldn't cover that?
aka penny-wise pound-foolish
They are a lot of fun though (I rode a liter bike for years)