Money Hacks #8 - Walk Instead of Driving

Let's face it, cars are really expensive, to buy and maintain so why do we need one? Walking instead of driving has a massive up side and you never know, you might be able to ditch your dependency on a car forever if you just start walking today.

This is a series of Money Hacks to help you to make extra money by creating habits in your life. Previously I'd touch on a few of these Money Hacks but wanted to go more in-depth and didn't want to produce a 10,000-word monster article for you to read.

This series will only be completed when I run out of ideas to share so make sure you bookmark this site.

Walk Instead of Driving

The Reality of Owning a Car

As you tighten your spending habits you'll begin to wonder why you even have a car. Sure they are super convenient but they usually just hang around in your garage until required.

It might surprise you to know that most cars are driven less that 2 hours a day, and the rest of the time they sit idle waiting to be summoned again. However, one thing they continue to do 24/7, is depreciate, which is why they are one of the worst investments you'll ever make.

And you know the moment you drive a new car off the lot, you've already lost thousands on it's market value, right?

So why do we continue to own cars when the alternatives are so much more appealing.

Now Everyone can Afford a Driver

It wasn't that long ago, being chauffeur driven, was a sign of success and power. But in reality these businessmen and women knew the value of time and would often make more money in the back of the car than the cost of the driver driving it.

Now with the age of Uber, Lyft and ride share companies, you too can feel like you're successful and have someone else take the stress of driving from you, and I'll argue it's actually cheaper to Uber than own a car.

Let's say you you purchase a new car for $30K on finance with 10% interest and you only ever paid the interest back.

$30000 @ 10% = $3000 interest p/a

Now add your running costs per year.

Fuel - $1000

Registration and Insurance - $1500

Maintenance - $500

So this car would actually cost you around $6000 per year and you haven't even paid off any of the loan principle which after 10 year would really bite you hard, if you needed a new one. (but that's a money hack for another day)

Anyway, with that $6000 per year, you'd be able to take 300 x $20 Uber trips

Yes, that's almost one trip per day. And of course, it probably doesn't look so appealing if you have a long commute, but if you embrace public transport it's totally achievable.

And if you also start walking more you'll see even more benefits from ditching the car ownership dream.

Walking is great for your Health and your Hip Pocket

Now let's suppose you've decided to go down the Uber route and were prepared to spend $20 per trip, because it totally made sense. Well you can save that $20 if you decide to walk instead.

Walking is one of the easiest forms of exercise you can do, and if you can average 10,000 steps a day, you'll stay fit and maintain your current weight. And best of all it doesn't cost anything to start walking today.

So what if someone gave you $20 to spend at the shops if you only walked there. Well ditch the Uber too and you've just saved $20 per ride.

See where I'm going with this?

By ditching your dependency on a car, and then by supplementing your Uber rides with walking you'll be saving a heap of money that would have normally been spent on the yearly costs of owing a car.

Plus, when you need to drive somewhere you can sit back and relax while someone does the driving for you.

Then every time you walk instead of being driven you'll be saving $20 on an average trip. And you won't need a costly gym membership because you'll already be active enough.

And for longer distances try an electric skateboard or bike and have some real fun!

So do you still own a car? Or do you prefer walking instead of driving when you can?

_{Image: Pixabay}

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