I could say the same about people who act like riding a train or bus is akin to being in the Spanish Exposition. Like I said to each their own. If I had owned a car all my adult life I would now have zero savings or investments simply accounting for the average cost of car ownership versus my average earnings.What's the point of discussing anything with someone unwilling or unable to see past their own nose?
Gas prices
- Thread starter Candleometry
- Start date
If I wasn't into cars, I'd have bought a Toyota Corolla 30 years ago.
Paid for scheduled maintenance only. Enjoyed its fantastic reputation for reliability.
Gotten basic insurance after the first 10 years.
And, still have enough money to enjoy nice savings. Along with investments.
Buy once, cry once. Instead, in two years my sports sedan will be 20 years old.
I'll trade her in for one of two sporty models that I've already selected.
Of course there are ways to own a car for far less than the "average" cost of about $12K annually per the AAA. Do as much of your own maintenance as possible, get known reliable models, drive gently, etc. If you do that then insurance is the biggest expense by far, especially in NYC.
Keep in mind owning my own business meant some years where I had 4-digit income. And a handful with 6 digits. On average I probably earned less than you.
Speaking of maintenance/repairs my brother is in the process of replacing the transmission on his 1966 Toronado. The car is front wheel drive. You might enjoy these:
^Bless your heart
Sweet pics. Thank you.
Hate to say it, but sometimes a steady hourly job does ironically pay more than owning your own business.
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Fumes and outgassing on car interiors? Do you have any idea what goes into mass transit vehicles, especially in terms of flame-retardant chemicals? For that matter, the rubber flooring used in most US mass transit vehicles stinks to high heaven.
That's one of a couple hundred reasons why I don't live in NYC. Taxes alone ensured I never "worked" in NYC even when I was.
The Black Cars they had for us were quite efficient. I took the subway from time to time. But stopped going to NYC entirely after 2015.
Plenty of people making $15/hr afford cars here. The vast majority of them, actually. Reminder: There's no income tax here. That's 7-15% tax savings over what NY State+NYC squander from your paycheck there, not to mentioned the inflated prices of NYC. You can get waterfront condos here for $200k. Non-waterfront for $110k (asking).
Study or working on the subway? Doubtful. Amtrak? Definitely possible, and yes, in many cases would be a better work zone than in a car.
A 2 hour car trip is hardly a waste of time. I even typed out a 30 page term paper on a 2.5 hr drive, on a Blackberry, touch-typing the entre time. Highest grade in the class, graduate level microbiology class FWIW. And that's old-school tech there. With my current cars, I'm usually working the whole time. Everything from airline reorganisations to corporate mergers to law enforcement raids have been orchestrated in my car while driving. If anything, all of those things I just mentioned there could not have been done in public transit due to confidentiality and security requirements.
There's the crux of your argument. You don't travel, so you have no need for a vehicle.
For some of us, travel isn't a luxury or an escape — it's simply life. I've been on-call 24/7 since I was 14, and since 16, my car has never left the driveway without a fully packed suitcase in the trunk, alongside my mobile office bag and emergency bag. I'm more at home in a Marriott than in my own house, and I have more friends — and more memberships — in cities I don't live in than in the one I do. It's also why I do General Aviation, to be able to get places rapidly, with an unpredictable schedule.
A few years back I walked into the office on a Wednesday after having just gotten back from the West coast that night/morning. "What are you doing this weekend?" "I'm not sure, unpacking, getting reorganised, etcetera." "Well, in that case, head home and get all of that crap done. You're going to Alaska on Saturday." No warning this was coming down the pipeline. No idea of duration either. It could have been 12 hours, or 12 months, I wouldn't know until I was on-site for a week at the client's headquarters. Even that week was crazy, traveling around Alaska and back-and-forth to Seattle. I truly had no idea where I'd be sleeping each night for the first two weeks of the engagement.
I had an old magazine from 1965 that ran a page with insider information about upcoming cars. It mentioned a note from GM's test drivers about the Toronado that the headlights wouldn't close until they dropped speed below 120 MPH. I assume that's if they opened them above that speed, not that driving so fast would pry them open.
I'll ask my brother but I think that's exactly the case. As an aside he said once he had the Toronado up to 137 mph and it was still pulling. Probably could have gotten into the 140s but the conditions weren't right for that kind of speed.
The trains are mostly stainless steel and fiberglass inside. All I know is any car less than about 20 years makes me ill faster than the older stuff.
Net combined NYC/NYS tax rates accounting for everything are under 10% on an average salary. Federal is the largest bite by far. I'm sorry but I don't get it when people are obsessed with state/local taxes. Federal income tax averages 15% or more. Then add in the 15.3% FICA tax. The latter is bad because it's regressive. You pay it on the first dollar you earn.
I don't look at prices so much as what you get for that money. I'll grant real estate prices in NYC are ridiculous but this isn't because of anything inherent in the city. They were reasonable when my parents married in 1961. Decades of private equity firms, flippers, and so forth have caused prices to skyrocket in much of the country. Most real estate which is as cheap as you mention isn't centrally located. You need a car. That's a big expense.
I don't see how anyone can afford a car on $15 an hour. That's about $26K net pay after taxes, even in Florida. Average cost of car ownership is about $12K annually per the AAA. So something like 45% of your net pay just for a car? That's crazy. As I said I couldn't afford a car even making $100K. I only had about $30K left after everything. About $20K for taxes, mostly FICA tax, and I put about $50K into retirement accounts.
I studied on the subway all through high school. So did many of my classmates.
Amtrak is way better than a car in terms of speed and comfort.
I hope this was as a passenger, not a driver. Do you know how dangerous distracted driving is?
Same thing. Even being on the phone is enough to seriously impair reaction time and judgement. If you don't value the lives of others at least think of your own. There's a reason why cell phone use while driving is illegal in many places. IMO they should jam the transmitters on public roads, with designated pull over spots if you really need to make a call.
I may start traveling eventually but I still won't need a vehicle. Any place you need a car to reach is likely a place I'm not all that interested in going to. Even in the US Amtrak goes to most places worth going to. In Europe and Asia trains go practically everywhere. At one time in the US a network of railroads, interurbans, trolleys, and subways served everywhere from cities to very rural places. It's a shame we dismantled much of this great system instead of modernizing it. We might have avoided most of the 40K to 50K road deaths we have in the US.
I could never live this kind of life. I went on business trips a few times for work. Hated every minute of it. I like sleeping in my own bed at night.
No argument there. For me the point of having my own business isn't to make more. Rather it's to make more per hour. I earn over $200 per hour before taxes on my latest project. That wasn't always the case but even when I first started I went from earning $10 an hour working for others to at least $25 an hour working for myself. I value the extra free time higher hourly earnings make possible. I can make more in one day than my brother or sister make working all week.
Two weeks on.... No increase in prices. Still $4.65 per gallon for Reg., if you pay in cash.
$5.751 for plus.
My brother's answer is that they won't even close at speeds above about 70 mph, although high speeds won't pry them open if they're closed. He discovered this not long after he bought the car.
Dripping by the drop, $6 average still.
Altho' still lower by about 1-3% depending location. Yes this is local and not state or otherwise.
Good thing Love is my motivation.
Altho' still lower by about 1-3% depending location. Yes this is local and not state or otherwise.
Good thing Love is my motivation.
It dropped! I paid $4.59, yesterday.
$5.48 to $6.03 in our Zip Code. Tacoma's average is $5.57.
Came down today. $5.029 for plus.
Local average = $5.48 for premium.
