Simply Car-free How to Pedal Toward Financial Freedom and a Healthier Life Text and Photography By Tammy Strobel Read the Blog: RowdyKittens.com
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Dedications for Logan: my life partner, best friend and support system.
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Table of Contents About Simply Car-Free!
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3 Car-Free Principles!
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Our Story!
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Rethinking Necessities & Overcoming Fear!
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Save $8,000 a Year!
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Take Back Your Time!
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3 Bike Buying Tips!
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How to Rent a Bike in Any City for Free by Everett Bogue!
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Getting Confident on the Road!
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Car-Free Grocery Shopping!
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Living in a Bike Friendly City!
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Biking Toward Better Health!
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Attire: Spandex, Tweed & Smelling Good!
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Maintenance and Upkeep!
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Finding Inexpensive Parts & Labor for Bike Repairs by Logan Smith!54 Protect Your Bike from Theft by Logan Smith!
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Biking in the Winter!
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Planning Your Route!
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Going Car-Lite!
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4 The Road Ahead?!
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FAQs!
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Meet Your Tribe!
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About the Author!
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Acknowledgments!
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About Simply Car-Free
This book will benefit anyone who is interested in trimming back their debt, getting healthy and living a simpler lifestyle. Simply Car-free is full of tips, tools and strategies that will help you live a good life, without having to depend on an automobile.
1. A guide for your journey. This e-book is not a step-by-step guide to living a car-free life. The book is a series of small guides that will help you transition to a car-free lifestyle. Use this book as a catalyst to help you pedal toward freedom.
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2. The Content Dedicated blog readers may notice that I’ve integrated some of my older articles into this book. Not all of the ideas are new, but the material has been updated. In addition, the book contains links to informative articles, books and websites. I’ve embedded links throughout the e-book, so if you’re reading this online, be sure to check out the additional material. And if you printed out the book, take note of articles you want to read later.
3. Who is this for? This book is geared toward folks who want to reduce their dependence on automobiles and use a bike for their main method of transportation. While this book is geared toward biking, many of the tips discussed can be applied to walkers and folks who use public transportation.
4. Question the Status-Quo This book is based on my life experiences with my partner, Logan. It’s my hope that this guide will inspire you to go car-free or car-lite. Above all, Simply Car-Free is about questioning the status-quo and how we live our lives. In the end, we all have to figure out what it means to live the “good life.” I hope the content in this book will help you discover what’s best for you and your family.
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3 Car-Free Principles This book covers three broad principles: financial freedom, living lightly and improving your health.
Freedom. Lately, I’ve noticed that many friends and family members have given up on their dreams. I keep asking myself: Why? The news is full of bad stories and if we listened to every story about unemployment, climate change and the great recession, you would think civilization as we know it is on the verge of collapse. I can’t predict the future, but I do know many of my friends and family members are not living in the moment. Some have lost faith in their long-term goals and have given up their dreams. Whether that dream is finishing up a college degree, gaining financial independence, or pursuing an artistic passion, it seems many folks fail to plan and then, by default, plan to fail.
8 Maybe I’m crazy, but I don’t agree with the news. There are opportunities in this economy that many people either don't see or else refuse to grab. Making any type of life change requires sacrifice. Being paralyzed by fear isn’t the answer.
“Don't even consider keeping up with the Joneses. They're broke!" Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover
Are you dreaming of freedom? Do you feel stuck and want to make some type of life change? Maybe you’ve been thinking about leaving your day job and becoming a painter, writer or web designer. Being locked down in debt prevents many people from pursuing these dreams. Selling your car(s) is one way. By pedaling toward financial freedom and good health you can live a better life and pursue your dreams.
I think our consumer culture creates an illusion that we need a lot of stuff (including cars) to be happy. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I saw this illusion for what it was and changed my life direction. For most of my adult life, I thought more stuff would make me happy. If I owned a few cars or a home then everything would be perfect. Buying happiness seemed possible. But, I was wrong. Stuff and extra cars never brought me happiness, only stress. Now that my focus has shifted away from wanting more stuff (like cars), I’m able to focus on creating art, building relationships and making a positive change in the world.
9 Whatever change you want to make, you should know options exist and that following your dreams is possible.
Live Lightly. Living lightly is about saving money and resources and questioning consumer culture. It’s not about creating an austere lifestyle. Consumer culture has been good at sending the people many messages. One message is that we need stuff and cars to be happy. As a result, many people have affluenza.
"We
do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children." ~Antoine de Saint-ExupĂŠry
What the heck is affluenza? affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. (PBS) It is possible to live lightly and simply and wage a battle against affluenza. By choosing to go car-free or car-lite, many individuals will find freedom from stress, debt and create a positive environmental impact. For more information on living lightly and curing affluenza read:
10 • The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life • The Art of Being Minimalist • Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic
Improve Your Health & Reduce Your Risk Imagine what your health would look like if you spent less time in the car? Americans spend about 56 hours a week staring at computer screens, watching television and driving. I’m not trying to demonize anyone, but I think it’s time to start rethinking how we spend our time and what we’re doing to our bodies. In addition, there is a risk to driving that goes beyond bad health. Driving is dangerous. National Public Radio ran an interesting segment in late 2009 about driving and safety. In the segment they talked about aging baby boomers behind the wheel, teens who text, poor road conditions and fatality rates.
"Automobile emissions account for more than 20 percent of U.S. global warming emissions each year." ~ Environmental Defense Fund
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration car crashes are the leading cause of death among young adults and children. Last year over 40,000 Americans were killed in car accidents and 3 million people were injured. The idea that cars are "safe" is a myth. To put this in perspective, cars kill several hundred people per day.
11 The American lifestyle is killing many people, because a lot of folks don’t get enough physical activity. We have extremely high rates of heart disease, diabetes and face an incredible obesity epidemic.
Get out of your car and start living.
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Our Story Five years ago, we lived the “normal middle class” suburban lifestyle. We were newlyweds with flashy rings, living in a twobedroom apartment, driving two cars, commuting long distances to work and living well beyond our means. The idea of living without a car didn’t seem possible. Photo by Russ Roca But with a few sacrifices and planning, we learned lessons that simplified our lives. Going car-free was part of our downsizing process and was one of our first big steps toward a life filled with less stuff and more free time. At this time, we were living in Davis, CA, which is notorious for expensive real estate and a negative vacancy rating (more people than rooms) near the local university. In reflection, we had a life with too much stuff and stress. Initially, we resisted the idea of selling our cars and downsizing because we were more concerned about appearances than our financial well-being. Once we realized the source of our stress was our financial situation, we decided something needed to change.
13 This change began by defining our values and prioritizing our long-term goals. After we moved to Sacramento, we sold our last remaining car. And that changed everything. Why Sacramento? I had been commuting to various jobs for over 7 years. While we lived in Davis, Logan had the luxury of commuting by bike everyday. Needless to say, I was a little jealous. The more we thought about it, the more we realized that owning two cars was silly, especially since Logan biked everywhere in town. Moving closer to my job in Sacramento meant less stress and worry over commuting time. Even if my work days were stressful, I knew my commute home would be easy. Walking or biking home in the fresh air was a great way to unwind. Now, I live in Portland, OR. I work from home and live in an amazing walkable and bikeable city. Life is good because we have been able to save money and work less. It sounds like a clichĂŠ, but without the car we had the time, money and energy to prioritize our health, happiness and life goals. I have learned many valuable lessons from this experience, including:
14 Doing a cost-benefit analysis is powerful. We tallied up our car-related expenses and they came to $600 per month! All of these costs took a major chunk out of our income. Our wealth was hidden in our cars. Selling our cars enabled us to become debt-free and stash a chunk of money away for our tiny house.
Being in debt is a huge burden that grows heavier daily with compound interest. Lightening the load both physically and emotionally is freeing. We lost 2,500 pounds in one day and didn’t even change our diet! By saving money we were able to make compound interest work for us instead of against us.
Life without a car improved our social life. People talk to us about our car-free lifestyle, we carpool, connect with friends more often and have enhanced our resource sharing network.
What was our process? We slowly shed cars over a period of 3 years. This wasn’t easy and it took a lot of time. We started out with 2 cars that we drove daily and now we don’t own a car at all. After we adjusted to car-free living, we asked ourselves, “Why did it take so long?”
15 Downscaling is a process and it doesn’t happen overnight. Overcoming fear is a huge barrier. Fear was something that held us back. The fear of “whatif.” Some of the “what-if” questions we constantly asked ourselves included: • What if family members get sick? • What if the cats get sick? • What if we get sick? • What if we need to evacuate in an emergency? • How will we get our weekly groceries? It’s been over 2 years since we’ve been car-free and the “what-if” worries have not come back to haunt us. Life circumstances vary and as an able-bodied person I realize how privileged I am to live a carfree lifestyle. It’s not an option for everyone, especially those who have disabilities. But if you are able-bodied and have the means to live without a car, take the plunge and try it. When we started on this journey, we said, "Well, if we can't live without a car, we can always buy another one." It’s been two years and we love our car-free lifestyle. The burden of car ownership weighed us down. Living lightly and staying carfree is part of our long-term plan.
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Rethinking Necessities & Overcoming Fear Our simple living journey has taught me that less is more. Having less stuff and no car in my life has helped me establish the priorities of building solid relationships, being debt free and living with less stress. Success is not defined by whether or not you own a car. In fact, I think it’s just the opposite. The intended function of cars is comfort and convenience. However, cars represent an enormous amount of time and money. Because of the work stress I endured to maintain this depreciating investment, I felt inconvenienced by my cars. By selling the cars, I have more time and money. A surprising side effect of selling our cars was becoming debt-free. Fear of questioning the status-quo held us back from asking tough questions. Asking questions about what is normal, necessary or what it means to live “the good life” can provoke a lot of anxiety and fear in all of us. We are taught in classrooms as children and in the
17 workplace as adults to do what we are told and we will be rewarded for our obedience. I think it’s important to acknowledge those feelings and push them back. When I get anxious or fearful, I try and think of a few core principles. The 4 tips below help me push past the emotion I’m struggling with and get unstuck.
Your work is to create art that changes things, to expose your insight and humanity in such a way that you are truly indispensable. ~Seth Godin
1. Being uncomfortable can lead to growth. Every situation I’ve been uncomfortable with has led to growth. Before we sold our cars I didn’t think we could survive without one. It was so easy to hop in the car and go where I wanted. I knew biking everywhere would be a lot more difficult. I was scared of being uncomfortable. I listened to the fear, acknowledged it and made the leap to a car-free lifestyle. I hate being fearful or filled with anxiety, but I continue to push past those feelings and that’s where growth happens. Ask yourself what you’re afraid of and push back. Intuition is powerful. Listening to your inner voice can be a good thing. But most of the time, I think the voice prevents us from reaching our full potential by favoring short-term comforts over long-term benefits.
18 Selling our cars has allowed me to pursue big ideas. For example, I recently started my own small business with the money we have saved by going car-free. In my prior life this project would have been pushed to the side. I had bills to pay and the option of pursuing a career in writing was not an option.
2. Acknowledge your fear. A lot can be said for acknowledging a feeling. Many of us are either comfortably numb or extremely unhappy. We mask our true feelings by consuming alcohol, drugs, watching television or going shopping. It’s so easy to get caught up in the external and not really understand why we’re walking around pissed off or anxious all the time. Acknowledge your fear of being without a car. Start asking yourself hard questions and focus on activities that will help you overcome your angst.
3. Embrace the feeling. By embracing anxiety or fear, you’ll be able to understand it and stop worrying. A feeling is just that: a feeling. They happen in moments and I believe we have a choice to move forward.
4. Push back the fear, then research options. Rather than focusing so much on consuming the next cool thing or trying to predict the future, do
Micro-Action Make a list of your fears and ask yourself why you’re feeling scared or hesitant about going carfree. What is the worst thing that could happen?
19 something. Understand your fear, push it out of your way and use your privilege to do something incredible. You can change the world and make beautiful art. Life is too short to keep dreaming or be scared of failure. Stop worrying about the “what-if” scenarios. The “what-if” line is fear or anxiety talking. Leave the lizard at the door. In the end, I think it comes down to evaluating necessities, questioning your fears and being mindful of what you truly need to be happy. Cars are not a necessity, they create dependence, especially since there are so many transportation alternatives. You can bike, walk, scoot or rent a car for long trips. Remember, cars are a relatively recent addition to the long list of tools folks have used to meet their transportation needs. If you need a car consider sharing one in your community or supporting a service like Zipcar.
Micro-Action Respond to the following questions: •Do you really need a car? •Or can you get by without one? For example, can you do one chore a week by bike, such as grocery shopping for a few items or going to the post office to mail a package.