| One thing that drastically simplified my life and removed an incredible amount of stress was getting rid of my car. Since graduating college in 2010, I have moved apartments ~13 times and lived in 4 different cities (Baltimore, D.C., Denver, Breckenridge, and ~NYC). Initially, I needed a car to drive to work, but then I got a new job which allowed me to walk to work. I still kept my car because it was already paid off, but it was an incredible source of stress for a bunch of reasons: - What day of the week is it? Do I need to move the car for street cleaning today? (If I get this wrong, I get a parking ticket). - Did I remember to lock the car and put all of the windows up? (I once thought that all of the windows were up not realizing that one of the back windows was open a few inches and my car was broken into). - What do I have to do to register my car in this new city? How much will it cost and when can I take an entire day off work to go do it? Can I even complete all of the required steps in one day? - The car is making a strange sound. I better get it to a mechanic. How do I find a good mechanic? How much will it cost to get it fixed? That feels like a really high price, should I get a second opinion? Where do I find a second mechanic? When am I able to take off work to bring the car to the mechanic? - I have to fly out of town for work/pleasure. Where do I park my car while I'm gone. Parking at the airport is really expensive, but maybe the best option? Can I leave it parked on the street? What are the parking rules for my neighborhood? - Car insurance. Am I getting a good deal? Do I have to do anything when I move addresses and/or states? Am I covered if a friend borrows my car? etc, etc - Costs associated with gas, insurance, maintenance, loan... I had a huge amount of anxiety from constantly worrying about the cost associated with owning a car and the required time to maintain it. Eventually, my car got old enough that I couldn't justify putting more money into it and I sold it for a nominal amount to CarMax. I should have done it sooner. It was an interesting transition to not owning a car, but was overall incredibly liberating. I had removed an entire source of stress from my life and haven't looked back since. I don't plan to buy another car anytime soon. To get around now, I rely much more heavily on public transportation, biking, walking, and Lyft/Uber, Car2Go, non-profit carshare programs, etc. I also don't hesitate to rent a car from Enterprise/etc if I need one for an errand, vacation, etc. Being able to give the car back when I'm done with it and literally not having to worry about anything is quite amazing. Disclaimer: I realize that some people need a car to get to work or for other important reasons. I'm not saying that owning a car is bad or encouraging anyone else to go sell their car to CarMax tonight. I'm just sharing my story about removing a source of stress that I had in my personal life. |