Why I'm Going to Buy a Car after Nine Years Without One
I haven't had a car since 2008. My car broke down, and I had lost my job a few weeks before, right at the height of the recession. I didn't have money to fix it, and it was getting very old, so I sold it. I had a neighbor who needed someone to help her with her driving due to bad eyesight and we shopped together, plus she loaned me her car to run here and there around town. Besides that, shopping was about a mile away, and so was the library, WalMart was 1.5 miles down the road, so I really wasn't much inconvenienced.
Transportation is a Pain Without a Car
I moved to this city because it has a better public transportation service, which I'm finding isn't so great in the summer when I really need it. Since the university pays for most of the bus line's budget, in the summer, buses run half schedules, which makes some buses I have to use only come once an hour. It's bad enough that I have to go everywhere extremely early in the morning in the summer, due to the heat affecting my lupus so badly, but having to schedule doctor's appointments around buses that run so seldom is difficult.
My lupus is getting worse, and where I once loved the heat, now I hate it. I feel almost trapped indoors in the summer, because the heat affects me so badly. My life outside of my air-conditioned apartment only exists before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m., and as I hardly ever go out at night, I'm pretty much trapped indoors without a car for five months of the year.
Plus, I quickly discovered after moving here that the things I wanted to participate in were out of the reach of many buses, and also held in areas where the buses run only once an hour, so I had to drop out of some of those activities. Basically, most of the things I moved here for I'm not able to do due to lack of transportation, so my life here is pretty empty, but that's another story.
Like I said, I don't travel at night, for two reasons. First, many buses don't run past 7 p.m. and as an older woman alone, I don't feel safe walking the streets after dark. I can go out a bit when the days are longer, but not in the winter.
Shopping is Restricted Without a Car
I'd love to go shopping at WalMart in the middle of the night to avoid the crowds, but that just isn't possible. Speaking of shopping at WalMart, it's the only place I can grocery shop in the summer for several reasons, the main one being I can shop there very early in the morning. However, having to go so early in the morning in the summer (around 7 a.m.) means I get there before the produce section (where I do most of my shopping) is stocked, which is disconcerting.
My favorite place to grocery shop is Aldi, and that is nearly impossible to do in the summer, because of how the buses run, and also that it doesn't open until 9 a.m. Otherwise, I could walk there and catch the bus home, but not at that hour because by 10 a.m., it's already getting too hot for me. I do have a friend who will take me, but I have to pay him, so I do it rarely, since I have such a tight budget.
Having a Car Will Greatly Expand My Life
When I moved here, I had planned to join ZipCar, but their rates have gone up so much, it really isn't worth it. Plus, the lots are all on campus, so I'd have to take a bus to and from the lot. It's actually cheaper to rent a U-Haul van from the place less than a mile down the road, but again, I'd have to walk back in the heat in the summer.
I simply can't afford Uber every time I need to go somewhere.
So I'm saving for a car - a minivan, actually. I know I won't be able to afford a newer one, but I'm planning on turning it into a camper van and also using it for hauling things I now can't get, like large bags of potting soil or multiple bags of mulch for the garden. I also have to order anything large online unless I can cajole someone into carrying me to the store to pick it up. Not having a lot of friends, it's difficult to manage like that.
With a van, I'll also be able to take advantage of curb shopping and will be able to restart my trash-to-treasure side hustle, which I loved doing before. I also got a lot of great things for my house and garden when I had a vehicle and could pick up treasures. When I did that before, I used the funds to save for car repairs and insurance, and it more than paid for itself. It's the only way now that I can justify buying a van.
It has taken me a long time to come to this decision, and I'm going to have to work very hard for a few months to accomplish it, but it's the next logical move to maximize my life.
Transportation is a Pain Without a Car
I moved to this city because it has a better public transportation service, which I'm finding isn't so great in the summer when I really need it. Since the university pays for most of the bus line's budget, in the summer, buses run half schedules, which makes some buses I have to use only come once an hour. It's bad enough that I have to go everywhere extremely early in the morning in the summer, due to the heat affecting my lupus so badly, but having to schedule doctor's appointments around buses that run so seldom is difficult.
My lupus is getting worse, and where I once loved the heat, now I hate it. I feel almost trapped indoors in the summer, because the heat affects me so badly. My life outside of my air-conditioned apartment only exists before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m., and as I hardly ever go out at night, I'm pretty much trapped indoors without a car for five months of the year.
Plus, I quickly discovered after moving here that the things I wanted to participate in were out of the reach of many buses, and also held in areas where the buses run only once an hour, so I had to drop out of some of those activities. Basically, most of the things I moved here for I'm not able to do due to lack of transportation, so my life here is pretty empty, but that's another story.
Like I said, I don't travel at night, for two reasons. First, many buses don't run past 7 p.m. and as an older woman alone, I don't feel safe walking the streets after dark. I can go out a bit when the days are longer, but not in the winter.
Shopping is Restricted Without a Car
I'd love to go shopping at WalMart in the middle of the night to avoid the crowds, but that just isn't possible. Speaking of shopping at WalMart, it's the only place I can grocery shop in the summer for several reasons, the main one being I can shop there very early in the morning. However, having to go so early in the morning in the summer (around 7 a.m.) means I get there before the produce section (where I do most of my shopping) is stocked, which is disconcerting.
My favorite place to grocery shop is Aldi, and that is nearly impossible to do in the summer, because of how the buses run, and also that it doesn't open until 9 a.m. Otherwise, I could walk there and catch the bus home, but not at that hour because by 10 a.m., it's already getting too hot for me. I do have a friend who will take me, but I have to pay him, so I do it rarely, since I have such a tight budget.
Having a Car Will Greatly Expand My Life
When I moved here, I had planned to join ZipCar, but their rates have gone up so much, it really isn't worth it. Plus, the lots are all on campus, so I'd have to take a bus to and from the lot. It's actually cheaper to rent a U-Haul van from the place less than a mile down the road, but again, I'd have to walk back in the heat in the summer.
I simply can't afford Uber every time I need to go somewhere.
With a van, I'll also be able to take advantage of curb shopping and will be able to restart my trash-to-treasure side hustle, which I loved doing before. I also got a lot of great things for my house and garden when I had a vehicle and could pick up treasures. When I did that before, I used the funds to save for car repairs and insurance, and it more than paid for itself. It's the only way now that I can justify buying a van.
It has taken me a long time to come to this decision, and I'm going to have to work very hard for a few months to accomplish it, but it's the next logical move to maximize my life.
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