Yesterday, my father dropped me off in the morning at a local food event in Covington (another city in Cincinnati region) where I was volunteering and he and my mother picked me up at 8 pm when I was done. What I found interesting was how much it bothered me. I felt as though I was in junior high again! I got my driver's license as soon as I could at age 16 and while I didn't own a car until I was about 24-25; nonetheless, I've been pretty independent transportation-wise, certainly since college. Having parents drop me off and pick me up made me feel not grown up, and as though I was inconveniencing people, even though my parents indicated they were perfectly willing to do this for me. It's one of the advantages of the auto; owning and using a car makes us "independent." It's part of our training, at least in the US. One of our major rites of passage to adulthood is getting your driver's license. And, it's a big part of American culture- our independence.
But, as I thought about it, I decided that the independence I feel because I own a car and can drive anywhere I wish is a spurious or false independence, or at least, a superficial independence. As an economist I am well aware of how economically interdependent we humans are. Adam Smith, in the first book on economics, The Wealth of Nations, discussed how many people were involved in the production of the shirt worn by the common laborer. Today, virtually every "thing" we purchase has a supply chain and web of production that's huge. Autos, for example, are made with parts from countries all around the world. The gas I buy to put into the car comes from other countries, is shipped in ocean liners owned by people from many countries, ocean liners that were produced in yet other places by yet other people who ate food produced in many places by many people. The simplest of economic transactions, say buying a Barbie doll (made with parts from 18 countries) or having a cup of coffee in the morning is dependent on a huge, huge interdependent web of production. (I consider it quite amazing!)
The old version of Robinson Crusoe is a favorite of economists because it features a man shipwrecked on an island and totally dependent upon himself for everything. Robinson Crusoe is amazingly talented and skilled at many things, yet, still must make do with very little. The moral economists draw from this story is how much better off economically people are when they specialize and trade. The new, and frankly much more realistic, version of this story is the Tom Hanks character in movie Castaway. He barely manages to feed and shelter himself for a relatively short period of time. Human beings aren't made for independence! We are interdependent, inherently so.
It seems to me our choice is between being interdependent more upon our local community or upon strangers. In modern political economies, we've replaced the interdependence of people in communities (tribes, families, villages, neighborhoods- the local) with the interdependence of people in markets (today, many global in nature). Although there have been many benefits to this- I am an economist after all!- perhaps we have gone too far. We need to find a better balance.
One of the people I talked to yesterday about this offered to pick me up for another event. Again, I have to find a balance for myself- what's OK to ask for or accept and what's not. I may be able to bus to this next event. I also began checking out taxi services online though it's clear most are oriented to taking people to/from airports. The problem with the bus system in Cincinnati is that all bus rides radiate out from downtown so getting anywhere off the spokes is difficult.
We're also interdependent around autos and auto use because we drive on roads- together. (I'll have to discuss the amount of subsidies for roads that we don't consider when we're comparing cars to- say buses or trains- in another post.) The more people on the roads, the less "independence" we really have. During rush hours and often other times, the major roads in Cincinnati become giant, slow-moving parking lots, and anyone on them is immensely frustrated.
It's interesting. I've read the literature on what makes people happy (crosses over psychology, sociology and economics). What researchers have found is that people adapt pretty quickly to new circumstances. This is particularly true for new products we purchase. There's an initial surge in our happiness and then we get used to having the new whatever and we adjust back to our normal level of happiness. This is true for lottery winners and on the negative side- it turns out that humans also adapt to becoming paralyzed. After an initial burst of unhappiness, the person adapts and adjusts back to their baseline/normal level of happiness. Now, what I find interesting is that there are some things, mostly experiences, that human beings don't seem to adapt to. On the positive side, people are more likely to remain happier with a great travel experience than a great new car, and are more likely to be happy if they have close friends and this happiness from friends remains. On the negative side, one of the experiences that people seem unable to adapt to is traffic congestion and long commutes; they make people unhappy initially and that unhappiness continues!
Anyway, this carless thing is stirring up a lot of reflection on my part! Thanks for listening.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Car Costs
Today, I spent time going through old budgets to see what I spend on owning a car. Over the last 20 years I have spent a total of $76,000 on cars & car transportation. Pretty hefty when I started adding it all up! These numbers include insurance, what I paid for the cars (mostly used), maintenance and gas.
In the last 5 years alone, I've spent $25,929. That's $5,000 per year or $417 per month. Since I drive about 11,000 miles per year, that's $.45 a mile. If I had driven my car for 10 years as I originally planned when I purchased it in 2006, then amortizing the $16,000 cost over 10 years instead of 5, would give me a yearly expense of $3,600 or approx. $300/month or $.33/mile. This is still well below the $1/mile figure AAA uses or the $.55/mile allowed by the IRS when calculating car costs.
Looking at my car costs another way, I've spent about $1800 to $2000 a year the last few years for car expenses, not counting car purchase costs, or approximately $150-167/month. Roughly, I spend $50 for gas, $66 for insurance, and $42 for maintenance each month ($158 total).
Basically, no matter how I calculate it, owning a car is an expensive proposition! And, I do frugal things like buy inexpensive and/or used cars, combine trips, shop for best insurance, etc.
I'm getting into the swing of thinking about every car trip or possible trip. I haven't driven my car for the last 3 days at all. Saturday, I have to go somewhere that is not an easy bus ride, though only 10 minutes by car. I may get a ride from my parents or take a taxi- haven't decide yet.
In the last 5 years alone, I've spent $25,929. That's $5,000 per year or $417 per month. Since I drive about 11,000 miles per year, that's $.45 a mile. If I had driven my car for 10 years as I originally planned when I purchased it in 2006, then amortizing the $16,000 cost over 10 years instead of 5, would give me a yearly expense of $3,600 or approx. $300/month or $.33/mile. This is still well below the $1/mile figure AAA uses or the $.55/mile allowed by the IRS when calculating car costs.
Looking at my car costs another way, I've spent about $1800 to $2000 a year the last few years for car expenses, not counting car purchase costs, or approximately $150-167/month. Roughly, I spend $50 for gas, $66 for insurance, and $42 for maintenance each month ($158 total).
Basically, no matter how I calculate it, owning a car is an expensive proposition! And, I do frugal things like buy inexpensive and/or used cars, combine trips, shop for best insurance, etc.
I'm getting into the swing of thinking about every car trip or possible trip. I haven't driven my car for the last 3 days at all. Saturday, I have to go somewhere that is not an easy bus ride, though only 10 minutes by car. I may get a ride from my parents or take a taxi- haven't decide yet.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Riding the Bus
On Thursday I rode the bus to work for the first time (though I'd ridden the bus before to go downtown- Cincinnati). It was easy, uneventful, and also, turned out to be free. Anyone who has an NKU security card- student, faculty, staff can ride TANK (Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky) for free. I just swipe my card. Yet another reason to go without my car! I will now switch to bus for all work-related trips. I'm still figuring out stops on campus; according to bus driver, TANK and NKU are changing the stops this weekend so next week will be different.
I drove my car this week to IKEA and to Lowes as I'm trying to finish up construction projects and to the grocery store. Next week, I'm going to do grocery trips with Dad. I'm at point of keeping track of every trip.
I drove my car this week to IKEA and to Lowes as I'm trying to finish up construction projects and to the grocery store. Next week, I'm going to do grocery trips with Dad. I'm at point of keeping track of every trip.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Car Costs
Yahoo had an article this week, "6 Extreme Ways to Go Frugal and Save"; one of the 6 is to go without a car. You save by eliminating gas, registration, insurance, maintenance and repair costs. I would add taxes as the state of Kentucky charges a yearly property tax on your car when you register. According to article, AAA estimates it costs $1 a mile to own a car.
From Mindy Pennybacker's book, Do One Green Thing, "Not driving just one day a week can reduce your CO2 emissions by about 8 pounds per week or 400 pounds per year." Her first suggestion under category transportation- "Spend 30 minutes a day walking or cycling instead of driving. Why? If every American did this, we'd cut CO2 emissions by 64 million tons and lose 3 billion tons of excess body weight a year." She says it's better for our collective health if there are fewer cars as "Vehicle combustion engines burn fossil fuels and emit smog, soot, and particulate matter containing toxic PAHs and carbon dioxide, all of which lead to respiratory disease. Transportation produces 28% of US greenhouse gas emissions. Each gallon of gas burned is responsible for the release of 28 pounds of CO2, according to the Environmental Defense Fund (this includes the CO2 released during the drilling and shipping of oil." (p 218)
Not quite on costs, but related- read Heather Rogers' book, Green Gone Wrong, this week as well. Fort Thomas library had a bunch of new books on environment! Her main argument, buying "green" won't work, markets left to themselves cannot solve these problems, and then she documents. As an economist I agree with her- we've hit the limits of the free market! She cites Frank Ackerman "What do we owe to nature and human health? You can't deduce it from the market. You have to come to the table with moral statements. These are not economic truths, they're pre-economic assumptions." (p 193)
Also, Rita Mae Brown, in one of her detective series, has Harry describe her philosophy as "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." Definitely a motto lost to Americans these days!
From Mindy Pennybacker's book, Do One Green Thing, "Not driving just one day a week can reduce your CO2 emissions by about 8 pounds per week or 400 pounds per year." Her first suggestion under category transportation- "Spend 30 minutes a day walking or cycling instead of driving. Why? If every American did this, we'd cut CO2 emissions by 64 million tons and lose 3 billion tons of excess body weight a year." She says it's better for our collective health if there are fewer cars as "Vehicle combustion engines burn fossil fuels and emit smog, soot, and particulate matter containing toxic PAHs and carbon dioxide, all of which lead to respiratory disease. Transportation produces 28% of US greenhouse gas emissions. Each gallon of gas burned is responsible for the release of 28 pounds of CO2, according to the Environmental Defense Fund (this includes the CO2 released during the drilling and shipping of oil." (p 218)
Not quite on costs, but related- read Heather Rogers' book, Green Gone Wrong, this week as well. Fort Thomas library had a bunch of new books on environment! Her main argument, buying "green" won't work, markets left to themselves cannot solve these problems, and then she documents. As an economist I agree with her- we've hit the limits of the free market! She cites Frank Ackerman "What do we owe to nature and human health? You can't deduce it from the market. You have to come to the table with moral statements. These are not economic truths, they're pre-economic assumptions." (p 193)
Also, Rita Mae Brown, in one of her detective series, has Harry describe her philosophy as "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." Definitely a motto lost to Americans these days!
Friday, August 13, 2010
My Goals
My first and most important goal is to lessen my carbon footprint. How can we expect anyone else to save the Earth is we're not willing to work at it? I feel I have a special responsibility because I'm an American with lots of opportunities, resources, and education.
My second goal is to live more frugally and simply. I retired early at 54 from my full-time teaching job, trading off money for time. It's been well-worth it! However, since I'm too young for social security and too young to take pension funds- the IRS says 59 1/2- I'm making do on part-time teaching. I've gone from teaching 8 college courses a year for $70,000 to teaching 4 courses a year for $10,000. Plus I have some savings though not enough to live at all extravagantly. So, any way I can cut expenses, I'll do it. I've kept budgets for the last 20 years & am going to look up the precise numbers for my spending on cars over the years. I'll have to write about that later.
My final goal is to help my 22 year old son who has decided to try college again. He's been financially independent for the last 2 years (& I'm so proud of him!) but this will be hard. His dad will help with tuition and I can help him by giving him my car. It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla with about 45,000 miles so it's got many years of driving left & it gets good gas mileage. However, he doesn't get it til I've tried this experiment for at least 2 months. One friend says I should try it for 2 seasons before I give my car away. We'll see.
My second goal is to live more frugally and simply. I retired early at 54 from my full-time teaching job, trading off money for time. It's been well-worth it! However, since I'm too young for social security and too young to take pension funds- the IRS says 59 1/2- I'm making do on part-time teaching. I've gone from teaching 8 college courses a year for $70,000 to teaching 4 courses a year for $10,000. Plus I have some savings though not enough to live at all extravagantly. So, any way I can cut expenses, I'll do it. I've kept budgets for the last 20 years & am going to look up the precise numbers for my spending on cars over the years. I'll have to write about that later.
My final goal is to help my 22 year old son who has decided to try college again. He's been financially independent for the last 2 years (& I'm so proud of him!) but this will be hard. His dad will help with tuition and I can help him by giving him my car. It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla with about 45,000 miles so it's got many years of driving left & it gets good gas mileage. However, he doesn't get it til I've tried this experiment for at least 2 months. One friend says I should try it for 2 seasons before I give my car away. We'll see.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Saving the Earth one step at a time
For my next experiment, I'm going to live without a car. I know some people already are doing this, e.g. No Impact Man, however, doing this in Manhattan is easy. I live in Cincinnati, a sprawling Midwestern city with limited bus service & no subway.
I've been trying to do my bits to save the Earth for human beings for some time now. I reduce and reuse; buy secondhand clothing; try to eat local, organic, and lower on the food chain; minimize trash; keep thermostats low in winter; use energy-efficient lights; etc. I've simplified and simplified further.
One of the biggest components to my carbon footprint now is car use. During my lifetime (I'm 56) Americans have moved from 1 car per family to 2 to more. I want to investigate reversing this trend. My goal is to stop using my personal car September 1, 2010. I'm going to go cold-turkey. This doesn't mean I'll never use a car. I can borrow my parents or rent, though my idea is to minimize this as well. I'll blog about my experiences.
Note: Cincinnatians look puzzled when I tell them the name of this blog. This is why. The Cincinnati SMSA (Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area) includes 3 counties in Ohio, 3 counties in Kentucky, and 2 counties in Indiana. The Ohio River runs through and it's a series of fairly steep hills on all sides of the River. If I'm talking to someone who's not from this area I say I'm from Cincinnati because people know vaguely where it is and because for many purposes it's all one city. However, it is a city of multiple states and multiple political entities so almost everyone who lives in Cincinnati identifies themselves by their local neighborhood or local political entity. For Cincinnatians, I live in Fort Thomas, Campbell County, Kentucky.
I've been trying to do my bits to save the Earth for human beings for some time now. I reduce and reuse; buy secondhand clothing; try to eat local, organic, and lower on the food chain; minimize trash; keep thermostats low in winter; use energy-efficient lights; etc. I've simplified and simplified further.
One of the biggest components to my carbon footprint now is car use. During my lifetime (I'm 56) Americans have moved from 1 car per family to 2 to more. I want to investigate reversing this trend. My goal is to stop using my personal car September 1, 2010. I'm going to go cold-turkey. This doesn't mean I'll never use a car. I can borrow my parents or rent, though my idea is to minimize this as well. I'll blog about my experiences.
Note: Cincinnatians look puzzled when I tell them the name of this blog. This is why. The Cincinnati SMSA (Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area) includes 3 counties in Ohio, 3 counties in Kentucky, and 2 counties in Indiana. The Ohio River runs through and it's a series of fairly steep hills on all sides of the River. If I'm talking to someone who's not from this area I say I'm from Cincinnati because people know vaguely where it is and because for many purposes it's all one city. However, it is a city of multiple states and multiple political entities so almost everyone who lives in Cincinnati identifies themselves by their local neighborhood or local political entity. For Cincinnatians, I live in Fort Thomas, Campbell County, Kentucky.
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