Life sucks without a car, i feel subhuman, i live in a very car centric city with abysmal public transportation system, its hard to get around in the cod ass winter, especially when it gets snowy and icy,
Uber/lyft adds up way to quickly on my fixed income
All in all life just fucking sucks without a car 😥, I dont even have a drivers license, and dont know how to go about getting one,
But truthfully I wouldn't be able to afford a car on my fixed income anyway, so I'm screwed either way
Anyone in here have no car? No drivers license? If so, how do you cope?
byu/DustnBones001 inFrugal
Posted by DustnBones001
42 Comments
My 40 year old co worker still gets dropped off by her dad every morning and every evening. Living in the city isn’t too bad, but what happens when your parents pass away?
I found a maxshott scooter on amazon for $150 and it goes 19 mph with me(135lb) and my kid (100 lbs) on it for at least 40 minutes on one charge. depending on how car-centric. I live in a pretty small city and at 19 mph, i could ride straight through my whole city on one charge
I’m middle-aged and have never driven and have no intentions of ever doing so, but I’ve made life choices around that choice to live in a walkable city with decent (albeit not great) public transportation and bike lanes. There are simply places in the world where I cannot live and be a fully-functioning adult, and I’m ok with that constraint.
Get your license, it’s cheap. You can always rent a car for emergencies, also more opportunities for work to make money.
I don’t need to cope because of decent public transport. Welcome to Europe!
>I don’t know even have a drivers license, and dont know how to go about getting one
Look on your state’s DMV website.
I have not had a car since I was 18. I have always lived in cities where I could walk or use public transportation for everything I needed.
I had a driver’s license until I was 40, and I rented a car once or twice a year if I needed to buy furniture or something. I live in a different country now and have not applied for a driver’s license here.
That’s how they get you. The system in most of the developed western world is designed around car ownership, if you don’t have one, well you’d best start hoping you can find a job online. And given how saturated that job market is…it’s unlikely.
There’s countless places across the world that allow for travel via trains, which in my mind, is the real solution to this sort of issue, if we’re talking about transit to and from work. Grocery shopping may be an issue, but otherwise it’s all rigged around cars here in the west.
I don’t see valid options except moving to another city/town or relying on others.Â
Either way, getting a driver license as an adult doesn’t require a lot of money, assuming you know somebody who can teach you (driving lessons is what’s expensive).Â
I have the privilege of living in a very walkable city with a great public transport system so it’s very easy for me to do. I don’t miss it whatsoever. Almost anything can be managed without a car here.
For me, the bus system is a lot more reliable (only late by ~10 minutes at most, and if you’re commuting to similar places / using the same lines every day you learn quickly which ones get delayed more often and therefore can plan ahead for that). I would recommend investing in some warm winter clothes for the cold because bus stops can be freezing if not indoors or in a covered area (doesn’t do much).
Truth be told, waiting at a bus stop is kind of annoying sometimes and taking the bus is usually longer, so I recommend bringing something to do to fill the time and plan ahead, most maps will lay out the route for you and you can see the route you’ll have to take. (ie if you are commuting to work/school, do work for that, or music /audiobooks with headphones are also nice)
If you usually travel 10 miles or less, and your area isn’t super hilly, definitely consider a bicycle. It’s really not too bad in the cold, you get surprisingly warm from the exercise of pedaling.
Come to NYC, you don’t need a car here.
The best is to live close to work. Owning a vehicle and driving is very expensive. The worst investment is buying a vehicle it’s a depreciating asset. Plus gas, insurance,maintenance, parking, registration. My vehicle gets used for 1 hour a day when I work half hour drive to work and half hour drive back home the other time it’s just parked like 23 hours just sitting there. I’m hoping to retire in a few years and the first thing I sell is my vehicle.
I mostly walked or hitched rides with friends, tbh. It did help that I lived less than two miles from work and the store when I didn’t have a car. If someone was giving me regular rides, I made sure to either give them dinner or gas money.Â
I’ve also shared a car with roommates. One would drive to work in the morning and I walked to work in the afternoon. When they were done, they’d drop the car off so I wouldn’t have to walk home in the dark.
ETA: snow boots are a great investment. I’m lucky that I can fit into kid’s sizes, which are significantly cheaper but still have some good quality options.Â
I didn’t get my license until I was an adult, but I live in places where there is pretty good PT and it’s actually one of my line in the sand requirements for moving.
As for getting a license, you have to just make it a priority. A lot of women in my fam don’t drive and I knew if I waited too long and didn’t make plans, I’d fall into the same habit. So while I was living away from home, making the least I’ve made, I put it high on the list.Â
I will say, I had some medical issues then and have some again now, but if I had been healthier, I might have tried biking more. I regret it now because looking back it may have helped my joint issues and it’s always good to have some cardio. Not sure if that’s a possibility for you, but I’d explore it if it is.
No car but I’m disabled so I get some lyft credits through my county. Even then, I still use the bus fairly often and do a lot of walking between places.
I’ve already been badly injured once from a fall and feel like its only a matter of time before I either get hit by a car, trip going somewhere with no sidewalk, fall on the ice/snow, etc. and die 💀
I gave up my car two years ago when I moved from Florida to Connecticut to live with one of my daughters. I’m retired, and I’m on the insurance so I can drive my daughter’s car, but I hate driving so I don’t miss it. My town has senior transportation services if I need to go somewhere (I’ve never used it). There are also buses if I want to go further than my town. And if push came to shove, I could always rent a car.
Motonormativity ruins cities. I mostly bike.
I very recently just got my license at 24, still can’t afford a car though. My partner can drive and his parents handed him down his car, so he takes me to work and such. I usually pay for gas. When he’s in class, I walk or take the bus.
After I totaled my car, I’ve been car-less as well in a suburban neighborhood where Uber/Lyft are required if you wanna go more than a few blocks.
It fucking sucks, I take the train into work but everyday is a battle to get to and from the train station. Some days I can’t deal with the cold and hassle and get Uber.
There used to be a commuter carpool thing, people doing a drive looking to split cost via carpool, maybe I’m too old tho..
My neighbor hasn’t driven in 10years. He started riding his bike to work which is about 7 miles from here. Then he moved up to an e-bike before getting a scooter. I’m thinking age might have influenced his choices.🙂 He catches a ride with someone when the weather and street conditions are at their worst. You can wear a backpack or attach baskets to just about any bike or scooter. He has a trailer he pulls when he needs to haul a lot. Pretty sure he’s near 60 by now.
When I was broke and pre-drivers license (I got mine at age 36) I rode scooters. I had two over the years, a 50cc Honda Metropolitan and a 250cc Honda Helix.
Both were only a few grand, insurance is dead cheap, and they got great gas milage. Rain and snow sucked, but they were way better than the bus.
You can check with local high schools to see if you can join their drivers Ed program (maybe a small fee). After obtaining your license you don’t have to buy a car, just rent one now and then like Zipcar where you can rent by the hour, half day etc.
I have an exgf who doesn’t have her license or even knows how to drive.
She is at the mercy of other people.
Coworkers pick her up and take her home every day.
Before her mother got too bad to be able to drive, they would make their weekly grocery trip together. Now i believe she gets delivery.
Outside of work, she doesn’t go anywhere unless one of her kids comes and picks her up. She volunteers for overtime all the time so she doesn’t have to sit at home alone.
through my insurance, I get to go to my doctor visits w/o problems.
Went from 2 cars to 1 in 2016. Had 15 year period of no car for years at a time. Not hard, not subhuman.
Am in Europe. Driving licence, no car. Pushbike, tram and bus ticket. For longer journeys there are trains and I favour the FlixBus.
No car. I do have a drivers’ license as I absolutely needed driving when I did live on the country side (grew up there). Tried it with using the bus, but for reaching the bus stop, one had to drop me off, and if that person was sick… I could not go to work.
No car since I moved away. What I do since (in various places, first Germany, then different cities in the US, then South America)?
* Using the bus. At least it was always okay, in some cases decent.
* Walking. I’m happy that I can do so.
* Taxi. Only in urgent cases, or when there is something to transport were paying for the taxi is still worth it.That’s two or three times a year.
For groceries and to transport anything somewhat heavy, I got me a decent shopping cart/ bag on wheels.
Not those with a wire basked (cumbersome), but one of those:
[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTp3Jfd92Ty_PfZfZbuQFG9BIwSD9cskgaR4w&s](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTp3Jfd92Ty_PfZfZbuQFG9BIwSD9cskgaR4w&s)
(with a fabric bag, narrower than a wire basked one)
It’s ways easier to get on a bus with such, than with a wire basket one.
What does not work for me: biking. I do have a disability that makes it impossible to balance well enough for using a bicycle safely. There are bikes with three wheels, but those are heavy, slow… (in addition to: expensive), often more a replacement for walking for people who can move their legs but not walk well enough, and are not really a replacement for using a bike swiftly. It’s also impossible to get those on a bus, I could not carry it over stairs – no, more a burden than a help.
I’m getting rid of my car before February and I won’t replace it. The car costs a lot of money (insurance, tax, maintenance, etc). Some drivers behave like jerks, especially those with very big cars. Being stuck in traffic is agonising.
I don’t travel much anyway:
* Supermarkets closeby: by foot, regularly;
* Supermarkets too far to walk to: once a month with a rental car (I stock up);
* Some friends once a week: train;
* Work: already by train + tramway.
Have you studied the possibility of moving to a city with a better transportation offer and/or a more hospitable climate?
Basically having no car is quite doable in a major city with good public transit or even a smaller city with buses and if you live near a grocery store. Been surviving without a car for decades.
I live in Northern Europe in a city. I have a driver’s license, but I have never owned a car. I never felt I needed one.
I transport myself on my bike for distances less than 10 km-ish, and take the bus or train for longer distances. The public transport is good here.
I need a car in two particular instances:
To bring large items to the recycling station (we do get large item pickup, but I might have something between those). Or to do furniture pickups so I don’t have to pay for delivery.
And to visit remote natural areas which have no public transport.
One of my friends has a car, and we have an agreement that he is my chauffeur (and travel buddy) for these things, and in return I do home DIY for him.
I live in a walkable city
I don’t drive. I don’t have a license. I walk everywhere. Everything is in a 4 mile radius.
My husband drives. He will take me places or pick me up, if needed.
Public transport isn’t the best here. (Ohio)
It sucks over winter because sometimes the snow gets bad. Have to plan grocery, or other shopping, trips on days when weather is somewhat decent…or when husband isn’t working.
I’m in my late 40s, and don’t plan on driving. You get used to doing things without a car.
I work from home, get groceries delivered and dont go too far that Uber is insanely priced or something
28 have happily survived without car with no big issue since 18 when I moved out of parents, didn’t even renew my license just got an id when I moved states
Because of my health issues I have not allowed to drive, but I’ve been getting by for 15 years. Whether it’s from walking or bike riding up to an hour each way, I find pretty reasonable, even in most weather conditions with some accessories.
Otherwise yeah I’ve done the Uber thing when I needed to because I was sick or something and couldn’t walk or bike ride. It’s definitely an inconvenience, but shouldn’t psychologically feel anything more than that.
I know what I was younger and trapped in my parents house, I felt more powerless by not having a car yet, but as an adult, I’ve curated my own space and don’t feel like I need an escape, so I rarely go off property anyway, and when I do I enjoy the exercise.
So yeah besides the inconvenience factor, since it doesn’t seem like you could do anything about getting a car anyway yet, definitely consider other modes of transit. Even a scooter or something, sometimes can be picked up pretty cheaply. I’ve gotten a broken razor before that I learned to fix via YouTube. That was fun for a while.
But also look into the psychology of why this is having more of a negative effect on you. Do you feel judged by your peers? Do you feel stuck in a place you don’t want to be at? Cuz frustrating and annoying is one thing, but feeling subhuman or something else seems a bit extreme, unless there’s something else going on that’s weighing on you psychologically
And maybe that part is within your control possibly. I don’t know it’s just good to feel like you can make some progress for it and alleviate some of the stress out of a situation that you can’t fully get out of, but you can maybe remove some of the burden from it to start
I have a CSL, and I have a perfect driving record. I haven’t driven in years. I also live in a very car centric urban center. Many drivers are actively hostile to bikes and even sometime pedestrians.
I cope. You get used to it. I have friends who have decided to maintain a car. They help me when I need it. I always pitch in value. I believe this is a moral imperative.
I walk. A lot. If it’s really far, I’ll use Uber.
But most of what I need is within walking distance.
No car here for 30 years. I don’t need one but do rent one occasionally.
I don’t have a license and I just decided to move to a city with thriving public transportation system. I wish every city had that. It’s sad how car-dependent most of the country is
I live in a UK city. I have never driven. I’m proper old!
So I’m broke, miserable, and have no car.
However, eh, I’m still kicking LOL
The way I get around is…I don’t.
I live in a metro area. Everything I could ever possibly want is with a 20 minute walk (sans a museum or ice rink).
I can get Chinese food, Indian, you name it by walking around the corner. However, I’m too lazy for even that, and just call delivery.
For groceries? Amazon Fresh delivery.
For toiletries? Amazon prime delivery.
Movies, games, books? Amazon prime.
I have everything I could ever want through Amazon and food deliveries.
I have a dog and backyard. My footprint is very small.
If I want to hang out with friends, lately they’ve been picking me up with a car.
However, I can Uber to the train station (or walk) and go anywhere in the world. This year I went from NYS to VA. That’s not much, tbh. I want to go to Philly, for the cheese steak, but guess it hasn’t happened yet.
Chinatown tour bus is a great company.
But overall, I don’t need much.