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Can You Live Without a Car?

More Plausible than you think!

Consider The Alternatives

I’ll spare you the environmental lecture—Just imagine your life with out a car payment. Sounds pretty nice, right? Read on to see how you can make it a reality. Even better: you don’t have to wear spandex biking shorts.

Honestly assess the cost of a car.
Of course your ride really costs a lot more than the monthly payment automatically usurped from your checking account. AAA puts out a nifty little publication yearly (http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Files/200948913570.DrivingCosts2009.pdf), and has been doing so since 1950, that helps you assess the true value of a car, factoring in fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance—all of those things that seem to sneak up and empty out your savings account. (The average total cost per year is around $8,000).

If you are more digital than analog, try using this calculator, too: http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm

What most avid bikers and public transit commuters say, though, is that it is a quality-of-life issue more than a financial one—though the money saved doesn’t hurt. A heart-pumping bike ride or subway ride with a paper (minus the crushing rush hour commute in a dense place like New York) simply makes for a better start to the day than inhaling exhaust fumes from the car in front of you.

Another thought: if you are exercising by commuting, you could also ditch the gym membership, at least according to one study about “active commuting”. Basically the study showed that people who walk or bike to work are less likely to be obese and have healthier blood pressure. (The researchers said more study was needed in the field, and that working out on top of an active commute is even better than the commute alone).

Find a bike-friendly city.
Most of the protests to going car-free have to do with hometown: It seems to make sense to be carfree in bigger cities with the cache for bike lanes and congestion that demands public transportation. But, surprisingly, the League of American Bicyclists conducted a comprehensive study of American cities, small and large, (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfc_master_list_web.pdf), and square-footage, sheer size, doesn’t have much to do with bikeability. The #1 bike-friendly city in America, Davis, California is just 10.5 square miles, while the #2 bike-friendly city, Portland, Oregon, is 134.3 miles. Cedar Falls, Iowa? Tulsa, Oklahoma? Probably not at the first to come to mind when it comes to living without a car, but they’ve both recently made the bike-friendly list.

Population is also not a factor. Davis had 62,593 people in the 2008 Census, while Portland had 557,706. New York City, one the League’s list but not incredibly bike friendly, clocked in at over 8 million.

Communities are also pushing hard to promote biking, so check out the tax-dollar and charitable programs in your area. In Champaign, Illinois the Bike Project (thebikeproject.org) fixes up old clunkers and sells them on the cheap. They also offer a free class to teach people how to fix their own bikes to keep them on the road. A bike sharing program has started up in D.C. Public bikes are locked up in high traffic areas around the city. Swipe your card to unlock one, cruise for as long as your like, then drop it off at any of the docking points and you will be charged by the hour.

Choose your neighborhood wisely.
Buying or renting within a few miles of work may seem far fetched to some people, especially those in sprawling Sunbelt cities like Atlanta or Houston, but new zoning laws are looking to reverse that trend, for better or worse. Tax breaks are given in Atlanta and many other cities for new developments that are “mixed use,” meaning that homes and businesses are under one roof.

Also, a study published in August called Walk the Walk (http://blog.walkscore.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/WalkingTheWalk_CEOsforCities.pdf) shows that the so-called walkability of a city increases home values. Walkability here is defined by the social and shopping destinations that you don’t need a car to get to. The study ultimately found that, “Houses with the above-average levels of walkability command a premium of about $4,000 to $34,000 over houses with just average levels of walkability in the typical metropolitan areas studied”.

Consider going half-car.
No matter how many pains you go to trying to find the right place to work and live, there are going to be things that you don’t want to lug on the bike or bus, like, say, a Christmas tree or your weekly load of groceries. Clever car sharing companies, like Zipcar, are looking to capitalize on exactly that need for carless people. (http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/26/news/companies/zipcar_car_rentals.fortune/)

The idea is elegantly simple: Become a Zipcar member. When you need a ride, use an iPhone app or computer to find that closest Zipcar to you, which you reserve online. When you approach the car, touch your membership card to the window and the doors unlock automatically. The keys are inside, as is a gas card, and you are charged one flat rate per hour, about $8, depending on the city. Park the car in your hood and the process starts over.

As of January 1, 2009, Susan Sheehan of the University of California at Berkeley found that 24 car sharing programs in the United States has 309,437 members, definitely qualifying it as a trend that extends beyond one brilliant business idea. (In Canada, 15 organizations had 46,802 members).

This material was found on mint.com

Last Minute Shopping on a Budget

Time is running out: It’s the fourth quarter, you have no time-outs left and you haven’t even begun your holiday shopping.

It’s time to huddle up. Starting in 2010 you can get organized. You’ll make a budget and commit to staring and finishing your shopping before December 1st. Right now, you just need to get out there and get it done without ending 2009 burdened with the national debt of a South American nation on your credit card. You don’t have time to worry about getting the perfect gift for everyone. Just follow these tips for last-minute shopping on a budget and focus on buying a good gift at the right price.

Make a budget, then cut it by 20%

Sit down and make a list of whom you need to buy for and how much you need to spend on each person. List those people in order of importance so you can allocate your resources accordingly. (Just don’t let anyone see that list.) Tally up the total, then cut it by 20% — and stick to that number. How?


The internet is a great tool for comparison shopping.

A quick search will tell you how much the same camcorder costs at Best Buy, Wal-Mart or Target.This lets you go to the malls and be a sniper. You can go from store to store picking off the best gifts at the best prices.

Also, don’t get tempted to sign up for a high-interest credit card at the counter when you go to check out. Sure, they’ll give you a discount on what you buy that day; however, if you don’t pay the bill off as soon as you get it, you’ll find yourself paying more for it over the long-term as the interest starts to accumulate.

Too often we find ourselves reenacting Death Race 2000 in the mall parking lot trying to find just the right pair of slippers for mom two days before Christmas. Or, you’ll spend hours wandering up and down department store aisles wondering what size sweater your sister wears. Do yourself a favor this year: Make a plan before you go to the mall.


Try to talk certain people into not exchanging gifts this year.

Take advantage of every sale you see. (When you give her something from the “clearance” rack it’s another way to say “I love you.”) Keep track of your purchases so you stay aware of how close you are to your stated limit. Staying aware of how much you are spending will help keep you from going in the red.

7 Ways To Uncover Hidden Cash!

Whether you’re rolling in dough or trying to make ends meet, maximizing your assets is always a good idea. Obviously, you could increase the cash in your pocket by making more and spending less. But if you’re like most people, chances are pretty good that you’re sitting on some cash that you don’t know about.

Here are seven ways to find hidden cash.

1- Unclaimed tax refunds

The funds from your income tax refund: It’s your money, but surprisingly, the IRS ends up with tens of millions of dollars every year that go unclaimed. Typically, people miss their refunds because they move without leaving a forwarding address. Marriage and death can also lead to discrepancies on your return that delay your tax refund.

The good news is that the IRS does make an effort to find you and give you your money. But, as is to be expected, they can’t be as efficient or as effective as we would like, so the thing to do is file form 8822, which will update your contact information at the IRS. Simply put, filing this form is one of our 7 ways to find hidden cash — wasn’t that easy?

2- Unclaimed property

You’d think that it would be easy to keep track of your property, but for a lot of folks, small amounts can go missing all the time — and small amounts can add up. Perhaps your final payroll check at that summer job never got to you; maybe you forgot about that checking or savings account you opened when you were a kid; maybe you lost track of those stock shares when you started making real money and using a financial adviser; or maybe a distant relative died and you never found out about it. In all of those cases, the party responsible for getting you the money probably gave up looking long ago. However, the law says that they have to turn it over to the state, which holds it for you in the meantime.

Unfortunately, nobody is looking for you to tell you that you have cash in the bank. So, you’ll need to look for yourself. But you don’t have to pay to search. Go to MissingMoney.com and start looking. It’s free.

Painless and free — now that’s the way we like to find hidden cash.

3- Union benefits

If you worked a union job (even if you aren’t working there now), you may still have some benefits coming to you. Typically, you vest after five years of work, although that’s not a hard and fast rule, and each union is different. Check with the union to see if you qualify. Those benefits can range from pensions to health and life insurance.

One of our 7 ways to find hidden money may require you to go back to college, so to speak…

4- Utility deposits

Most young people make a mistake when they move (and they compound the mistake by moving several times during their college and post-college years): They skip town without settling their financial affairs. Many people close their utility and phone accounts without leaving a forwarding address. If they paid a deposit, the money could still be there. Likewise, their final payment may have included a slight overpayment because some utilities estimate charges until they can read the meter. In the aggregate, these funds can add up, so it pays to go looking for them.

5- Expired savings bonds

Savings bonds are safe, federally insured investments. If you’re looking to protect your money and grow it conservatively, you can’t go wrong with bonds. For that reason, many guys received bonds as presents when they were younger. The good news is that these bonds will make a little money down the road; the bad news is that they’ll most likely be forgotten about when the bond holder starts earning more money. Once a bond matures, it stops earning interest. Cash it in.

6- Life insurance policies

According to industry experts, nearly a quarter of all life insurance policies go unclaimed. It’s a staggering figure, until you consider the fact that few guys tell anyone that they have a life insurance policy. Obviously, the thing to do is to tell people that you have a policy and note it in your will. If you’re dealing with a family member’s estate, you can make your search easier by checking their bank statements for payments to an insurance company.

7- Frequent flyer miles

Although frequent flyer miles aren’t cash, they can be just as good. Most airlines allow you to transfer miles to family members when you die. So, if you’re settling a loved one’s estate, it pays to check with the major airlines.

It’s tempting to think of this cash as “found” money, but it’s not like $20 you found on the street — it’s your cash. While you can pay someone to help you locate the money, you don’t have to. And since the money invariably makes its way to the government, searches are free as a matter of public record, so paying for information is just a good way to lose more cash.

Rely on sites that allow you to search for free and remember that when you find something, you can always contact the state directly to get your cash without the aid of an expensive middleman.

This article “7 Ways to Find Hidden Cash” was provided by AskMen.com.