Donna Freedman wrote a piece on going car-free in Seattle, saving herself $7000-$10,000 per year. Sadly, much of these United States is not set up for such a choice, given the vast distances to be traversed along with a dearth of public transport.
How about a more modest proposal? How about car-free in college? As Frugal Son prepares (fingers crossed) to graduate, I have been thinking about his cosmic or karmic savings account. Not only did he choose a state school with a big scholarship, but he chose to do without a car. Of course, he is making this choice mostly for ecological reasons.
Last week, we had a rendezvous at a crawfish boil. He came with a friend who had a car. They were enticed by the free crawfish invite. The rendezvous involved an exchange: we brought Frugal Son some clean towels; he gave us about 75% of the contents of his dorm room.
Even though his friend has a pretty efficient car, Frugal Son still paid $24.00 for the gas. Wow! When Frugal Son NEEDS a car (seldom), he pays for the gas plus some lagniappe. He also does a lot of cooking for people. Miss Em has a similar arrangement. She cuts a lot of hair for people. They give her rides. Of course, she pays for gas too.
One student of our acquaintance has a car at LSU. She never drives it. Why? She's afraid of losing her parking space.
Anyway, Frugal Son has at least a $20,000 deposit in his karmic and ecological savings account. Miss Em has half that.
Oh, speaking of modest proposal: if you are a college graduate, I hope you've had a chance to read this masterpiece. It's available in a THRIFT edition: perfect.
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