I was thinking about going to a Low Car lifestyle 3 years back, but I've changed my mind

Looking back at my situation about 3 years ago I was  in a low car situation. I put around 4000 miles on my car in the previous year and a half, including 3 300 mile round trips to neighboring cities, and repair costs were creeping up on me to the tune of about 100 dollars a month on average for a car that was purchased for a bit less than two thousand dollars. That was enough for me to seriously consider whether I was going to replace my car with an equivalent low value used car, a new(er) car with lower repair costs, a partial/full electric car, or just not having a car at all and going with a scooter for my various transportation related needs.

I could have also just done nothing, which would be to continue using my car, fixing it if it broke, and making no major changes.

That is actually pretty close to what I did. I kept that car, kept on driving it, and fixed it if it broke down for the past three years. At the same time, I purchased a similarly low value car (approximately 3000 dollars) to use when and if my primary car was broken down, which was necessary several times as the various parts of my original used car wore out and broke.

I continued to stack up about 4000 road miles per year between the two cars over the past three years, and continued to pay about 100 dollars per month in repairs on the older used car, 30 dollars per month on each vehicle for insurance, ~18 dollars per month on registration fees per vehicle, and on average $25 in maintenance per month on each vehicle. This wasn't really all that much in exchange for nearly seamless transportation and very little in the way of up front payments for each car, and I was able to make significant gains in the stock market and on a real estate purchase that I was able to make in the intervening time so I can't really say I lost out by buying cheaper cars in the beginning and preserving my savings.

If you have read any of my previous car related work, you probably recall that it isn't really the initial car payment(s) that will kill a younger man when purchasing a new(er) car, but rather the car insurance payments that make it a terrible decision to purchase a brand new car with financing. If you have a car payment of a couple of hundred dollars, it might even be more than the cost of paying for the car to pay for sufficient insurance to satisfy an automotive lender. I was, and am still, against financing a car against its own title as a young person since this kind of excessive insurance cost is really untenable.

Even so, in the summer of 2020 I decided to bite the bullet and use some of my savings and profits to purchase a new(er) car, and found a 2 year old car with pretty low miles for 14,000 dollars (plus fees). If I can keep this thing going for another 10 years with minimal repairs and the same amount of maintenance, I can afford to pay higher insurance costs, but since I paid cash instead of financing, I don't need to worry about the vicissitudes of the current lending environment influencing my insurance selections, and I also don't have to budget a car payment into my cash flow protocol. I just need to arrange for a private sale of my aging older cars, and I'll be in a good position to put my automotive concerns on the back burner for the next decade or so.

The best part about selling a heavily depreciated older vehicle is that the actual value of the car doesn't change much unless it is not serviceable. A 1600 dollar vehicle, after 4 years of use and regular maintenance, is probably still close to being a 1600 dollar vehicle, and a 3000 dollar vehicle can't really drop more than 3000 dollars in value. At worst, it has also become a 1600 dollar vehicle, and since both of them still run and drive I should be able to find someone in need of basic transportation willing to purchase them.

It's funny though, comparing my current concerns about transportation with those that I had several years ago. I was bike commuting at the time 4-5 days in the summer, and driving between the first and last frost of the year. These days I commute almost exclusively by car, and my bike has been relegated to a weekend/off day vehicle, exiled to the garage instead of always ready and waiting for me to hop on and take off in my living room.

I was seriously considering going car free and taking my chances in the rain, wind, dust and danger of the streets for my daily commute, and now really outside of potentially switching to a plug in hybrid or battery electric vehicle, I'm unlikely to completely remove the car from my daily routine.

Luckily, in the past few years I have also drastically relocated my primary dwelling, and now live 3 miles from my primary worksite. This means that my basic driving for work, mail and food consists of a 6-10 mile round trip 200 days per year, so I could maintain my annual mileage between 2 and 4 thousand miles even on the new car. Reducing my transportation needs and trying to bundle purchases with my commute, I could limit my personal carbon footprint while still preserving the convenience of an in-car commute. In consideration of the average North American driver that stacks 10,000 miles on their car in a year, I think that using 20 to 40% of that amount is still pretty good.

It's not as great as a no-car lifestyle, but a low-car lifestyle is still OK with me, and I can still ride my bicycle on my off days and when I don't need to cut through a ton of traffic.

It's important for all of us to think about the way that we are using our possessions in light of the ongoing climate crisis, and it's possible for all of us to be more efficient with our lives. I think that putting my two higher mileage used cars that are still fuel efficient at 25 miles per gallon on the market will hopefully take two more fuel inefficient cars off the road. Since my new car averages a 30mpg efficiency if I drive conservatively, I'm hoping to be incrementally kinder to the environment than I have been in the past.

How to salvage a jobless degree: A recipe for Millenial Success

It's unfortunate that so many people my age are facing a difficult job market and heightening living expenses without the benefit of a job that utilizes their hard earned college education, or pays them accordingly for it.

The plight of the Millennial generation is that there are so many different degree programs and so many requirements for jobs, and they rarely marry well enough to ensure that a job awaits each college graduate or certified worker.

If I were in the position that a lot of my peers are, working a "dead end" job with little promotion potential, I would try seeing which companies have hired people that do what I was trained to do. In the past, I'd call HR departments and ask what makes a good candidate, what sorts of things they were looking to see, and how to best display my experience, so I could tailor my resume to make sure that I described the most critical elements well. After enough years of college and freelance projects, most people have done a little bit of a lot of different things, and if a 1 day or 1 week project has the skills and competencies needed for a full time job at one of the big companies in your industry, that could be what gets you the job.

You could also consider positions in state, local, or federal government. They usually pay less, but sometimes go more by credentials than experience. As long as you fulfill basic requirements for a position in terms of education, they are happy to train you to the function at hand. Best of all, fresh eyes might discover something that needs to be reworked.

Be willing to move, long distances if necessary, for the right position. I more than doubled my income when I left my state, and you might too. Sure, your expenses might rise if you move from Kentucky to Texas, but if you get to make three times the money and gain experience in your field, you might want to consider it. Best of all, once you've cut your teeth you may be able to come back home to your state and either start something so productive that your industry flourishes in your home town, or get a job that you wouldn't have qualified for previously.

Another option is to just start making things. You can do independent project work that is really awesome and get attention from Mozilla, Google, or Microsoft once you've got a product running, like Notch did with Minecraft. Minecraft was eventually licensed by console game developers, and acquired by Microsoft for 2.5 Billion dollars, but the development costs were Notch's groceries and apartment costs since he pretty much just made Minecraft for a living once he started getting sales.

If you are able, doing contract work is a great way to go as well. You get your own business, great management and professional experience, and the kind of responsibilities that managers and executives love to see 5-10 years down the line. If you're lucky, you will get to become an "Internal Consultant" after a while, and stack up salary, benefits, and a cushy traveling job while sharing expertise site to site.

My biggest piece of advice is to be open to opportunities that might not seem too attractive at first. Don't turn your nose up at work, it's good for you and it helps to put food on the table. If your grandparents and great grandparents had the opportunities we had today, they wouldn't say that things were too hard or there were too few opportunities. They would buckle down and do what they could to feed their families, clothe their children, and care for each other.

I think that my generation definitely has a lot to struggle with, between broken homes and massive debt, but there is hope for the future. We just need to find a way to get there without melting the planet first.

Choose the Colors of your Roof Wisely, and you can save a bundle on utilities

Lot's of people disregard roof colors when shopping for a new home or apartment, but it can make a real difference in your costs for heating and cooling. In most stores and areas, different colors of shingles and roofing metal are virtually the same in price, but they have remarkably different thermal and reflective properties.

Light colored roofs offer reflective capacity, which helps to send solar energy back up into the atmosphere (possibly space) instead of absorbing it and turning it into heat.

Darker colored roofs, conversely, absorb more solar radiation and convert it to heat. In cooler climates, this can be a boon, and can even be used to augment home heating systems by heating water or other materials for use in the home, but in warmer climates this is usually undesireable.

Wouldn't it be nice if your house was 10 degrees cooler in the summer, or 10 degrees warmer in the winter, for no additional cost? Just remember that your roofing has an impact on your bills, and could save you $40 dollars or more in utilities. Even better, your utility provider might offer a rebate for solar efficient roofing!

Three ways to save money when purchasing a home

There are a ton of people out there talking about whether people should buy or rent, which neighborhoods are good and which are bad, and what the best way to pay back a mortgage is.

I'm going to focus on three key tips that I keep in mind when shopping for property, and that have worked to actually save me money.

1. Use your social network

Some of the best tips on new property listings,  realtors that charge lower to no fees, and self-advertised properties are available from people in the area. Letting people around you know that you are looking for a place and what is important to you can really magnify your access to opportunities. Be sure to investigate each of your recommendations, however. Even if you really like the person that is recommending the place to you, it could be right next door to a dog-fighting kennel.

2. Hire your own inspectors

In the modern age, it's necessary to have an appraisal prior to closing, but not all appraisals are created equal. For many banks and contracting agencies, it's too much work to do an interior inspection, and many important details or deficits can be missed. Paying a couple of hundred dollars for a home inspection is peanuts compared to getting thousands of dollars off of your sales price when you find issues that need to be addressed, or having to pay thousands over market for a structure with hidden damage.

3. Don't be afraid to walk away.

I have looked into properties in many different price ranges, starting at $4000 tax sale homes and topping out in the several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the most important rule that I have had going into every deal is that I wanted a house, but I didn't need "that" house. While it is easy to get emotional, and attached to a particular property, it's better to remain impartial and evaluate the facts of the market and the property. A cute paint scheme, a nice neighborhood, and a convenient floorplan pales in comparison to a home in your price range and a stable city government.

Best of luck to all of you out there looking at buying a home!

Do you have any experience using these tips?

Do you have any advice for other people considering a home purchase?

Share them in the comments below!

Keep Cooking For Yourself, No Matter Where you are or what's going on in your house

Being able to cook for yourself unlocks a world of savings.

Eating away from home and paying other people to turn groceries into dishes is a fantastic way to spend more money than you really need to, and you don't necessarily need a lot of equipment to prepare food.

I've made fine dishes with only access to a microwave, refrigerator, and a set of dishes, but a camp stove or grill are great additions to makeshift kitchens.

Personally, as long as I have a way to make rice and cook meat, beans and vegetables I am happy, but I can also achieve massive savings over restaurant food by buying lunchmeats and bread at the deli counter and making sandwiches at home. I've gone the sandwich route twice in my life, and both times I thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace from my normal spoon and bowl cuisine to something that I could eat with my hands.

If you want to go the sandwich route, I recommend making a whole loaf of bread's worth of sandwiches at once and storing the individual portions in plastic wrap either under refrigeration or in the freezer.

The savings in this activity are considerable. Many people can easily spend 100 dollars per week eating cheap takeout, and if eating out for every meal are tempted to eat fast food or pre-prepared food from grocery stores and cafes. I have even observed 40 and 50  dollars per day of expenses on food alone! Making your own food is an easy way to save 1 or 2 thirds of this cost.

Cheap costs for Cheap Cars

This has been an expensive last few months for me.

Back in January, I made the call to purchase a cheap car for about 1600  dollars, a 2000 Mazda 626 sedan. It had pretty high mileage, and a possible motor mount issue resulting in a vibration at idle.

I didn't really need to do much to get the car in good condition, as it was running when I purchased the vehicle.

I paid for an oil change at a local superstore, and had the techs take a look for any unusual mechanical issues. That cost about 50 dollars for a multi-point inspection.

I also paid for a complete brake overhaul, so I had new front brake pads installed, my rotors resurfaced, and rear brake drums replaced for a grand total of 450 dollars. That was back in March.

This June I've decided to spring for a new set of tires, which were pretty reasonable at 50 dollars per tire. I bought four tires, and with installation, taxes and fees I spent 250 dollars overall.

At this point, I've spent 1600+50+450+250 on my cheap car in terms of parts and service, for a total of 2350 dollars on the car. I also paid 180 dollars for 6 months of insurance, and 200 dollars in licensing and registration fees. If I want to include the costs of gasoline, that is an extra 100 dollars monthly, for 500 dollars in gasoline. So far this year, therefore, that would be 2350+180+200+500 for 3230 dollars in transportation costs. Over six months, that works out to be 538 dollars per month, which is pretty hefty! I hope that my car will be a bit cheaper going forward, and my costs more closely approximate the costs of gasoline and insurance as opposed to brakes, tires and registration.

At the same time, I realize that the same costs that I faced on my cheap car come up on more expensive vehicles. 450 dollars of brake work on my car would easily be 1000 dollars of brake work for a luxury German vehicle, and 250 dollars would be the cost of a single tire on a luxury sedan, not a set of four on my Mazda. My insurance works out to be about 30 dollars per month, which would be unheard of if I was driving a luxury vehicle, and I'm comfortable carrying liability only coverage since I could walk away from the vehicle if necessary.

All in all, it could be much worse, and I'm still comfortably able to afford the 626, even if the costs have been higher than anticipated so far this year. I've still got 6 months left to go in the year, and if I only have to pay gas, insurance and possibly an additional oil change my average transportation expenditure should approach 150 dollars monthly.

A New Town, An Old Question: Where to live, and how to get around

I've recently relocated from my old home base to a new home base seveal thousand miles away, but I am presented yet again with the age old question of how to most efficiently and safely commute to work from where I live.

In the area I've moved to, it's quite common for people to ride bicycles everywhere, even moderate distances (which I consider to be 5 miles or more one way), or use ride sharing applications for trips that would usually require a bicycle trailer or car.

I located a place  to live within walking distance of my new office job, but I soon realized that the area that I had chosen was not very friendly to walk through at night, with many tales of crime, lots of gang activity, and a very large homeless population. It was impressed upon me that I did not want to walk much in my neighborhood, and lower rents were more attractive in other parts of town. So, I purchased a cheap, early model used car (2000 Mazda 626) for about 1600 dollars, paid some outstanding registration fees with the local state, and bought liability only car insurance.

After driving 3-5 miles per day for 3 months, I'm ready to move a little further from my workplace. I realize that this is likely to come at an additional commuting cost due to more driving, but I am at something of an impasse on this front. Even though my employer is willing to reimburse me for public transportation expenses, I would be unable to use public transit to go home from work due to my schedule, and living alone means that I would have no-one to pick me up if I took the bus or light rail to work. It is not really economically wise for me to take public transit to work, and then hire a ride share back home, not is it particularly wise for me to cycle in complete darkness to make my way back home. Thus, I will continue to car commute.