Zen and the art of motorcar ownership: how much are our car ownership costs, really ?
For some time now I have been looking at our family car and thinking! You see, we have one car, I don’t drive to work and John works from home. We live in a city with good public transport, and infrastructure. When we go to the city centre we use the bus; and we do our food shopping in the local shops (ha, I really love my shopping trolley and it annoys and embarrasses John so much; this is a bonus, of course).
What I am saying is that it is very rare for our car to leave the drive more than five – six times a month. As to longer journeys, we probably do these three-four times per year.
You already know, that cars rank very highly on my list of liabilities; actually they are pretty high on any list of liabilities. One rationale to keeping a car is that it allows a level of flexibility that people don’t have otherwise (this is if people live in the city and there is acceptable public transport) and peace of mind through the knowledge that one can get in and drive off if and when it is necessary or they simply feel like it.
Now, let’s do the maths and see what having flexibility and peace of mind is costing us at the moment. The calculation of car ownership costs is very simple monthly expenditure per month and doesn’t even account for depreciation. Pure spend on keeping our under-used car. Continue reading
I ‘discovered’ Groupon
I know, I know that Groupon has been around for some time now. Better late than never, is what folks around here say.
Just in case you were wondering why Groupon shares jumped by 30% on their first day of trading, it probably has to do with me making my first purchases. (I told you that modesty is not a virtue lol.) Continue reading
How long can 1 euro and 20 cents last?
Yes I am in Rome; city of beautiful women, gallant men, wonderful food, splendid ice-cream and breaking infrastructure. It is rather surprising how quickly the spirit of downturn settles in – one can already see it and, let’s face it, smell it in Rome. So many homeless people again, sleeping on the street. Continue reading
And was it worth it?
Right, my friends, it is Friday and we are back in the UK; which means that it is the day of reckoning. Last year I was very strict while away and kept really close eye on our spending. This year, for variety of reasons, this slipped a bit. As I live by my blog knowing my numbers – and not just suspecting what these may be and worrying about it – is important to me. Continue reading
