dude, wheres my car

you sit in traffic, you pay for gas, you pay for insurance, you pay for parking, you pay for maintenance, and then you complain about being broke. your car is the most expensive thing you use every day and the least questioned.

the car dependency trap

the average american spends over $10,000 per year on car ownership. that's gas, insurance, maintenance, registration, and depreciation — the silent killer that eats your investment while it sits in your driveway. for most people in urban areas, that money is buying convenience they don't actually need.

you've been driving since you were 16 and you've never seriously asked: what if i just... didn't?

the alternatives are better than you think

• public transit: put on headphones, read a book, zone out. you arrive less stressed than someone who just white-knuckled through rush hour
• biking: it's exercise, transportation, and stress relief bundled into one activity. and parking is always free
• rideshare and carpooling: uber and lyft cost money, but still less than owning a car when you factor in all the hidden costs
• walking: for anything under two miles, you should be walking. period. your body was designed for it

the real experiment

try going one full week without your car. plan your routes using public transit apps. bike to anything within a few miles. walk to nearby errands. use rideshare for the rest. track what you spend and compare it to a normal driving week.

most people discover two things: it's more doable than they expected, and they actually enjoy the parts of the commute they used to hate. reading on the bus beats cursing at traffic every time.

you might not need it

you might still need a car. plenty of people do, especially outside cities. but you should arrive at that conclusion through evidence, not assumption. try living without it for a week and let the data decide.

if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.