We Bought a Car
When people mention that they have read my blog (which happened like three times), they usually recall the posts about living without a car.
Since apparently that is the most memorable thing I’ve done in recent years, I decided to write an update.
After exactly three years of living without a car - two of which with a child - we finally bought one.
The reason? The child seat. It seems like a very trivial reason, but that’s about it.
My child outgrew the newborn baby seat, which weighed 3 kg, and we bought a new one for toddlers, which weighs 13 kg. That’s one of the lighter ones!
On weekends when we needed a car, the process was: wake up 20 minutes earlier, go out and pick up a vehicle from a car-sharing app, drive it back home, then carry the baby seat to the car, and finally mount it into the vehicle. Only to repeat the whole process in reverse in the evening.
If I didn’t already have back problems, I would likely develop them by now anyway.
After a few such trips, I started considering that I deserved a moderately priced used car to ease this pain in the ass.
It felt wasteful because we only need the car once a week at most. We will not be driving much more than 5k kilometers in a year. Still, every time I had to go through this dance, I felt I deserved better.
To justify the expense and minimize future maintenance, I opted for a very basic, economical, and used family hatchback. At least it has bitchin’ alloys.
I will spare you the numbers, but it still doesn’t make sense financially. I will almost certainly spend more on the car than I have spent on car-sharing apps in any given year, even accounting for a 10-15% increase in annual spending. If I avoid major repairs over the next five years or so, I might come out ahead. If I don’t, that’s also okay for the sake of convenience.
Additionally, if you’re looking for a startup idea, consider building an ultralight, super-safe child seat that doesn’t pinch your fingers every time you need to carry it.