Adverse economic times have people doing things they would never consider. It's when you get the stories on the news of families clipping coupons to save hundreds of dollars, or the family being put out on the streets because fuel costs are high. The stories are partially to inform but mostly their out there to give the 'by the greater grace of God go I' semi feel good feeling. The things is once the economic crisis is over, we don't learn a lot from them. Sure, we might make a change slightly once we're back in the good zone, but they pale from the sacrifices made in the bad times.

Right now I'm in a bad time. My car shut down a few days ago, and since it was the engine, I know it's going to be $1000 or more to get it fixed. I don't have the money and don't see when I'd get that kind of cash. Even if I did an evil payday loan, next month the car is up for registration, which is another $300. Added all up and in the next month, at the least, I'm looking at $1300 in cost on a car five years old.

Way back when, and I mean probably fifteen years ago, I was faced with a similar issue. My car broke down and I had no money to fix it. I bit the bullet and decided not to have a car. It wasn't until I'm in the same situation now did I remember how strangely liberating it is NOT to have a car.

Forget the savings in insurance, gas, car payments and the like. Without a car you're locked into your local transportation system, which for me was lousy. However, the bus stop was a few feet from my apartment and would take me less than a block from my job. With my current situation, the same thing. Then, like now, I have an odd schedule so I can't use the bus to get home but people are kind enough to give me a lift home. I know it sounds restrictive but you find yourself planning time a lot better than with a car. An example, I have to get to the bus stop by 7:45 to get to work on time, which is 3 hours later. Yes, a three hour bus ride, but when I'm on the bus, I have three hours to relax before getting to work. With a car, I would leave an hour before I had to get to work, just to make sure I was able to bypass any possible traffic jams, construction rerouting and bad drivers. I might try to stop in a store to grab something to eat before rushing into the parking lot, then I'd have to find a spot, which there aren't enough spaces for the amount of people working there. Without a car, I don't have to worry about parking, about the traffic (for the most part) and I can, this is something we don't do a lot of, reflect for all that time I'm on the bus.

Now, without a car I just can't go to, let's say, Walmart and get a carload full of stuff and take it home. I can only get what I can carry, but that works out well because I'm not buying things I don't need at the time. Maybe I'm reverting back to my old D&D days but I always think of my encumbrance points when I'm getting stuff. If I'm going to struggle with it on the bus, I'm not getting it. Thankfully, there is the internet for buying things and again, it gives me more time to think if I really want it, plus I can shop around, without driving, and get the best deal. A pre-non-car example of this was when I wanted to get a RF converter for my electronic devices. I drove to three stores before going to Radio Shack, who told me they didn't have it. i was told possibly the big electronics store would have it so I drove across town to get there, and having to make a longer trip to there because of construction. The store had the device, and when I went to buy it my debit card was declined. I drove home, but not before getting some 'cheap' buffalo wings which ended up costing me $15 and I checked with my bank and found out the lock on the account was in error.

By the time I got back home, I spent 3 hours in travel time, used up almost a quarter tank of gas, spent about $25 in little items along the way, including the $15 in Buffalo wings that I didn't need. When I got the bank card thing straightened out I was willing to drive back to the electronics store to get the item, but I went online and in less than 30 minutes I got the device ordered, which had more hookups than the one at the electronics store and the cost, with shipping, was less than the device I was going to get locally, pre tax. It was a lot of time and money spent.

I'm a little lucky because I have two good sized grocery stores, a drug store, video rental place and a good amount of semi-healthy fast food places within a block of me. In another area I might have a bit of a struggle getting basic things, but I'm looking to get a bike in the near future, just like I had previously, to get around. You'd be surprised how all that peddling around shapes you up.