Don't take my wheels away!

It has been a year since I opened my office at home and sold my car. I can't believe how quickly time passes. A year ago when I decided to work full time from my home office, I also decided to sell my car. Believe me when I say that the decision to sell my car was much more difficult than the one to work from home!

I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and like most of my friends had access to a car since I was 16 years old. I had always prided myself on being completely independent and totally spontaneous. So you can imagine the weight of my decision to trade in my wheels for a good pair of walking shoes and a bus ticket.

Over that last decade, maybe in conjunction with learning and practicing personal development, life coaching and financial coaching, I have become more and more "Green". I really believe that we all need to take responsibility and protect the environment for the generations to come. It is also clear to me that by saving the environment and reducing waste I save money and in fact raise my quality of life.

So being the ideologue that I am I finally made the ultimate statement (in my opinion) in saving the environment and guess what! It's not so bad! And it didn't take too long to get used to it either. The hardest thing was arranging rides for my kids to and from afternoon classes and introducing them to the public transportation system. I am still independent and spontaneous although it might take me a little longer to get to where I want to go.

Guess what else! I have saved a lot of money. Cars are expensive to maintain. Let's compare:

WOW! I spend less on all my transportation expenses than I used to spend just on gas!

I save about 830 Shekels a month, 9,960 Shekels a year.

I admit that it is a very difficult decision to make, but it is well worth the consideration. If being without wheels is totally out of the question for you, could you consider sharing one car in the family?

Mindy