Gas free is the way to be!
 

Last fall, I totaled my car, so I began to seriously rethink my transportation situation. I decided it would be best to stop commuting 35 miles to school and 45 miles to work (one way!).

Meanwhile, my friend Kal was living in a rotten North Minneapolis neighborhood. One morning, Kal was awoken by a MPD officer asking if he knew the whereabouts of his car. It had been found in a chop-shop raid.

Put two bad situations together and what do you get? A solution!

The two of us moved into a cute little house west of the lakes district. Kal bought a late 70's BMW 2002 and I a bus pass. The move sliced Kal's commute in half, and cut mine down to 5 miles to school and 2.5 to work!

For the time being, I ride a hybrid-electric bus to school and bike to work. Tomorrow I might cycle to school for the first time. I live on a bike trail, so I only have to cross like three roads to get to school. On days I don't feel like peddling, I ride an electric motorbike. If I have chores to do, I can often borrow an electric car from work.

Between bike, scooter, electric car, and bus, I have hardly driven my old Ford at all. This week, I have not burned a drop of gasoline!

That really sounds great.

I currently have a 40 minute drive to work and am looking for something closer. Thanks for sharing. :)

I take it you work in Milwalkee?

Yup.

Nice going, Oval.

I also recently picked a spot based on transportation considerations. I could have found something cheaper (or bigger, or both) by going further out of town, but one of my goals was to stay within reasonable bicycle or walking distance of the places I go most often.

I am currently 25.2 miles from work (one-way) and to be honest, I don't want to live any closer. In fact, I want to get further out. Houston sucks.

That is what I did as well, I wanted to be able to walk or bike to my most visited locations and it has meant that I can work less and have more free time!

that is the best ecomod success of all.
I did the same thing, within miles of daily life.
I had an 80 mile trek from central maine to bangor..the trip of bad roads, and alot of times coastal weather versus mountain like...for days and weeks, I snapped parts not even baja extremists would believe.
Now today
my gas chart doesn't get updated often. I wait until the 500 mile round trip I take once and awhile....
would love to strap a small moped/scooter something outside and use that too. :thumbup:
I was handicapped bad enough where bikes was no option, but I feel too old now at 37.

As mentioned previously, moving closer to work ( even a mile or two ) is the ultimate eco-mod !

I moved within walking distance from my job.
Not only does it cut pollution, but It's great exercise.

i recycle.

but i'm luvit the-evil.
i use the fast food window.
i shop for houses away from the city.
i like having acres of grass to mow.
i heat with a woodburner stove.
i commute 45 minutes one-way and relax.
i pee outside.

Nice job Oval. How long have you been at it and have you have a chance to see how much money you have saved with the car-xtomy?

Yup. Thats why Kal lives with me. He's from the west side of Houston

~Jimbo

37 ain't old. My boss is 53 and can still put me to shame when it comes to human power. You should check out an eGo scooter... eGo
Mine is really old, so the batteries are pretty shot, but I still love it. Its hard to beat riding a whole year on the cost of a gallon of 89 octane, and $70 per year insurance.

~Jimbo

Sorry about the repeat posts.

Carxtomy. Nice. That should be added to the official EM dictionary (do we have one?). This is my fourth month working at The Electric Vehicle Store.

In my previous life, lived on the Wisconsin border with my parents and drove a '98 Ford Torturous. "Angila" got an abysmal 25 mpg on a down-slope with a tailwind. She got 25 mpg driving up a mountain pulling a house. She got 25 mpg driving upside down through a pool of raspberry Jell-O.

Eventually I acquired a spaceframe Saturn. It would drive to the moon and back on nothing but a liter of the tears of angels. Then I crashed it. I took this as a sign and dove head first into hippy-ism.

When I drove the ford, I was burning two tanks a month, about 28 gallons. at an average of $3.50/gallon, thats nearly $1200/year. I spent probably another $1200/year keeping that tin can road worthy. That is 6.15 tons of Co2/year, btw.

I only drove SCarlett (the Saturn) for four months, but they were a blissful four months. I was only burning 20 gallons per month, but I was driving twice as far. Angel tears, they do the trick. That works out to a theoretical one year fuel cost of $840. In those four months, I probably spent $200 on maintenance, or a theoretical $600/year. Of course, after the crash, I had to use the Ford again. This really helped the economics of moving to Minneapolis.

If I had stayed at my parents house, I probably would have been responsible for the insurance, about $1200/year no mater what old thang I drive.

$3600 per year for car expenses, and $720 per year for parking... $4320. I pay $4800 per year for housing expenses, and given the extra hours I pick up because I am now closer to the shop than the other mechanic, I profit. Plus, I am no longer driving 35 miles home at night while tired, I save money by being able to run home for lunch, and I don't live with my parents. Take note: that last one is a biggie.

I moved two months ago, and so far, things are great. I've abandoned gasoline, I am vegetarian, I recycle everything, I never buy new things, and I help other people get off petroleum. I'm hippy to the max:D

As a conclusion, I guess I haven't really saved money, I simply transfered my expenses from something unpleasant into something wonderful.

~Jimbo

If my plans work out, I won't have a "commute to work". Ever. Again.

Here's to hoping and working toward a goal. :thumbup:

Nice job on the move, and as long as everything is working out for you, it's just what you needed!

Step one: Collect underpants
Step two: Christ's plan
Step three: Profit!

~Jimbo

Yeah, it was pretty vague, wasn't it?

Well, I'm a "Jack" (That guy that can fix just about anything with bubble gum... If they'd start making it like they used to again.)

I'm part owner (with my Father) of a backhoe, and truck/trailer capable of hauling aforementioned instrument of burden, and currently looking for a dump truck as well.

Include with that the ability to find/fix cars cheaply, or part them out for a good profit, I'm hoping that with all the other little things I do, I won't have to work for someone else for a very long time, if ever.

Eventually, I'll just live alone with my Wife and Son (and whatever other spawn we create), and ultimately live off what we have amassed at that point.

Sounds like a hell of a plan, Christ, and just the sort of thing you would do. As long as your life revolves around something other than money, you will be happy.

~Jimbo

Good plan.

Its official. I no longer posses a petroleum powered car. Well, I still own the Saturn, but ya'll know that story.

I drove the Ford to my parent's house, parked it between the Saturn and the Xebra, and biked the 38 miles home. Bear in mind that I'm in Minnesota, and its February.

~Jimbo

I could probably handle it myself, but I'd still need a car. People get pissy when you put an infant on a bike in the middle of winter!

All you gotta do is wrap the kid in a plastic bag. That will keep him warm, right? right?

http://www.sdscooters.com/Scooter%20...pocketBike.jpg

I'm restoring one of these for him.

He's 9 months old... I guess I've got awhile to restore it, eh?

Coolest. Dad. Ever.

Lulz.

I think I'm going to go electric on it with a restrictor or something to keep the speed down.

He'll start just riding on back roads with me on my "town" bike, to get a feel for how it works before going on any real rides, but it's all country roads out here, so I can get us just about anywhere on the side of a dirt road. ;)

Even at 5 or 6 years old, I see no reason we couldn't visit people on the bikes.