How many % of your income do you spend on transportation?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by sid

People who are claiming less than $1000 a year can't be including all transportation expenses. Vehicle insurance alone is almost that, and my insurance is very low cost for my area...

Maybe the problem is your area? Here (northern Nevada) I'm paying just under $500/year for two vehicles - 2000 Insight and '88 Toyota pickup. Both were bought for cash (IIRC $8500 for the Insight, $2500 for the Toyota). I've had the Insight for going on 8 years, the Toyota for 4, and expect to be driving them both for years to come. My costs may not be under $1K/year, but they are under 5% of my income.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by sid

People who are claiming less than $1000 a year can't be including all transportation expenses. Vehicle insurance alone is almost that, and my insurance is very low cost for my area since I am low risk (college grad, less than 7000 miles a year, no accidents, no tickets, age 55 or over).

Mine cost £187 for the next 12 months, includes 10K mileage and business use for me and Mrs A and both of us have speeding points. It also includes driving each other's cars (Mrs A's Prius is a company car) and ANY other car which we are driving with the owner's permission - i.e. hire cars.

[sid]

I guess I didn't realize how expensive insurance is in the Tampa Bay area compared to other parts of the country. I'm a little under $900 a year and that is much lower than most people I know in this area. Maybe that is why so many around here drive without insurance, which is illegal but often done.

[Ryland]

Sid, you also own a truck, those tend to cost more to insure because they are more likely to cause accidents and tend to do more damage when they do, it's also a new truck so right there it's going to cost more and if you have full coverage on it that bit of insurance is based off the value of the vehicle and how costly it is to repair.
My parents pay more for insurance then I do because their car is 7 years newer then mine and they also have a Ford Ranger as a 2nd vehicle, other then that our driving records are the same, we both are home owners with good credit the only thing that would put me in a better insurance bracket would be if I was married.

Trucks also cost more to own, tires for your truck are nearly twice as expensive as tires for my civic, truck holds more oil, uses more gas and has more spark plugs.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by sid

I guess I didn't realize how expensive insurance is in the Tampa Bay area compared to other parts of the country. I'm a little under $900 a year and that is much lower than most people I know in this area. Maybe that is why so many around here drive without insurance, which is illegal but often done.

Yes, a subset of this discussion is: how much do you pay for state mandated auto liability insurance and what percentage of your total transportation expenses is that?

Even if you have no tickets and no accidents (for the past 40 months), and if you are not in an age grouping where your supposed risk is greater, you still will be paying anywhere from $250-500 per year, per vehicle, just to maintain that mandated insurance requirement.

State mandates (which are virtually universal) subsidize those who drive carelessly and/or have no insurance. And it is a significant, large part of your annual expenditure for transportation.

It's easy to whine and b!!ch about "big oil" - namely expenditures for fuel. But nobody ever points a finger at "big insurance" (read: state motor vehicle laws that demand liability insurance) or those government dictates which indirectly benefit "big insurance" by requiring the purchase of it.

And, please, let's not pretend that insurance companies aren't making any profit on government mandated, auto liability policies.

Not to mention that most states get to issue supposedly prettier looking license plates every few years and recall the old ones, at a greatly increased cost to the licensee.

[trooper Tdiesel]

counting all are equipment\heating oil, its a staggering amount of fuel....
must be something well north of $4,000 just in fuel.

plus being under 30 inshurence dings me on driving 4x4s too about $700 a year, for one auto.
all the one tons are under dads name to cut cost.

having a car that gets 40s and a mid size suv that gets just shy of 30 its not practical to have bolth, do to the added costs....of two autos.
i just keep another suv that gets the same 30ish mpg as a back up, and transfer the bill to it when the normal DDer needs repair.

car tags in OR are $86 for two years are bill is for 3 to 4 autos a year, plus the work trucks below.......at a MUCH higher rate......

do to a VERY stupid loop hole in the law.......timber farms are not seen as a farm by OR law......
are delivery truck has to have truck plates, GRRRR
there $440ish a year....

also any truck over 10K empty or is pulling a trailer with peanment plates, needs truck plates to be legal. for personal or commercial use.

[Arragonis]

A kind of interesting side question would be how much % of your income do you spend on energy in total - by which I mean direct energy (i.e. electric, gas (as in heating), coal, wood, biomass etc. - as opposed to energy used in manufacturing/growing/processing the things you buy), for your home ?

My average power bill is about £150 a month, making nearly £2k a year. That matches what I spend on transport easily.

Here anything over 20% on energy is the threshold for "fuel poverty".

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

It's easy to whine and b!!ch about "big oil" - namely expenditures for fuel. But nobody ever points a finger at "big insurance" (read: state motor vehicle laws that demand liability insurance) or those government dictates which indirectly benefit "big insurance" by requiring the purchase of it.

Get hit by someone who does not have any insurance (and of course no assets either), and you might think otherwise.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Get hit by someone who does not have any insurance (and of course no assets either), and you might think otherwise.

No, I don't think otherwise, because in most states coverage for being hit by an uninsured motorist is NOT automatic. It is optional and it is not part of the mandated requirement for liability insurance.(click here to learn more)

Mandatory liability insurance only forces you to insure yourself, assuming that you will be stupid, careless or make mistakes. If you are a careful driver and never cause a chargeable accident all the money you pay for that coverage is a total waste. Your money goes to fund those who DO cause accidents resulting in damages that they otherwise might not be able to afford to pay.

In effect the state is forcing everyone to pay for the (usually) irresponsible actions of some.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

In effect the state is forcing everyone to pay for the (usually) irresponsible actions of some.

OK, now how do you pick out those "irresponsible" drivers before they hit you? Or maybe no one should be allowed to drive unless they can post a cash bond that's large enough ($50K, maybe?) to cover potential damages.