Carless in Dallas
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@NDC said in Carless in Dallas:
Denver is losing another car share in the next month so fewer options to get around for those of us that have dropped personal motor vehicle ownership. There are now 0 car share companies in my neighborhood rather than 2-3 when I ditched the car.
That sucks, although too many make it harder. I think two is plenty if you can get two.
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@NDC said in Carless in Dallas:
So yeah try not to make the decision based on access to any particular company's offerings.
Keep in mind that giving up a car is not a one way decision. Can always buy one later.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
@batman said in Carless in Dallas:
@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
I have friends who do it and they do well.
They must be pretty bad at math, it's always a net loss using a personal vehicle in the gig economy. It's literally impossible to earn enough doing Doordash, Flex, Uber
I know some that live on it.
Sure, they do, now that they already own the vehicle - but when it comes time to replace that vehicle, will they be able to, so they can keep that job going?
Presumably, people making similar money at other jobs are able to buy cars. Why would they be different?
I have no idea what 'similar' money is though... But unlike say a job at McD's... the car itself might be a $1000 (or less) beater, just good enough to get them to and from McD's... that same junker wouldn't last long and would likely get horrible reviews on uber, etc.
Now, as you mentioned before - the uber driver can write off mileage, etc on their taxes for the job, but I'm wondering if maintaining the car for uber, etc, isn't significantly more expensive than the costs for working at some place like McD's.
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@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
I have no idea what 'similar' money is though... But unlike say a job at McD's... the car itself might be a $1000 (or less) beater, just good enough to get them to and from McD's... that same junker wouldn't last long and would likely get horrible reviews on uber, etc.
Uber makes like 60% more than a typical McD's job. And beaters cost a lot to operate which makes the lost price feel better than it really is. And you need them more often. We often state that we "can't afford to drive a car so old" and it is very true.
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@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
Now, as you mentioned before - the uber driver can write off mileage, etc on their taxes for the job, but I'm wondering if maintaining the car for uber, etc, isn't significantly more expensive than the costs for working at some place like McD's.
Well oil changes, brakes, tires, etc. will be more for sure. But the purchase price and whatnot likely isn't. The tax offset isn't nothing, having lots of cash for that stuff goes a long way.
And remember, for Uber you have no commute time, no limit on hours to work, no set schedule, etc. Minor, but something.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
Uber makes like 60% more than a typical McD's job. And beaters cost a lot to operate which makes the lost price feel better than it really is. And you need them more often. We often state that we "can't afford to drive a car so old" and it is very true.
yep absolutely true, but those same people buying the beaters, generally can't afford to buy something newer with fewer problems. - no cash - no credit...
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And the majority of Uber drivers do it as a second job. And that is huge. As a second job, Uber is clean, flexible, profitable. You need a car anyway, for most people, and jobs like McD's don't have the flexibility to let you do them on the side very easily. And working as an Uber driver is "cool", working flipping burgers is not when it comes to social views on side jobs.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
Now, as you mentioned before - the uber driver can write off mileage, etc on their taxes for the job, but I'm wondering if maintaining the car for uber, etc, isn't significantly more expensive than the costs for working at some place like McD's.
Well oil changes, brakes, tires, etc. will be more for sure. But the purchase price and whatnot likely isn't. The tax offset isn't nothing, having lots of cash for that stuff goes a long way.
And remember, for Uber you have no commute time, no limit on hours to work, no set schedule, etc. Minor, but something.
No commute time? you sure? I don't get to write off my commute to my day job, do cabbies and Uber get to write off the drive to the first client? or the drive between clients?
I mean sure it seems like the right thing to do... but you know - laws and stuff... I have no clue where they come down on it.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
And working as an Uber driver is "cool", working flipping burgers is not when it comes to social views on side jobs.
This makes absolutely NO sense to me - but yeah, people do seem to think being an uber driver is cool, while other typical second jobs aren't.
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If you don't want to own a car, don't own a car. It's as simple as that.
Will you save any money? That's a totally different question. Depends on a million other things.
But just let the car stay in the driveway for a month and you'll know in about 30 days.
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@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
No commute time? you sure? I don't get to write off my commute to my day job, do cabbies and Uber get to write off the drive to the first client? or the drive between clients?
Yes, obviously, because it is part of the job. You would get to write it off if you were a company and working as you walked out the door. As an MSP, we certainly get to write that stuff off when we are between clients.
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@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
And working as an Uber driver is "cool", working flipping burgers is not when it comes to social views on side jobs.
This makes absolutely NO sense to me - but yeah, people do seem to think being an uber driver is cool, while other typical second jobs aren't.
Because flexible hours, nice car (kinda), don't smell like fried food, don't report to a 19 year old manager.
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@Pete-S said in Carless in Dallas:
But just let the car stay in the driveway for a month and you'll know in about 30 days.
Then I have to pay for it all month. However, I'm doing just this this week. My car is gone and so it is going on right now, so to speak. Not doing 30 days, but pretty close. Other than a commute between Austin and Dallas (that I've done by bus before and prefer) it will be three weeks of me with no car. So a decent test.
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Car is just being borrowed, before anyone wonders what is going on. LOL Nothing wrong with the car, it just was needed.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
@Pete-S said in Carless in Dallas:
But just let the car stay in the driveway for a month and you'll know in about 30 days.
Then I have to pay for it all month. However, I'm doing just this this week. My car is gone and so it is going on right now, so to speak. Not doing 30 days, but pretty close. Other than a commute between Austin and Dallas (that I've done by bus before and prefer) it will be three weeks of me with no car. So a decent test.
Yes, not bad. Hopefully that includes the entire family.
But even if you just let the car sit, it will not cost you a fortune. Since you will not be driving it, it will not use any gas or other consumables. And it will not need service and without adding miles, the car depreciation will be less. So it's not really a costly experiment.
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@Pete-S said in Carless in Dallas:
But even if you just let the car sit, it will not cost you a fortune. Since you will not be driving it, it will not use any gas or other consumables. And it will not need service and without adding miles, the car depreciation will be less. So it's not really a costly experiment.
Kind of, but car payment and insurance add up. That alone is like $500/mo. Plus inspection/registration is like $12/mo if you spread it out. It's not huge, but it adds up. Then depreciation, too.
In this experiment, since it is borrowed, it is getting used and the money isn't wasted, so that's fine. But in general, the cost of even a sitting car is too much!
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Now I have one ENORMOUS unfair thing that I think makes being carless completely a win no matter what, but I didn't want to add it to the main discussion. That's that I live abroad a significant portion of the time, and when I live in the US I travel heavily where owning a car isn't very useful, like because I fly.
So even if it is close to break even when I'm home, it would have to cost half as much to own a car as to not to make sense for me personally.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
No commute time? you sure? I don't get to write off my commute to my day job, do cabbies and Uber get to write off the drive to the first client? or the drive between clients?
Yes, obviously, because it is part of the job. You would get to write it off if you were a company and working as you walked out the door. As an MSP, we certainly get to write that stuff off when we are between clients.
that's different because you are fully on the clock the moment you leave your home in this case because your home IS your office and you're leaving to go to a client - wither you charge them or not for travel time.
But an uber is completely different. You claimed that your home is your office - but is it really? This is a known thing? Cabbies all declare their office as their homes? and get to bill even when they aren't on the clock with a client in the cab?
Again, I said before - that only seems right - but I don't know the law.
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@scottalanmiller said in Carless in Dallas:
Now I have one ENORMOUS unfair thing that I think makes being carless completely a win no matter what, but I didn't want to add it to the main discussion. That's that I live abroad a significant portion of the time, and when I live in the US I travel heavily where owning a car isn't very useful, like because I fly.
So even if it is close to break even when I'm home, it would have to cost half as much to own a car as to not to make sense for me personally.
Well of course.
In that case, renting a car while you're home could be the best option. Could, but Uber everywhere could be too.
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@Dashrender said in Carless in Dallas:
that's different because you are fully on the clock the moment you leave your home in this case because your home IS your office and you're leaving to go to a client - wither you charge them or not for travel time.
Same with an Uber. You are an Uber driver the moment you step out your front door. You don't drive to an office that is a pre-set location nor are you a W2 employee where that applies.
