I don’t really have car trouble, I have trouble making decisions. About a year ago, I moved to a new home significantly closer to my work location. What was a 30 minute commute is now  minutes. That’s only if I catch the one red light between my driveway and the parking lot at work. And other than to and from work, I don’t do a lot of driving.

Keep It or Sell It

With that being the case, I’m not using my car like I used to. Let’s face it, for many of us, the single most pressing reason to have a car is to get to and from the job….that pays for the car. Sure some of us have kids to haul to school and practices, errands that need to be run, other reasons to keep a car on the road. But I’m also within walking distance to shopping, dining and entertainment. So really, why do I have a car still?

Tools To Use To Decide

With this in mind, I started weighing the merits of ditching the vehicle, or at least trading it in for an older model and ditching the monthly payment. But how could I analyze this, and make a rational decision. This is where I typically spin my wheels (you see what I did there, right) and have trouble committing to a course of action. To try to minimize this, I searched for some resources that would assist in my research and decision making process.

Driven by curiosity, I decided to research the true cost of owning a car. Sure I know what the payment and insurance costs are, but beyond that I wasn’t really tracking the cost. Gas mileage, refinancing, interest rates, I was wondering about all of it.

After stumbling around in Google Land, I found a really cool site that is most helpful in understanding the true comprehensive cost of car ownership. That site, CarPaymentCalulator.net, is exactly what the name sounds like plus much more. The site allowed me to crunch numbers related to car ownership, including gas expenses (high), interest rate (super low), and comparative costs in downsizing.

Decision Made

I quickly determined that while I could sell my car at a good price and go without. BUT, the cost of replacing it if I didn’t like my new wheeless status would be totally prohibitive. This site allowed me to compare different automobiles and the costs associated with each. I was able to calculate the cost of trade in for an older model. My current interest rate is almost zero, and the car is almost paid off. In thinking more on the subject and using this tool, I realized that using it for minimal in town driving was saving it, at this rate I’d be able to drive it for years! And there are times when I need to hit the road, especially now that travel and a viable option again.

Instead, I’ll be relying on other auto related apps to watch my finances, such as GasBuddy  for best gas prices in town.