Should We Get a Car?

A few weeks ago, CocoJr#1 volunteered to put down $20 for us to buy ourselves a swanky new car. We graciously declined, of course. It remains a topic we constantly bring up though, more for the comedic value in it over anything more far-reaching.

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine excitedly told me that she’s buying a car! A second hand car that is of good value, 3-4 years left on the COE and will set her back by $600 a month in installments! She was so excited that I got excited for her, although in the back of my mind I was running quick numbers to validate the cost of car ownership versus the value it brings. This friend of mine is hilarious though, she has started to drive for Grab to hitch folks on her way to work and back and is thrilled as her hustling skills! I love this crazy chick <3

Back to where I was going with this topic, what is the cost of car ownership? Let’s go with the costs that my friend mentioned of $600 in installments. Throw in costs such as petrol, maintenance, ERP, parking and you should be hitting about $1,000 easily. Let’s assume a taxi ride costs $20 on average (there will be short trips, there will be long trips) so $20 on average is a generous average. Just on the monetary front, this translates into having to take 50 taxi rides a month to make a saving. That’s a lot of taxi rides indeed but if you consider just to & fro work daily, 50 is just about right (22 work days on average translates to about 44 taxi rides).

Undoubtedly, most places in Singapore is pretty well connected by the MRT. Especially if you work in the CBD. But if you work in far out places, then yes, I do see the appeal of the car. If not, then the MRT should suffice. Do away with the traffic and the road rage :p Or just cab it, although I understand it’s tough to get taxis during peak hours. See, I am not doing an outright statement which is the better option, I am talking it through in a neutral manner 😀

OK, diplomacy aside, because I do not work in a far out location (yes Jurong & Tuas, I’m talking about you!) I’m partial to not having a car. Even with 2 kids, I still prefer being car-free (PSA: both our coconuts are always safe in the cars. We have a car seat that attaches to a stroller so we can carry that around and CocoJr#1 has a RideSafer vest. We do it as we want them to be safe, not because the law does/doesn’t require it – which a lot of people feel the need to tell us). Bluntly, here’s the reasons the SC household remain car-free for the foreseeable future:

1. It’s a pain in the rear looking for parking!
2. We like getting picked up from my lobby and dropped off exactly at the front of the building am heading to, without having to walk from the parking lot.
3. We do not take 50 rides a month, it’s insane!
4. Driving is a hassle, we like to outsource that part of my life. There are times we do like driving, somewhere scenic and with little traffic that allows us to speed along, happy and dandy.
5. We like having the option to think about the money am spending when we have to spend it, i.e. should we spend $10 on a cab and save ourselves a 10 minute walk? Maybe we’ll just walk, the weather is good! If we had a car, we probably would have driven to and fro, no second thoughts!
6. We like the feeling of scoring some good taxi ride fares with the discounts Grab aand Uber shower us with <3
7. I’m beginning to become a sucker for reward points so am liking Grab’s reward catalogue 🙂

Here’s the kicker, we actually do take taxis fairly frequently! We’re all for the good quality of life and saving time where we can, if it makes sense. What we don’t do is to take taxis just solely on principle. There are many factors to be considered when making the “to cab or not” decision – time, weather, alternative transportation option and the taxi fare! The past 1.5 years or so has been kind to us on the taxi fare front with Uber and Grab disrupting the taxi industry as we know it. Thanks to the deep pockets of the investors / shareholders, we’ve saved hundreds of dollars and lots of time just taking a taxi. Point to case, Uber gave me $5 off for 10 rides this week. It’s been fantastic as it has been scorching hot in the evening when I head out to pick CocoJr#1 from childcare. I Uber over and we Uber back together. Costs me no more than $0.50 a ride, sometimes nothing and even better than that is when I get paid to take the ride! How? Shopback babeh!

Shopback (this is a referral link that gives us both $5) has a feature that compares the taxi fare between Grab, Uber and Ride. No clue what Ride is so I look between Uber & Grab then select from Shopback. I earn $0.20 cash back from going through Shopback. So when my Uber ride costs anything less than $0.20 cents, I actually make money from taking an Uber. Sweeetttt! I know, I know…it’s peanuts but hey, I love it all the same if not more!

What’s your take on this topic? What do you do and why?