sogood wrote:Comedian wrote:You are all ignoring depreciation. It is by far and a way the biggest cost of car ownership for anyone that owns a newish car...
We've calculated that if we drop the second car that will be one kid through private school...
Bike, car, SUV, these all pale in comparison to raising a kid. Having a CO2 producing kid leads to a loss of sleep, loss of disposable income, loss of free time to ride, burden on household transport, further load on the environment and the list goes on. I say drop the kid!

You forgot "sudden gain of other people wanting to strangle your screaming brat"
No I do not have kids. Yet...or maybe never....
Back on topic. I spend anywhere from $70 to $120 on fuel a week (or I
did), plus rego etc, which I do still have to pay. At this point I reckon I am probably actually breaking even, but having the extra ready cash in my pocket each week, not being spent on fuel, is really a bonus. I find I am having a lot more fun with life now, going out more, spending money on dinners with the GF...even saving a decent amount each month.
Now I think on it, I reckon the "$8K average per person" is probably a bit of an over estimation, but the benifits are definitely there.