In Hawaii Alice and I shared a car. Our monthly loan payments on it were about $350, insurance was about $125, and gas was about $250. Add in maintenance and we were spending, say, $850 a month to get ourselves around.

Moving to Vancouver meant leaving the car behind, as it would have cost about $3000 to ship it up. We found an apartment close to a SkyTrain station, which makes it easier to get around. Transit costs us about $100 a month each.

But what about those times when we need to buy something big, or if we want to go where transit sucks, or if we want to go to Vancouver Island? Enter car sharing. We’re members of the Co-operative Auto Network. Whenever we want a car we go to their website, find a nearby car, and sign it out. We pay $3 per hour and a few dimes per kilometer. Given how infrequently we drive, this is ideal.

Last month we made a couple of big trips so my Car Co-op bill was higher than normal, about $175. Alice’s was lower. All told we spent about $425 on transportation last month, about half of what we regularly paid in Hawaii!

Side note: if you live in Vancouver and want to join the Car Co-op, let me refer you. There are financial incentives for both of us!