Sitting in the pale white office of the local Carmax was an interesting experience. The people dutifully did their work, calling the bank, checking the title, taking the key, inspecting the car. Not understanding how we would function without the standard two cars.
We on the other hand were excited. Sitting, waiting, and hoping that everything would work out. Our goal is simple, we don't need two cars. Yes, we work full time, in two different parts of our city. Yes, we recognize that it will not always be convenient to go down to one car. Yet we recognize there is no need for two cars in current day to day lives. We recognize that the money spent on gas, insurance, and car payments could be better used to purchase more experiences, put into savings, and even an occasional romantic dinner.
We've opted for teamwork over convenience, in essence finding that less is more. I am determined, no matter what circumstances arise, no matter what financial successes we encounter, that the sum of our relationship is not what we have. Our relationship is more determined by what we do, both together as a couple, and independently as individuals. Getting rid of one car actually makes us a little happier. We find that our errands still get run, we both still get to work, in the end everything we need still gets done.
It's interesting because the average American has more of everything. In fact in a recent book I finished, The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook, points out that in almost every aspect, life has consistently gotten better over the past few decades, yet people feel worse now than in past decades. And despite Easterbrook's book being written in 2004, before the Great Recession, the facts all hold true today. Things have gotten better. Despite what our media says, the facts, the actual statistics show that things are better now then they have been throughout our history. Yet we, collectively, feel worse.
The book points out that we have more, and that's hard to deny. Think about how we now have so much stuff, that a whole industry has been created specializing in storing the stuff we don't use frequently. At the same time the storage industry has been created the size of houses and apartments have nearly doubled. Not only do we have more space to store our stuff, but we can't fit all of our stuff in our more space. The standard of living in the US has increased even more, to the point where what we want often gets confused with what we need and it's no longer about "keeping up with the Jones" but "catching and surpassing the Jones". All the while the general "Westerner" is becoming less engaged with the world in a civic capacity, more unhappy, more obese, and more worried about the future.
This is not to say that one should give up basic necessities or that money is not a good thing. But even those who have money, or those who think that having money, equates to happiness should be cautious. One study cited in Easterbrook's book points out money and happiness are correlated up to a certain point, that point being $60,000. After $60,000 on average, more money again often equates to less happiness (now that changes based on where you live and family, the study does address such things but comes to the same results, obscene amounts of money does not make one happy and often leaves one more unhappy).
In giving up a car, Anne and I have found that less convenience doesn't mean more headaches. It means more quality time together, more teamwork, and in a very real sense more happiness. We have begun to find that it isn't about what we have, and yes, it is nice to have certain luxuries, but it is about what we do with what we have.
We on the other hand were excited. Sitting, waiting, and hoping that everything would work out. Our goal is simple, we don't need two cars. Yes, we work full time, in two different parts of our city. Yes, we recognize that it will not always be convenient to go down to one car. Yet we recognize there is no need for two cars in current day to day lives. We recognize that the money spent on gas, insurance, and car payments could be better used to purchase more experiences, put into savings, and even an occasional romantic dinner.
We've opted for teamwork over convenience, in essence finding that less is more. I am determined, no matter what circumstances arise, no matter what financial successes we encounter, that the sum of our relationship is not what we have. Our relationship is more determined by what we do, both together as a couple, and independently as individuals. Getting rid of one car actually makes us a little happier. We find that our errands still get run, we both still get to work, in the end everything we need still gets done.
It's interesting because the average American has more of everything. In fact in a recent book I finished, The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook, points out that in almost every aspect, life has consistently gotten better over the past few decades, yet people feel worse now than in past decades. And despite Easterbrook's book being written in 2004, before the Great Recession, the facts all hold true today. Things have gotten better. Despite what our media says, the facts, the actual statistics show that things are better now then they have been throughout our history. Yet we, collectively, feel worse.
The book points out that we have more, and that's hard to deny. Think about how we now have so much stuff, that a whole industry has been created specializing in storing the stuff we don't use frequently. At the same time the storage industry has been created the size of houses and apartments have nearly doubled. Not only do we have more space to store our stuff, but we can't fit all of our stuff in our more space. The standard of living in the US has increased even more, to the point where what we want often gets confused with what we need and it's no longer about "keeping up with the Jones" but "catching and surpassing the Jones". All the while the general "Westerner" is becoming less engaged with the world in a civic capacity, more unhappy, more obese, and more worried about the future.
This is not to say that one should give up basic necessities or that money is not a good thing. But even those who have money, or those who think that having money, equates to happiness should be cautious. One study cited in Easterbrook's book points out money and happiness are correlated up to a certain point, that point being $60,000. After $60,000 on average, more money again often equates to less happiness (now that changes based on where you live and family, the study does address such things but comes to the same results, obscene amounts of money does not make one happy and often leaves one more unhappy).
In giving up a car, Anne and I have found that less convenience doesn't mean more headaches. It means more quality time together, more teamwork, and in a very real sense more happiness. We have begun to find that it isn't about what we have, and yes, it is nice to have certain luxuries, but it is about what we do with what we have.
