2136: The Things We Choose by Kevin of Financial Panther on Living an Intentional Life & Power of Decision-Making

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[00:01:27] The Things We Choose by Kevin of FinancialPanther.com

[00:01:47] I recently moved into a new house about 5 miles from where I used to live.

[00:01:52] The move is a massive lifestyle upgrade for me and my family.

[00:01:56] But even with our increased lifestyle costs, we should be able to meet our financial goals.

[00:02:01] Life can happen obviously, but we have a history of being good with our finances.

[00:02:06] And we're fortunate enough to make a good income with my wife in a particularly stable profession.

[00:02:11] One big downside of our move, however, is how far away it's taken us from our son's daycare.

[00:02:17] We originally picked our daycare because it was close to our home, just a 10 minute walk.

[00:02:22] Having a nearby daycare was really important to us because of our schedules.

[00:02:26] My wife heads off to work early in the morning and usually doesn't get off work until 5pm or so.

[00:02:32] That means I'm the one that typically handles drop-offs and pickups.

[00:02:36] By itself, this wouldn't be a problem, but the wrench in everything is that we're a one car household.

[00:02:42] My wife uses our car because our office is in the suburbs.

[00:02:46] That means I'm left with the task of transporting my son without a car.

[00:02:50] When our daycare was just a 10 minute walk away, this wasn't a problem.

[00:02:54] But now that I have a 4-5 mile distance to traverse from our house to daycare, things have gotten a bit trickier.

[00:03:01] How I'm getting my son to daycare now?

[00:03:04] Most people can imagine getting children anywhere without a car.

[00:03:08] But then again, most people aren't willing to think outside the box

[00:03:12] or put themselves in situations outside of the norm.

[00:03:15] Faced with getting their kids 4 or 5 miles, they'd tell themselves that they have no choice but to get a car.

[00:03:21] Here's what I'm doing instead.

[00:03:23] I took an electric bike with a suitable rear rack, in this case I'm using my Rad City, although I may spring for a cargo bike eventually.

[00:03:32] I then put a Thule Yep Maxi bike seat on the rear rack and that's all I need.

[00:03:38] It takes me about 25 minutes to get my son to daycare now, which is really only about 10 minutes longer than it'd take for me to drive there.

[00:03:46] And my son gets to see everything that's happening in the city on his way to and from daycare.

[00:03:51] I'm not a child expert or anything, but I feel like he's benefitting by seeing the city and all of the people around him.

[00:03:57] That's all it takes, an electric bike, put a child seat or a trailer on it,

[00:04:02] and you now have a vehicle that can actually act as a car replacement for most of the year.

[00:04:07] It really is possible to move children around a city without a car.

[00:04:11] Admittedly, I do have some advantages that make biking more of an option for me and my son.

[00:04:16] Namely, I live in a city that has made it a priority to create bike infrastructure.

[00:04:22] One of the reasons I'm comfortable biking with my son is because my route is safe for bikers.

[00:04:26] It has protected bike lanes and bike paths that are separated from traffic.

[00:04:31] Without that infrastructure, I'd probably be more hesitant biking.

[00:04:35] That's the beauty of bike infrastructure. It gives people choices of how they can get around

[00:04:40] in contrast to most places where the infrastructure has been created to only allow cars.

[00:04:45] And yes, I know the weather can be an issue, but it's not as big of a deal as you might think.

[00:04:51] A rain jacket and some rain pants can solve any rain issues.

[00:04:55] When you're using an e-bike, heat is rarely a problem. You don't have to use your own power after all.

[00:05:00] The only issue will be in the winter, not because of the cold but because of the snow and ice.

[00:05:05] Most likely I'll transition over to public transit during the winter months

[00:05:09] when it's simply too slippery for me to bike with a kid.

[00:05:12] It'll take me a little longer, but I can still get my son to daycare without using a car.

[00:05:17] Why haven't I bought a car?

[00:05:19] Figuring out how to get my kid to daycare from my new house did have a simple solution.

[00:05:24] I could've just bought a car.

[00:05:26] But I've never bought a car before.

[00:05:29] I grew up in a city, so driving really wasn't something I did very often.

[00:05:33] And to be frank, the car buying process intimidates me.

[00:05:36] It may be strange to some people, but I'm in my mid-30s and I've never bought a car before.

[00:05:41] I don't even know how you'd go about buying a car.

[00:05:44] More importantly than just being scared of buying a car.

[00:05:47] The simple fact is, I haven't bought a car because I don't want to.

[00:05:51] I've always preferred getting around using other forms of transportation first.

[00:05:56] I think it's better for the environment.

[00:05:58] I think it's better for me.

[00:06:00] And since this is a blog about money, it saves me money too.

[00:06:03] I think I also enjoy the challenge of getting to places without a car.

[00:06:08] The lesson here, choose the things you want.

[00:06:11] The point of this post isn't about the fact that I'm biking my son to daycare.

[00:06:15] I think it's a cool thing that I'm doing and I don't think most people would do it this way.

[00:06:19] But that's not what this is all about.

[00:06:21] The real lesson here is about decision-making.

[00:06:24] It's not that I can't afford a car.

[00:06:26] I could easily buy a used Prius for $10,000 or $20,000

[00:06:30] and it wouldn't be that big of a financial cost for me.

[00:06:33] But for my whole life, I've chosen not to buy a car.

[00:06:36] It's not something that I really value.

[00:06:38] Instead, I've chosen to get my son to daycare via other methods.

[00:06:42] It's not the only or best way to do it, but it's the way I want to do it.

[00:06:47] It's common to think about money in terms of denying yourself things.

[00:06:50] But that's not what money should be about.

[00:06:52] It should be about making intentional choices.

[00:06:55] Buy the things you want.

[00:06:57] Don't buy the things you don't want.

[00:06:59] And when you buy the things you want, make sure it's something you actually want.

[00:07:03] The important thing is you should get to choose.

[00:07:10] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:07:12] The Things We Choose by Kevin of FinancialPanther.com

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[00:09:05] I enjoy thinking about unconventional ways of getting needs met.

[00:09:10] So I really liked this article from Kevin.

[00:09:12] We live in a culture that teaches us to demand convenience.

[00:09:16] We want things easy, fast and right now.

[00:09:19] But being intentional requires one to slow down and be a bit more thoughtful.

[00:09:24] I'm sure most people think Kevin is a bit extreme

[00:09:27] and not buying a car and getting his kid to daycare via an electric bike.

[00:09:31] But he's doing what he wants to do.

[00:09:33] And I suspect he recognizes that what other people think of him is none of his business.

[00:09:39] It reminds me of when I was living in Brooklyn

[00:09:41] and I'd use public transportation to get to the airport.

[00:09:44] It took two trains, a bus and anywhere from one and a half to two hours for the trip.

[00:09:49] Most people I know would just take an Uber.

[00:09:52] But the thing is depending on traffic

[00:09:54] it would usually still take about an hour to get there

[00:09:57] and it was so much more expensive.

[00:09:59] I paid $2.75 for the public transport

[00:10:03] versus at least $50 for a cab or Uber.

[00:10:07] Sure, it took a little more time and planning

[00:10:10] but I also enjoy taking the subway much more than sitting in traffic.

[00:10:14] I agree with Kevin that you should do what you want to do.

[00:10:17] Not everything is about saving money.

[00:10:20] He mostly didn't buy a car because he just didn't want to.

[00:10:23] However, you're at an incredible advantage

[00:10:26] when what you want is also a cost-effective option.

[00:10:31] I'll leave it there for today.

[00:10:33] That's a wrap for another Sunday show.

[00:10:35] Have a great rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow

[00:10:37] where Optimal Life awaits.