Half the Distance to the Goal/Getting Around on a Budget

Whoaaaaaaa, we're halfway there! Seb and I have both spent right around $200 this month, so we're on track! 

Happy Valentines Day to all the lovers out there  ; )

So far my biggest challenges in curbing my spending have been transportation, alcohol consumption in social settings, and my occasional sweet tooth. It's been easier to cut out my purchases on clothes, fragrances, massages, mimosas, and fine leather goods, for example. 

Treat Yo Self, Feb Four Hundo? 

In this post, I'll discuss what I've been doing to keep my transportation costs down. 

Normally, I cruise the streets of Austin on this hog:

   (Mom) I usually wear close-toed shoes, in-case you were worried.

At 80 mpg, gas runs me about $6 a week between work and personal commuting. When I need a little more "towing capacity" I switch over to one of these guys: 

This is a car2go

Car2go is a point-to-point car sharing service, meaning I can pick up an available car2go anywhere on the map below (using my smart phone to make a reservation) and drop it off anywhere within the blue-shaded area. This usually runs me $30-$50 a month including gas and insurance, which are built into the price. 

All mine!

However, this month, I find myself simultaneously in both an unlucky and lucky transportation situation. First, the unlucky: recently someone backed into my scooter while it was parked outside The Violet Crown Social Club (without leaving a note). My insurance is paying for most of the damage, but my scooter has been in the shop since February 2nd. In the meantime, I have had to use my Geico provided Fiat 500 with much higher gas costs and no insurance for some of my transportation needs. 

No insurance, but Geico did throw her in 

To avoid having to drive the uninsured "gas guzzler" to work and pay for parking in addition, I have been taking the bus to work. Between gas for the Fiat and bus passes, I have spent $26 this month, what I normally pay for an entire month of insured transport on my scooter. 

However, every cloud has a silver lining. Last month, I entered and won a tweet contest sponsored by car2go about my fears of going car free. (You can find my winning tweet on January 18th). As a result, I got a free ticket to the recent TEDxAustin, a sweet car2go fleece, and 160 free car2go minutes. 

At TEDx, with the fleece, and the other tweet contest winner @BikeyMeLikey

So far this month, I've used 110 of those minutes (times when I am not using the Fiat, of course) which has saved me about $42. Between my remaning car2go minutes and the money I will spend on gas and bus passes, I may just end up spending what I spend in a normal month. 

I would have liked to have cut my normal transportation spending for the month, but I'll take not having it go up!