Be Frugal and Use Public Transportation

by MoneyNing

I’m in Canada and my grandfather is doing better now even though he will still be in intensive care for another few weeks.  It is a sign of relief for the whole family and hopefully it’s nothing but good news from here on out.

Every day, we have a 35 km (approximately 22 miles) ride to the hospital.  We did some calculations and we are literally spending $20 on gas (our car in Canada still wastes tons of gas) and another $19 on parking every single day.  Since it is a full day event, we leave approximately 9am and leave around 5pm.  So the rush hour traffic was not helping make it any faster nor cheaper!

Today, we decided to take the subway from now on.  We figured that the expense would be as follows considering that we have to drive to the subway station:

  • $2 gas for driving to the subway station
  • $5 parking (to park our car there)
  • $16.50 (two way fare for 3 people)

This means that we will save $15.50 per day, not to mention that we don’t have to waste our energy to drive in traffic.  Too bad there’s no way to ride the bus to the subway station since we would save even more money!  In our case, it might even be faster than driving the whole way since Toronto traffic is EXTREMELY bad during rush hours.  It’s very surprising to me since I live close to Los Angeles and I’m used to traffic!

So to save money, energy and time, be frugal and use public transportation!

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Early Retirement Extreme December 13, 2007 at 9:39 am

Great advice. I would ditch the car in a heart beat if it wasn’t for DW. For shorter distances ( 10 miles), bicycles are great. For even shorter distances (1 mile), walking works.

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Money Blue Book December 13, 2007 at 1:49 pm

Yup, already there! I’ve been a lifelong public transportation commuter..not by preference really. It’s just impossible to drive through rush hour traffic.
-Raymond

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Emily December 13, 2007 at 2:34 pm

I am from Asia and used to take public transportation daily. I think it’s a good way to save your time and money, not even mention how we can save the earth! : ) Good sharing!

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Arjun December 14, 2007 at 9:42 am

Hey, nice site. Just checked it out today, but looking forward to seeing what else I could find. Just wanted to mention that you CAN take the bus to the subway station. Almost every station has buses leading to them. Since you mentioned that you’re in Toronto at the moment, check the http://www.ttc.ca. It has the routes and directions to get to where you want. Hope that helps, and also that your grandfather gets better!

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Fiscal Musings December 14, 2007 at 4:20 pm

I’ve done both. I usually drive myself everywhere just for convenience, but every once and a while I’ll use public transportation. It depends on the situation I suppose.

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MoneyNing December 16, 2007 at 8:49 pm

Early Retirement: I’ve been thinking about riding the bike. I should seriously consider this for next year!

Money Blue Book: I think many people in cities take public transportation because of traffic too. It ends up being more predictable even though it’s slower right?

Emily: It’s definitely more green!

Arjun: We are actually pretty north so it would take us forever just to get to Finch station. That’s why we take the 404 down to Finch station.

Fiscal Musings: I think once I get used to public transportation, I will use it all the time. I love my car but it’s not a must have if I can ditch it to save more money.

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Roy Moussaieff July 21, 2008 at 12:59 pm

We at publicroutes.com provide transit planning. In our planning, we take scenario’s similar to your’s to provide intelligent routes that help travelers cut down on time & money.

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Andrew @ Financial Services November 10, 2009 at 6:14 am

I’m all for public transport but I think having your own vehicle has it’s own advantages. It all depends on your lifestyle.

Public transport pros:

You can sleep during the trip.
You won’t get tired driving.
You can help lessen emissions.

cons:

Terribly inconvenient when there’s bad weather.
You can carry and leave stuff in it.
Relatively much more comfortable.

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Miguel @ Great Stops November 19, 2009 at 2:44 pm

Smart move. The big thing is that you actualy acted on this. I know a lot of people who relalize that the can save money by using public transportation, but refuse to use it because they think it is “for other people”. I think public transportation is a great way to stretch your dollar and take stress out of your life. No rush hour traffic! :)

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