★ Money Challenge #17: Ditch Your Car One Day This Week

This is part of our Weekly Money Challenge series. Be sure to check off any you’ve missed!

Is that a bird I hear? Is that the sun I see? You know what that means... TIME TO GO FOR A WALK! (Or a bike ride!)

This week's challenge: Ditch the car for one day and walk or bike instead.

Think about your daily routine and replace at least one trip this week with walking or biking. What would it take to commute to work by bike? How about the coffee shop, grocery store, or your weekly softball game? For some of you this might be waaaaaaay out of your comfort zone. I'd suggest trying out a Saturday or Sunday to bike/walk your commute route, or just going to the grocery store and back to pick up a few things. If it's been 10 years since you've been on a bike, don't worry about it, just do it. No one is looking at you funny! ;) Ditching the car has multiple benefits... It's good for the environment, the wallet, and your health. For you regular bikers/walkers, what advice do you have, and how has it changed your life? – Derek, Master of Challenges ****** PS: Curious to see how last week’s challenge went? Click here and scroll to the bottom. PPS: Interested to see what types of cars $$$ bloggers are driving these days? Click here :)

Update!

Ditching your car can take planning an creativity. (One of the reasons it makes for a good challenge!) Here's a few wins and challenges we found over in the forums.

Children make this tougher. I can envision a world where I ride my bike to work. (I'm a teacher at my kid's high school.) I can't picture me getting my 15 year old daughter to leave 30 minutes early, and ride her bike to school. There are also a few spots along the way that I would consider a little treacherous for her on a bike. We could easily reduce car mileage with some planning though. There are many days where my car and my son's car go to and from the same high school. The grocery store is a couple blocks from the school and not close to my house. I typically grocery shop on Sunday, but switching that chore to a work day, would save a trip in the car. -Mr.JumpStart

Ditching the car can also be safer and potentially less stressful, though, honestly, I'm mostly on the environment bandwagon for this one. Ditching the car can also significantly reduce your personal liability if you're into wealth preservation. I take public transportation or walk everywhere, and haven't been in a car in a while. That said, I will use the train periodically if I want to travel to a nearby major city, and every few years I take a flight. -NatPhorU

Sound like a plan! We're heading to Port Douglas for a long weekend and bringing the bikes! - Peter

My work is 45 minutes away - by car - on a good day. Ugh. But I did ditch my car yesterday when it was in the shop getting a pre-roadtrip checkup! Downside is that I just took the other car to work. Hm I need to think about this one. -ChiefMomOfficer

I sold my car 4 years ago and never looked back. One of the best decisions I made. My husband still has his car, because he has a job that he can't reach by bus, and he really likes the company. I only work a couple of days a week, and project based, so I'm in different locations, but I always make sure that I can get there by walking, carpooling or public transportation, otherwise I decline the opportunity. That is the beauty of financial flexibility. -PrimalProsperity

Last week I did the 9 mile ride each way to the hospital and back. It's nice to go through the city bike route instead of the busy roads. I need to make more time to do it more often. - HighIncomeParent