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UberPool got me to Capital Factory for ~$4.50 1-way; $4.50 * 2 trips per day * 20 business days => ~$180/month. I could spend roughly that much on any one of pa

by nthj 10y ago

UberPool got me to Capital Factory for ~$4.50 1-way; $4.50 * 2 trips per day * 20 business days => ~$180/month. I could spend roughly that much on any one of parking, maintenance, depreciation, gas, or insurance. edit: I use the time to clear out email, so it has a not-insignificant time benefit as well, but it's still a win on the raw numbers.

claystu 10y ago
Do you go anywhere else except to work? What about groceries? Doctor's appointments? School stuff? Etc... It's hard to imagine that you never leave the house except for work.
- nthj 10y ago
  Instacart handles groceries for about $100 a year. Drizzly picks up alcohol if we're throwing a party or get-together. Amazon Prime handles almost everything else. Some months are more expensive because of doctor's appointments or an unexpected trip to the Apple Genius Bar and the like, but it's always still a win. I'll get a ZipCar for about $40 if we want to take the whole day and travel about here and there. When we go out in the evenings, I usually order a beer or a cocktail with dinner, so I'd rather not drive; and parking in Austin during the weekend hours can easily be more expensive than the Uber rides. We categorize that under our Entertainment budget because we'd still take Uber for nights out even if we owned a car, but even if I recategorized it as transportation it wouldn't affect the results of the equation. A large part of my lifestyle is subsidized by investors trying to capture a global market (Uber, Instacart, to some extent Amazon), and I recognize that this may not last forever, but I'm happy to game the system while I can.
  - lawnchair_larry 10y ago
    Curious (and somewhat OT), do you actually feel intoxicated after a single beer over dinner?
    - nthj 10y ago
      I'm 120 pounds sopping wet, so regardless of my own opinions on my intoxication level, one standard American pint is enough to cause potential legal issues I am very happy to pay Uber to avoid entirely. http://www.brad21.org/bac_charts.html http://www.brad21.org/bac_charts.html
      - lawnchair_larry 10y ago
        You'd be at around 0.015 over an hour, no chance of legal issues in TX.
- smileysteve 10y ago
  I was in the 2016 LA Dodger's accelerator and spent the better part of 3 months without a car in LA / Marina Del Rey last fall - used Lyft and Uber daily. - Grocery (once a week, group buying). We initially walked the 20 minutes (exercise?) but was $5 lyft / uber away. - Gym, Beach, Marina, often independent, used Uber Pools, occassionally ran the distance. - Office, we'd carpool and was about $10/day in commuting cost. - Getting to specific game day bars, beaches was probably the most expensive (and most traffic) that we encountered, typically $10-$30 each way. - Getting downtown or to Sunset was $10/way one night thanks to Lyft. Pools / Lines were often cheap like this. Lyft weekday promotions helped a bunch. I was very surprised at the end of the program when I realized that other than the commutes to work (otherwise expensed), my regular trips to the beach, downtown la, and Sunset, I spent < $200 on all trips. * Used a Zipcar one day to go to Ronald Reagan Museum * Rented a car one weekend to go rock climbing.
mrits 10y ago
Have you ever taken your SO out to dinner? Driven somewhere just for the fun of it? Bought groceries? There is absolutely no way that Uber is cheaper than owning a car in Austin, and I spent $3000 last year on uber/lyft.

by nthj 10y ago

claystu 10y ago

Do you go anywhere else except to work? What about groceries? Doctor's appointments? School stuff? Etc... It's hard to imagine that you never leave the house except for work.

nthj 10y ago
Instacart handles groceries for about $100 a year. Drizzly picks up alcohol if we're throwing a party or get-together. Amazon Prime handles almost everything else. Some months are more expensive because of doctor's appointments or an unexpected trip to the Apple Genius Bar and the like, but it's always still a win. I'll get a ZipCar for about $40 if we want to take the whole day and travel about here and there. When we go out in the evenings, I usually order a beer or a cocktail with dinner, so I'd rather not drive; and parking in Austin during the weekend hours can easily be more expensive than the Uber rides. We categorize that under our Entertainment budget because we'd still take Uber for nights out even if we owned a car, but even if I recategorized it as transportation it wouldn't affect the results of the equation. A large part of my lifestyle is subsidized by investors trying to capture a global market (Uber, Instacart, to some extent Amazon), and I recognize that this may not last forever, but I'm happy to game the system while I can.
- lawnchair_larry 10y ago
  Curious (and somewhat OT), do you actually feel intoxicated after a single beer over dinner?
  - nthj 10y ago
    I'm 120 pounds sopping wet, so regardless of my own opinions on my intoxication level, one standard American pint is enough to cause potential legal issues I am very happy to pay Uber to avoid entirely. http://www.brad21.org/bac_charts.html http://www.brad21.org/bac_charts.html
    - lawnchair_larry 10y ago
      You'd be at around 0.015 over an hour, no chance of legal issues in TX.
smileysteve 10y ago
I was in the 2016 LA Dodger's accelerator and spent the better part of 3 months without a car in LA / Marina Del Rey last fall - used Lyft and Uber daily. - Grocery (once a week, group buying). We initially walked the 20 minutes (exercise?) but was $5 lyft / uber away. - Gym, Beach, Marina, often independent, used Uber Pools, occassionally ran the distance. - Office, we'd carpool and was about $10/day in commuting cost. - Getting to specific game day bars, beaches was probably the most expensive (and most traffic) that we encountered, typically $10-$30 each way. - Getting downtown or to Sunset was $10/way one night thanks to Lyft. Pools / Lines were often cheap like this. Lyft weekday promotions helped a bunch. I was very surprised at the end of the program when I realized that other than the commutes to work (otherwise expensed), my regular trips to the beach, downtown la, and Sunset, I spent < $200 on all trips. * Used a Zipcar one day to go to Ronald Reagan Museum * Rented a car one weekend to go rock climbing.

mrits 10y ago

Have you ever taken your SO out to dinner? Driven somewhere just for the fun of it? Bought groceries? There is absolutely no way that Uber is cheaper than owning a car in Austin, and I spent $3000 last year on uber/lyft.