I was glad to see a large section on cars. When I was poor this was a constant issue for me and it wasn't until the very end of my time in poverty that I realiz

I was glad to see a large section on cars. When I was poor this was a constant issue for me and it wasn't until the very end of my time in poverty that I realized I could just not have one. Obviously, you can't "just not have a car" while not changing anything else about your life. My realization was that I should change literally anything and everything about my life to maximize my ability to survive without owning a car. That is to say, owning a car for a poor person is far more onerous than changing your life around to not need one. This means choosing housing, employment, child care and everything else around the decision not to own a car. This decision was life-changing. Cars are very expensive. If you are poor, you cannot afford to own one. Full stop. Think of basically anything else that costs as much as a car costs and then ask yourself if a poor person should buy that thing. Your answer will be no. It should also be "no" with respect to a car. The writer of course highlights the relevant tradeoffs. Owning a car is very convenient, so most poor people think, well, however hard it is to own this thing it's still a net win. My experience tells me this is wrong. It was not a net win and I wish I'd have figured that out sooner.