Can we get by without a car?

We live outside Glasgow and do fine without a car.  We order our groceries online and take public transport or walk.

We'd like a car, but there's a lot of other things we'd like better so for now its public transport!

Thanks everyone for all of your input so far.  We will be paid in USD, but it will go into our credit union account and we can withdraw it in pounds if/when we need to.  We can afford a car with the budget we have, but if we can get by without one, we'd just really rather use that money elsewhere.  Seeing how we'll be away from all of our family (we're both Americans), I'd rather have extra money for more enjoyable things than to spend it all on a car that we won't use very often.  Anyhow, it's been great to read all of your responses with your thoughts and own personal experience.  I figure we can at least give it a try and if it seems to difficult or just not feasible, we can always get one later.

Melissa

The good news is, if you do decide to get a car, second-hand cars can be really inexpensive here!

The good news is, if you do decide to get a car, second-hand cars can be really inexpensive here!

Thats my impression also. Can't figure out why though?

Thats my impression also. Can't figure out why though?

I'm the other way around, having just moved from the UK to the US, I can't figure out why second-hand cars here are so expensive. I've seen several adverts selling cars that are 10-15 years old, around 100,000-150,000 miles on the clock and people want at least $3,000 or $4,000 for them!

I bought a car in the UK about a year and a half ago - it was 11 years old, had 80,000 miles on the clock and I paid £800 for it.

That's an excellent point.

The car I drive works fine and cost £200 and that's it. Secondhand cars are cheap as chips and you should be able to buy one outright and maintain it for £100ish/month if you wanted to.

And after a while if you decide you don't need it, sell it on.

I know people do it, but I wouldn't be thrilled about being without a car in the wintertime. You're just going to be soaked through and freezing constantly.

Maybe not constantly, but don't tell me you haven't. 

Last summer I took the bus for a month because my car died and I wanted to see if I could get around town without a car. Town is 5 miles away and during that time there was construction going on between our place and town, and many of the pedestrian crossings weren't working. An average trip to town on foot took about 1.5 hours, which isn't always practical timewise.

We were trying to take the bus back from town and the bus driver decided to argue with a young woman over her age. She was boarding the bus using some kind of low cost I.D., and the driver wanted proof of her age.

The bus was Calcutta packed, we were 30 minutes later leaving and it was August. Two blocks from our house my infant daughter vomited all over herself and where we were sitting on th bus. I think she got too hot and became nauseated.

Two days later I found another cheap car!

I live in Scotland and manage fine without a car, where you're moving too will probably have better public transport than where I live too!

I'm not going to tell you I've never got wet in the rain but that wasn't because I didn't have a car, it's because it was raining! 

Ah, but you're far more likely to get wet and cold while waiting at a bus stop, correct? Than riding in a car of course.... 

Have you talked to the people in your church to see what they think?  I got by fine without a car for my first year here, but I will admit that it was hard to get used to at first since I was used to driving everywhere.  I now have a car because I am required to for my job since I have to go to a variety of people's homes all over the county.  I find that it has also helped my church responsibilities immensely--making it much easier to get out to outlying members of my congregation if they need a helping hand.  I could probably get by with public transport, but it has helped (we just bought a cheap second-hand car for £575 and have had about £400 in maintenance since August).

I would talk to people at your church and find out what they think about how flexible you can be there with transportation, but it sounds like you will do fine initially with walking and public transport then you can make the decision as you get here if you want to buy a second-hand car later.  I suspect you could get by without a car. Good luck!

If you own a coat and an umbrella, Britain is not incredibly cold or wet.

hey! i'm a youth pastor/worker in Scotland too! I'm outside of Glasgow but I did fine without a car...for a year. But then it got hard to take the young people I work with bowling or to the beach/cinema, etc and I work in a school too (behaviour support) and needed a car for that...but mine is cheap. A lady in the church gave me her car, so it would actually be worth it to ask around. I pay a little under £75 a month in petrol and my insurance is quite cheap (£75 month) and as I drive a Micra, the car tax is cheap too...it does eat out of my budget, but I'm glad I have it. Mainly it made a difference because I got tired of getting groceries in the pouring rain and having unreliable bus services (it took an hour and a half to journey to Tesco and back including shopping time, now it takes 1/2hr) but perhaps the busses are better where you are. Like others have said, a second hand car can be bought cheaply. I took driving lessons and passed my UK exam (4th time though lol) and yeah, I'm glad I have a car for the convinience and also that it makes a wee bit of a difference in driving youth around to events and stuff.

I pay a little under £75 a month in petrol and my insurance is quite cheap (£75 month) and as I drive a Micra, the car tax is cheap too...it does eat out of my budget, but I'm glad I have it.

Is your Micra fairly new?

I ask because I drove an N-reg Micra last year and my insurance was about half what you're currently paying. Mhy policy was about £460 for a year and was actually fairly pricey because it was my first policy and I was under 25. Since I've moved to the US, my parents now own the Micra and they were able to take out an insurance policy on it for themselves for only £12/month!

We are moving to Scotland on June 4th to work as youth pastors at a local church. 

hey! i'm a youth pastor/worker in Scotland too!

Off the car topic, im afraid, but.. I'm curious to know where you guys are finding all these 'youth' to minister to?   
When I've been to church, there have been very few people there, and no one who looked under age 50.   I can only think of  2 people that i know who go to church.

   I can only think of  2 people that i know who go to church.

That's 2 more than me.