A Certified Financial Planner Explains Why You Should Sell Your Car
Cars keep poor people poor
Image 1. Chevy Silverado with an ostentatious accessory package parked adjacent to City Hall in downtown Houston. Photo by author.
The highlight of this aggregation post is the recent contribution by Hanna Horvath, the publisher of Your Brain on Money:
Research backs this up. A 2024 study published in Communications Psychology found that across seven countries, people who spent money on experiences derived significantly more happiness than those who spent on material goods. A massive 25-year review of happiness research found that spending aligned with intrinsic values and social connection creates more enduring well-being than spending on stuff.
Decreasing household expenses on cars allows for spending income on other things that might make us happier. Read the essay because it hits all the high notes.
In 2025, What Are Streets For published a brief piece on transportation as a share of household expense. Cars keep poor people poor. However, neither is transportation a fixed expense. The choice of housing location can reduce transportation cost:
The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) offers the broadest set of data for understanding household transportation expense in the US. In addition, CNT notes that household expense and transportation expense are not wholly independent variables.
Some internet publications from 2024 are just as relevant today:
The Hidden Tax: How Cars Secretly Drain America’s Wealth
Study: How Car Ownership is Keeping Americans From Financial Stability