The Quiet Superpower of a Boring Car

Nobody has ever walked up to me in a parking lot to admire my car. In fact, I think most people assume we must be tighter on cash than they are, because my car is the newest of our vehicles and it is over 17 years old. (gasp!)

It doesn’t turn heads. It doesn’t have the latest technology. To most people, it’s just an older vehicle. For me, it’s (mostly) very reliable transportation that gets me from Point A to Point B.

And that’s exactly why I love it.

The Cost of Owning and Operating My Car in 2025

Every year, I calculate what it actually costs me to own and operate my vehicle. If I asked you what your car costs you, would you know the answer? Most people know what they spend on gas or what their monthly payment is, but far fewer know the true annual cost of transportation once you factor in insurance, maintenance, taxes, registration, and depreciation.

For 2025, my total cost came to $1,627.

Here’s the breakdown:

Expense Cost:

• Gas: $376
• Maintenance: $191
• Insurance: $851
• Tax & Registration: $79
• Depreciation: $130
• Total Cost: $1,627

That number includes everything it cost me to own and operate my vehicle for the entire year.

For comparison, many Americans spend several hundred dollars every month just on a car payment before they ever buy gas or pay for insurance or repairs. Add financing costs, higher insurance premiums, taxes, and faster depreciation, and transportation can quietly become one of the largest expenses in a household budget.

My car isn’t exciting.

But the money it doesn’t require is.

Every dollar that isn’t tied up in transportation can go somewhere that matters more to me. It can fund: another weekend at the beach, supplies to host friend, tickets to CampFI, investments for the future, or simply more flexibility in life.

That’s one of the core ideas behind the Surprising Wealth mindset.

It’s not about spending as little as possible. It’s about spending intentionally. I don’t mind driving an older, reliable car because transportation simply isn’t where I get the most happiness. I’d rather direct those dollars toward experiences, relationships, and buying back my time.

Could I afford something newer?

Yes.

In fact, I’d love to own an electric vehicle someday. I love the idea of not having to go to gas stations, and I can absolutely see one in our future. But when I look at how we actually live, it just doesn’t make sense yet.

I’m a bit of a homebody. My part-time work can be done from anywhere with an internet connection, and most years I drive fewer than 6,000 miles. A majority of the time, a newer electric vehicle would simply be an expensive piece of equipment sitting quietly in the driveway while continuing to depreciate.

One day, I’m confident I’ll make the switch. Maybe even sooner than later. But today, I’d rather keep driving a reliable car that’s already paid for and put those extra dollars toward something that excites me even more.

People sometimes ask what I spend that money on instead. (Ok, almost nobody asks this, but I wish they would!)

The answer is simple.

I buy free time.

The biggest “purchase” we make each year isn’t a newer vehicle, home upgrades or the latest gadgets. We buy assets that gradually reduce how much we have to work for money in the future. Every dollar invested today is another little employee working on our behalf tomorrow.

That trade-off is incredibly exciting to me.

So while my car isn’t flashy, the life it’s helping us build certainly is.

Considerations this year: I traveled less in my car due to loosing access to a family beach property that was sold last year. Mainenance was minimal with just an oil change, cabin filter, wiper blades and such. My AC is failing, so a pricy repair is expected sometime soon.

One number I found interesting this year was my business mileage deduction. I drove 2,807 business miles in 2025, resulting in a tax deduction* of $1,965 using the IRS standard mileage rate. The deduction exceeded my entire annual cost of owning and operating my vehicle. That’s $338 more in tax deductions than our actual expenses to own my car. A secret part of me gets a little thril when this happens. A subtle win. A little (prefectly legal) cheat code for paying less taxes.

Every year I continue tracking these numbers, not because I’m obsessed with squeezing every penny, but because measuring the things that matter helps me make better decisions. Sometimes the biggest financial wins aren’t flashy at all. Sometimes they’re quietly sitting in your driveway.

P.S. There’s another reason this old car has become one of my favorite financial decisions.

Seven years ago, I had enough cash saved to replace it. Instead, we used that money as the down payment on a rental property. We recently sold that investment, and the results still amaze me. I’ll share that story in my next post.

*Just a quick reminder: A tax decution (a reduction in the amount of income you are taxed on) is not the same as a tax credit (a direct reduction in the taxes you owe)

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