<p>SDRL, have you ever had a car where you’ve paid for it and have to pay all the gas, maintenance, and insurance? Those costs don’t really vary all that much by school. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I’d probably charge someone I didn’t know around $10 too, unless I’m already going to the store. As others have said, it’s not just about the car, it’s also about the time it takes to drive and wait for you to shop.</p>
<p>My friend’s gf knows me. Not as well as my friend, but we’ve hung out and talked before.</p>
<p>It’s fine for you guys to think that $10 isn’t a lot. But I’m telling you that for here, it is. It’s twice as much as basically everyone asks for, even for trips that are longer (twice as far as the grocery store).</p>
<p>It doesn’t really matter what “everyone else” asks for. It matters what the person you want to drive you asks for.</p>
<p>True. And I said $10 is too much, but thanks anyway.</p>
<p>I’d rather live off pasta than pay someone $10 to take me to the grocery store. $10 isn’t worth it.</p>
<p>I didn’t have a car at college (a long time ago) and it wasn’t easy.
Keeping a car at college is not cheap either. There’s the cost of the car, gasoline, maintenance, oil, parking fees, insurance.
When my kids get rides home from friends, I give the driver a gasoline gift card, or a Starbucks card and/or home made goodies. It’s a favor to drive them and it helps.
When your friends ask for $10, they want to offset the cost as well as their time. They don’t want to be free chauffeurs.
If $10 is a problem for you, can you exchange favors? Maybe do a load of laundry or cook something special for the friend who drives you?
It needs to be a give and take arrangement or it will take a toll on the driver and the relationship.</p>
<p>I rarely need rides – only when the shuttle is canceled. Never before have I been asked to give $10 in gas money, and I’ve been getting rides from people since freshman year!</p>
<p>I don’t expect anyone to be a free chauffeur – as I said, even with my one friend who absolutely always refuses to take any money for gas, I still always offer it.</p>
<p>Your situation isnt unusual. I had a car for part of my college life, but it always broke down. The bus system was a 1/2 mile walk, so mostly I rode my bike and walked. </p>
<p>Try to adjust your lifestyle away from cars. Food is easy…eat out or buy food a day or two at a time so it will fit in your backpack. Bananas, apples are great. Dont buy heavy stuff like pop milk. When you do get a ride to the store stock up with stuff that doesnt go bad like ramen. I have lived off ramen. Waffle mix for a while. My roomate at only the cheap crappy 8" frozen pizzas, which I wanted desparately, but he wouldnt share.</p>
<p>I live in an apartment and don’t have a meal plan. Therefore, I have to provide all my food for myself. Sure, I can order food once a week or so, and grab food from one of the on campus places other than the dining hall, but that’s way expensive.</p>
<p>I’m not gonna just buy stuff that doesn’t go bad, because of this. I need real food. And real food like fresh fruits and vegetables only lasts for so long.</p>
<p>And as I said, I rarely have a transportation problem because my school provides transportation 2x a week. It’s just sometimes, like last night, the shuttle gets canceled.</p>
<p>@SDRL - I don’t know if you realize that you come across as sounding self-absorbed and unappreciative.</p>
<p>Cab fare in any city for a trip of a couple miles in traffic would likely cost almost $10 each way. I realize that many college towns do not offer taxi service and yours might not. However, this is because they cannot make enough money even charging fares this high.</p>
<p>The IRS calculates that it costs an average of about $0.555/mile just for the use of the vehicle. That doesn’t include money for the time or hassle involved (including finding a parking spot on campus).</p>
<p>I am glad that your story has a happy ending and you were able to get your groceries. I am also glad that you have generous friends who are generally willing and able to help provide transportation. However, the alternative to paying a reasonable fee for transportation is to pay for your own car and others have already noted that this is likely to run hundreds of dollars every month and involve considerable headaches.</p>
<p>Maybe you should consider a limited meal plan.</p>
<p>My daughter walks a mile round trip to the expensive co-op to get her “fresh” food weekly. The prices are higher, but probably no more than what she would pay her roommates or a taxi to go to the regular grocery store.</p>
<p>I received my brother’s old car as an upperclassmen, though I rarely used it for driving to classes. Our school was about 3,700 students, so my longest on-campus walk was about 15 minutes. It was nice for off-campus trips, and for going home. Could have survived without it, though :)</p>
<p>
I don’t think you get what people are saying. The point is that $10 is not unreasonable considering the costs of owning/operating a car. If you are used to getting rides for less, that’s great.</p>
<p>Anyhow, without knowing your location it’s tough to suggest ways of getting to the grocery store.</p>
<p>Suggestion:</p>
<p>When you see you are running out of something, try to go BEFORE you run out. That way, if the shuttle isn’t running THAT night, you’ll still have some left the next day (and maybe even a few days after that), and you’ll have more opportunities to take the shuttle to the supermarket in days to come.</p>
<p>I’m not in college yet, but my top choice is kind of in a rural area, so I’ve thought this all through. I won’t be having a car, either. Just learn how to manage when you go shopping, and you should be fine.</p>
<p>Think of it this way: Without a car, you may have to pay $10 whenever you want a ride from a friend & the shuttle’s not running (or you could avoid getting a ride from that friend and use one of the friends who make you pay less).
With a car, you have to pay for a parking pass (which is usually over $100), insurance, AND gas. Although not having one may be inconvenient at times, you ARE saving money, regardless of whether or not $10 is “a lot at your school”.</p>
<p>your friend actually charged you to give you a ride? none of mine ever do… but i don’t ask for rides that often. or you could get a bf that will drive you everywhere…</p>
<p>You can’t walk? A 5 minute drive is like, 20 minutes, and a bike would cut that down too. You’re essentially getting yourself a subsidized gym membership, if you do that. Also, keep in mind your friend may be spending time taking you when s/he could be studying or working a job.</p>
<p>Check out this site for a breakdown of driving costs: [The</a> True Cost of Driving](<a href=“commutesolutions.org”>commutesolutions.org)</p>
<p>If $10 for a ride, say once a month to the grocery store is a problem for you financially, where are you going to get money for a car? That’s why your comment is getting some flak. Yes, it would be nice for ANYONE to get a car and its costs paid. I need a car right now. But it’s expensive. It’s the same as asking for $XXX. That will get you a car if the Xs are suffiently high.</p>
<p>I already said why I can’t walk. Pedestrians aren’t allowed on the road I need to go on to get to the store.</p>
<p>I also buy a lot of fresh food (fruits and veggies), and those need to be bought pretty much every week because they don’t keep longer than that. I have a ton of non-perishable food, but I try to eat healthily, so I only eat so much of that at a time.</p>
<p>And on which road are pedestrians ‘not allowed’?</p>
<p>Please enlighten me.</p>
<p>You’ve never heard of roads where pedestrians aren’t allowed? Wow!</p>
<p>I-95… No bikes either.</p>