Today, there are around five million passenger cars in traffic around Sweden. And when it comes to the cost of transport and vehicles, it is one of Swedish households’ largest expenditure items.
On average, Swedish households spend around 15 percent of their income on transport and means of transport.
According to Statistics Sweden (Statistics Sweden) namely transport is the second most expensive expense in Swedish households, after household costs such as rent, electricity and heating.
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Expensive transport costs? So you can cut them
Although we spend large sums on transport, it is possible to reduce expenses. At least that’s what the private economist thinks Arturo Arquez.
In an interview with TV4 he explains that there are approaches that can cut your and the household’s costs in half – every month.
– We have looked at what it costs to rent a car and if you rent a car today for a day and drive a maximum of 15 miles, it costs around SEK 1,500. If you take a taxi instead, you rarely travel more than 15 minutes or ten kilometers, and it costs approximately SEK 350. Play with the idea that you live in a big city such as Stockholm, where there are 6,000 taxis, so there are plenty of taxis and access to both rental cars and car pools, he says.
He believes that if you can and want to consider not buying a car, new or used, the options of rental car, taxi and car pool can reduce expenses for both you and the family.
– By considering not buying a new car but instead renting a car once a month or taking a taxi five times a month, you can cut your transport costs in half. Depending on where you live in the country and how access looks like on the options, you can therefore halve your car costs very easily.
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According to private economist Arturo Arques, it is cheapest to own neither a new nor a used car. If you have the opportunity, you should instead think about whether you can get by on a few taxi trips, a rental car or being a member of a car pool. Photo: Screenshot TV4 By not buying a car, you can save thousands. Photo: Vilhelm Stokstad/TT That’s how much you spend on transport
But how much in kroner and ören can it be that you spend on transport, based on Statistics Sweden’s calculation that 15 percent of income is spent in Swedish households?
Let’s say you earn SEK 40,000 a month after tax. Then you spend SEK 6,000 a month on transport.
If you have a net income of SEK 30,000 a month, this means that your household spends SEK 4,500 on transport.
If you instead earn 25,000 after tax, your household spends an average of 3,750 kroner on transport.
And you who earn SEK 20,000 after tax spend an average of SEK 3,000 on transport.
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That’s how much you can save on transport
How much can you save by not owning a car?
It turns out that, depending on your net income, you can save thousands of kroner every month – if you choose to follow Arque’s tips.
In that case, it would mean that you who earn 40,000 after tax can halve the transport cost from 6,000 kroner to 3,000 kroner.
If you instead earn SEK 30,000 after tax, it can result in a reduction in household expenses from SEK 4,500 to only SEK 2,250.
You who earn 25,000 after tax reduce your expenses to 1,500 kroner and you who earn 20,000 after tax reduce the transport cost by 1,125 kroner.
In other words, if the opportunity and space are available based on your private circumstances, it may be worth thinking through ownership and purchase of a car.
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