It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but almost one year ago
to the day I implemented a change in my life that has had a profound
effect. I started biking. Not just to the grocery store or every other
Monday. I started biking everywhere: work,
the store, parties, friend’s places, the beach, even Costco.
My change in energy and reduction in stress should be reward
and fulfilling enough to encourage the change to a bicycle only life
style. However the rewards have gone far
beyond that.
First let’s look at the financial aspect. So far I’ve spent what most people would
consider an enormous amount of money on my bike, accessories, tools, etc. In fact my total comes in at $2,746.01*. That’s everything from the original bike
purchase to the new tires, chain cleaner, and specialized tools. Like I said, many people would look at that
number and scoff! Far be it from me to
point out that driving a car, especially in Japan, will cost you more than
$3,000 a year on just gas and insurance alone, never mind parking, repairs, oh,
and the car itself. The biggest difference however is that my bike is making me money.
I make money a few ways.
The first and most lucrative is from a transportation reimbursement I
receive from my job. Most Japanese
companies will pay for their employees train pass. This money is paid differently depending on
the company but my school pays me monthly for the exact cost of taking the
train daily. Others will give you a big
lump sum and you can buy yourself a one, three, or six month pass usually with
a bit of a discount. My school has opted
to pay the actual daily cost. That’s
fine with me! From my apartment to my
school is ¥450 one way so ¥900 round trip, or about $9 a day. Multiply that by five days a week and every
week I bike instead of taking the train I am pocketing about $45. Put that out over a year and we are talking
about some real money. I have a few part
time jobs that also pay for my train fare when I work there. Again I bike to these locations and pocket
the train fare.
Gympact is the second way I make money. Gympact is an iPhone/Android app that pays
you for working out. You can check their
website for all the details but in general I receive about $1 to $2 a week from
them. Sounds like chump change on a
weekly basis but put that over and year and it’s about $50-$100, just for doing
what I am doing anyway. Easy money!
Last I am able to reduce my expenses by biking. I don’t need to have a gym membership. I don’t need own a car or pay for anything
car related. I am reducing my risk of
health problems in the future. The list
of benefits goes on. This is probably
the biggest category where my bike pays me money. Some might call it the “opportunity cost” but
I prefer the term “opportunity profit”. The choices I am making are freeing up more
money for other ventures like investing.
Because this is difficult to measure however I don’t include any of the
opportunity profit in my following calculation.
One of my main goals when I switched to biking was to one
day have the bike pay for itself. That
is, money I receive as transportation expenses or from Gympact will one day
exceed what I paid for the bike itself.
It might take two or three years but my bike is an asset that pays for
itself over time. Where are we now, one
year from when I started.
Total Cost: $2746.01
Transportation Reimbursement: 1169.28
Gympact: $50.00
Total Cost to me (Total Cost – Transportation Reimbursement
– Gympact): $1526.73
WOW! After just one
year I’m 42% on my way to completely free transportation. This speaks volumes to me that I made the
right choice. If I were try to calculate
any opportunity profit as well I’m sure I would have exceed the cost of everything
months ago.
The cost side of this equation has also stabilized. With most everything I’ll ever need to work
on my bike and haul things around I don’t see the costs ever creeping past
$3300 dollars. Certainly I would like to
get some clip less peddles, and eventually a nice trailer, but even including
the cost of those items a bike has been a huge win all around that will just
continue to help me reach my goal of financial independence.
Here is a break down of everything I’ve bought:
Bike
$1,000.00
Lock
$360.00
Pump
$37.50
Pedals
$20.00
Handle Bar Bag
$126.73
Fenders
$60.64
Lights
$40.00
Breaks
$62.50
Transportation
$10.50
Knog Lights
$100.00
Bike Bag
$162.00
Map Case
$30.00
Break Cleaner
$3.65
Chain Cleaner
$12.00
Brushes
$5.00
Lube
$8.00
Tire
$40.00
Tubes
$50.00
Tire
$36.59
Rack
$60.22
Panniers
$123.68
10mm bit
$11.00
Torque wrench
$32.00
5 Plyers set
$19.00
Shifter
$2.00
Brake cables
$10.00
Bike Parking April
$15.00
3 Month Pass
$44.00
Pannier back pack
$40.00
Trailer
$178.00
3 Month Pass
$44.00
Tool box
$2.00
