Meet Red Betty.
This pretty little lady is the common property of five lucky households here in downtown. Mr. Seamless and I went down to Holly Springs to pick her up today from the guy who sold her to us.
The idea is, we each pitch in 1/5 of the purchase price, plus an annual maintenance fee. The truck lives at Ms. Why's house, since she has a nice big driveway for it, and we use a Google calendar to reserve her for up to 4 hours at a time - the only rules are that you don't take her outside the Triangle, and you bring her back full of gas.
This is so brilliant for so many reasons, not the least of which being that it wasn't much of a financial investment at all, yet we now have access to a pickup truck whenever we need it. Load of mulch? Cleaning out the shed? Trip to the household hazardous waste collection site? MOVING? We've got it covered. But you don't have to go out and buy your own truck.
We also have an amateur mechanic in the group, so hopefully the maintenance won't kill us.
What we haven't quite figured out yet is whether/how to rent her to friends for their hauling, mulching and moving needs. If you've got a co-op beater truck, it seems like a pretty good idea for lots of folks to get plenty of use out of her. On the other hand, if her dance card is pretty full we may not want to share her. She is such a little cutie. We might get jealous.
she's so fine!
Now I want to go co-op on all kinds of other practical items: lawnmowers, hedge-clippers, sanding belts, screen printers, internet service... the list goes on. There's no point in having four or five of each of these things, when one would serve so many! I would love to hear about what kinds of stuff you & your friends go co-op on, whether to save money or just tread a bit more lightly.
That is an ingenious idea. I need to find ways to incorporate that type of thinking in my life.
ReplyDeletebrilliant! brilliant! brilliant! And how 'come I never thought of that?
ReplyDeleteKristy -- who's blogger account will now no longer let me leave comments...
I wish I could take credit for this great idea! Mr. Seamless is our genius leader.
ReplyDelete(oops I think I deleted my origial comment - here you go again)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea - and who doesn't love a beat-pickup truck? Reminds me of the truck we had as a kid.
I do the whole zipcar thing which works really well for the occasional jaunt.
What a good idea! I wanted to try the aforementioned zipcar thing a few years ago and realized that most of my car needs were the unplanned kind.
ReplyDeleteA lot of folks I know who drive SUVs justify it by saying that they use the large hauling space, even though that might be only twice a year. If only all those folks would just share a SINGLE large vehicle and used more efficient models for their more everyday use. And, one might mention, public transport and good ole walkin'.
That is an ingenious idea. I need to find ways to incorporate that type of thinking in my life.Cars for sale ads
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