Still here? OK, well, in anticipation of the happy day we are once again able to exercise our fundamental right to freedom of movement, I do have some other strategies we can all deploy. In normal times, the average Aussie household spends a whopping $10,800 a year on transport costs, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest household spending survey (which is now about three years old, so add some inflation to that). Buying new cars is the biggest spending item, with the average household spending $2600 a year on new motor vehicles (ie. buying a $20,000 car every eight years). As for vehicle running costs, the average cost per household of petrol is $1950 a year, or just over $37 a week. This is the total cost of petrol spread across all households – including those without cars – so the cost for car-owners, particularly those who travel long distances, can be much higher. Car registration sets the average household (again, including non-car-owning households) an average of $260 a year. Compulsory third party and comprehensive insurance adds another $940.

As for maintenance, households spend an average of $880 servicing their cars each year, plus $190 for new tyres, $55 for a new battery, $180 for vehicle parts and $115 for accessories. Then there's other sundry costs, including drivers license fees ($50 on average a year), roadside assist ($60), car parking fees ($225) and road tolls ($90). By contrast, households in total spend an average of just $300 a year on public transport. For regular commuters or car-less Australians, the costs are higher. I was shocked when I started tallying my own transport costs. When I applied for my home loan late last year, the message was clear: it was time to ditch my $22 a weekday habit of driving to work and paying for parking in the city. Turns out smashed avocados were not my downfall, but a rather expensive parking habit.

I've since ditched the car and now use public transport to get to work and do the school drop-off. With public transport fares capped at $50 a week maximum cost in my city, this should set me back about $2300 a year – less than half what I was paying for parking. Loading How I yearn to catch the bus again! As for the car now sitting largely idle in my car spot, aside from the odd supermarket raid, I calculate it's costing me $6000 a year to run. Ouch! My car budget includes $377 a year for rego, $444 for compulsory third party insurance, $886 for comprehensive insurance, $1500 for two six-monthly services plus parts and repairs, $110 for roadside assist, $317 for tolls (based on my actual spend for the past year) and a whopping $2340 a year for petrol, assuming I fill up a $90 tank every fortnight.