Understandable. Consider that one of the biggest things you can do is just buy a smaller vehicle. I gave up my car about 12 years ago, but I'm considering buying something like a Vespa now for errands around town. They get 90+ mpg! If you can't go that small, just try not to buy bigger than what you need for 90% of trips.
For the last decade I've mostly rented vehicles for trips to the coast and things like that. Even if I did that once a month it would be far cheaper than owning a car. I recommend this route to anyone who doesn't want to buy more car than they need.