Two years ago we went about two weeks without a car when it was in the shop for an extended time. This week, our car is again in the shop with body damage. It's now been 8 days. They promised us about 10 days. So here's hoping they were on target with that estimate. We chose not to rent a car for this period. (And our insurance doesn't cover car rental.)
It's been a little challenging for this past week without a car. My daughters have walked to the bus stop to go to the places they need to be. My husband works from home several days a week, but he did need to go into the office for meetings earlier this week. He normally takes the bus. However, we usually give him a ride to the bus stop. So this was inconvenient for him to not have a car. I've been a true homebody all week. I did a huge grocery stock-up shortly before the car went in. The only things we're low on now are fresh milk and bananas. We're fine, though. We've been using powdered milk the last couple of days and have been inundated with our own fresh produce, even if we don't have bananas. This week is obviously not the norm for us.
Our experience with just one car and four drivers the rest of the year
the good
- one car costs less to purchase than two cars do
- we pay less in insurance
- we car pool places more often, including errands, so we spend less in gas. A side benefit -- going places together more often builds the relationships within our family.
- just one car to take in for general maintenance and repairs
- we need less space for housing one car vs two, freeing up the garage for storage space
the bad
- sometimes two of us need to go in two different directions at the same time. How we've managed that--a third person (usually me) will chauffeur both people to and from, with one person arriving at their destination a little earlier than needed. Or, sometimes one person will take the bus, for the person for whom bus travel works out more favorably.
- with just one car, we don't have the flexibility of having a larger car, SUV, or truck for transporting large or dirty items. When buying our current car, we chose a sedan for gas economy and ease of driving for our then teen drivers. If we were to ever add a second car, we'd look at something larger to use as a secondary vehicle, with the idea we'd transport those large items with it. We've missed out on a couple of yard sale or free pile items that would have been nice to own, such as exercise equipment.
- and of course, like this week, when our one car is down, we don't have a back-up car to count on.
This week of being carless will come to an end soon. I think we'll all appreciate having the car back for our use. I've missed the freedom that having our own transportation offers.
So how about you and your situation? Would you or have you considered downsizing your current number of cars? What opportunities would you miss by having fewer or no cars? Do you live in an area with a good walk score?
I would consider one car if we were close to any public transportation. I don't know of any within miles of here. When we lived in our other house, there was limited bus service available only a few blocks away, and we used the bus sometimes when there were scheduling conflicts. That was when there were four people who had to get to work or school everyday with two cars.
ReplyDeleteI feel fortunate that we can afford to maintain two cars. It certainly makes things a lot easier when I have to go to work and my husband has an appointment somewhere. We do try to coordinate trips and be efficient with our shopping, but that's not always possible.
Hi Live and Learn,
DeleteI agree. Whether or not one car for two drivers would even work depends on many factors. Accessibility to public transportation is a big one.
In my case, I feel like we are just on the edge of being able to make it work. I have an in-person group to get to in.a couple of days. I'll have to leave 45 minutes earlier than I would if I had a car, walk out the mile+ to the bus stop, then at the end of the route, walk a half mile to my destination. It will work out if it's not raining.
One vehicle wouldn't work for our current lifestyle. My job is 34 miles away and my husband works in the opposite direction. There's a bus stop within a mile of our house, but it wouldn't be helpful for our work commute. However, my daughter and I shared a vehicle this past summer. It was doable but I am happy to have my car back to myself now that she's in college. We have shared vehicles with our kids for similar reasons--to save money.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteYour situation is fairly common for many households. If your jobs are in opposite directions, I don't see how you could make it work out.
I'm glad for you that you have sole driver-ship of your car once again.
The biggest thing we did to save money on cars was to move to a state with a FRACTION of the license and registration costs. DH says we get a "free car" worth of savings from that every year; so I recommend anyone thinking of moving to save money, as you've suggested, Lili, definitely look into that and other similar (taxes, fees, etc.) cost of living expenses. They can vary a lot from state/county to state/county. (Our low-income county also has the lowest taxes around, by the way, thankfully.) We probably won't go to one car anytime soon, because we use a pick-up for many things, but that's not as good in our winter weather (though it IS a 4x.) Thankfully, as Live and Learn said, we're fortunate to be able to afford to keep up two (older, self-maintained) vehicles; but that was a calculus in our choice of home location, since I assume we have 0 scores for walking and public transportation here. (3 miles to the nearest business/P.O.) We do alternate vehicle use, to keep up the batteries (a big problem with cars you don't drive often, of course); but we often carpool on disparate errands, schedule eye/dental/chiropractor appointments together, and try to employ many lifestyle choices that save us as much gas/wear-and-tear as possible. Our in-laws recently tried to share their pick-up for the winter, when their 2WD car was not practical, and decided it was not practical. So they changed their second car to a 4WD, and actually save money because the DH sometimes drives the cheaper car, rather than the pick-up, to work, if the DW/MIL don't have plans to use it. HOPE your car is right as rain and back in the garage ASAP, Lili! Sara
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
Deleteyou bring up a very good consideration when looking out of the area for a new home. One of the things I check on houses we like is the last year's property taxes for each home. I also check to see if that state has an income tax. Surprisingly, some states that have a lower COL for home cost, food and utilities have very high property tax and have an income tax. One house that we liked that was less than half of what we could sell our current home for had a higher property tax than we currently pay.
We do talk about if we were to get a second vehicle, it would be something like a truck or SUV so we could move large or dirty things that you wouldn't want in the interior of a car.
We live in a rural area, but I work from home. My husband and I have talked about going to one car after we retire, but sometimes I wonder if doing it sooner would work. We already group errands and try to reduce travel as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
DeleteI can see how downsizing to one car would work in retirement for many couples. There might be the occasional event or appointment that would conflict with the other partner. Living in a rural area eliminates the possibility of public transportation for you. At least where I live, we can count on that as a back-up plan. My husband suggested I get an Uber or Lyft this next week when I have to be somewhere. That's a possibility for places where ride share is available but buses are not.
Good luck to you as you try to decide if this would work for you and you husband.
At this time, I would not consider doing so. In a different stage of life (without 3 teenagers with a variety of extracurriculars and part-time jobs), maybe. I was surprised to find out neighborhood had a higher walkability score than yours, considering we have no sidewalks. I'm an avid walker and usually walk at least 3.1 miles on my easy days, but even so, I rarely walk in my neighborhood other than occasionally around the block. One of the best things about older kids for us has been NOT having to drive everyone everywhere, finally, lol. My husband drives an older pickup truck and goes to work every weekday. I go to walk/hike and/or the gym (free on-post). And then, of course, a few times a year I'm gone backpacking and having only one car would be a real problem then.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, I fully respect your decision to do life with one vehicle and can imagine that it really does save money. And I think it's wonderful that all four of you work together to make it work, which sounds like it is challenging at times.
Hi Cat,
DeleteYes, I think stage of life has a lot to do with the feasibility of living with one car. Years ago, we did have 2 functioning cars, and they were necessary.
Our neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks either. I walk over to the next neighborhood over which does have sidewalks and a lot more sunshine than ours. I don't know for certain, but Zillow's walk score may be whether or not it's walkable to shops and services. Being in relatively good shape, I could walk to the grocery store. But I wouldn't want to and couldn't carry much home with me.
Oh yes, I don't see how you could go on solo backpacking trips with just one car, without your husband having to drive and drop you off, then drive again to pick you up. That would be a real inconvenience for him.
For my family, we're making this work, but we'd really rather have two cars.