One car families??

[grumpy28]

Hey all. Currently we are a 2 car family. We have been for the past 6 years. I am a SAHM, so a car is not vital for me, but it is a nice convienence. DH is considering trading in our 2 cars for a nicer car, so we would lose 1 car. DD school is within walking distance, or she could start taking the bus if need be(I drive her now). Just wondering if anyone else is a 1 car family or has made the switch. It makes me a little nervous to not have a "back up car."

 

[MEM]

We are a one car family. I am the worker bee and I take an express bus to Boston - the stop is two blocks from my house. DH is the SAHD who uses the car for grocery shopping and taking our kids to doctors' appointments and soccer practices.

 

[dturner]

Hey all. Currently we are a 2 car family. We have been for the past 6 years. I am a SAHM, so a car is not vital for me, but it is a nice convienence. DH is considering trading in our 2 cars for a nicer car, so we would lose 1 car. DD school is within walking distance, or she could start taking the bus if need be(I drive her now). Just wondering if anyone else is a 1 car family or has made the switch. It makes me a little nervous to not have a "back up car."

I'm a one car family - DH is a SAHD. We've only had 1 car for the last 13+ years. When DH needs the car he brings me to work. It was a real hassle until I got a car with onstar in it - before that if something happened to the car I couldn't call home for someone to help me as there was no car to come and help me with.

Now, our car has onstar and it's not so bad when I get a flat, etc. - I've had the car since last July and already used onstar 3 times - once the battery ran down, once I had a flat and once the ignition wouldn't work and I had it jump started.

 

[bumbershoot]

We moved to an urban area so we could go to one car. I have to take a bus to get to the less expensive grocery store, but we can easily walk to a different store. Coffee, kid's museum, parks, Chihuly glass museum and the city's art museum, post office...so much is within walking distance. So even when DH was driving to work, it was doable.

Then 5 months after we moved here, hubby got a new job that pays for transit, so now he takes the bus or commuter train every day, and I have the car here. Works out well!

We really like having just the one car.

 

[budbeerlady]

We only have 1 car. It works out alright. It was a real pain the first few months untill we got the hang of it.

I drop Dd off at work at 7am (he starts at 7 and is 5 miles from home.) From there I hit the highway to town and drop DD off at school at 7:40. I hit the highway again to work and am here at 7:55 for my 8am.

I grab groceries at lunch, dd is droped off here by the bus at 4:10. I leave work at 5pm, if Dh is working late I pick him up on the way thru to home. Most often his crew drops him off at home on the way from the job to the shop.

We have half the gas, half the insurance, etc. It works for us but the weekends took some compromise.

 

[grumpy28]

I wish we had public transportation here!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We are a recent one car family. We moved from NC to Washington State and the company would only ship one car. Our second car wasn't worth the expense of shipping, so we sold it before we moved.

Our plan was to buy another car once we were settled, but it has worked out fine with one car and we might keep it this way for awhile. The bus is only a few blocks away and my husband has been taking it a couple of days out of the week. He is enjoying the exercise. The kids and I have dropped him off on bad weather days. The kids are now taking the bus.

It has been a surprisingly easy transition. I even got a flat tire last week, but thanks to AAA I didn't even have to call my husband to help.

It just takes some planning. We don't know if this is what we want for the longterm, but it works for now. No car payments, insurance, gas....we are saving a lot of money.

 

[Chelley00]

We are a one car family. We have a van. DH works nights, then when he gets home with the van, I go to work. We do have a truck that is currently not running and at a friends house being worked on, but when we get it back we may just sell it since we've managed okay without it.

The only problem we have had is that my van had to go in for some warranty work. Thank goodness MIL doesn't drive often and we could borrow her car. My advice is if you go down to one car, make sure you can borrow a backup in case of repairs.

 

[ceecee]

We had one car for 2 weeks while mine was getting fixed. It was really hard with DD's schedule. We walked to school and home, which wasn't bad except for the rain! (we only have bus service if it is over a mile). The hard part was dance lessons two nights a week and girl scouts another, youth group at church (starts at 6:30 and Dh gets home at 6:30). We did get ready to run to the store, got down to the garage and there was no car!

 

[battricia]

We were a one car family, however the one car stayed home with me while my SO took the bus or walked to work. It's 4 miles to his work though and he got sick of walking it when the bus was too full or taking too long to get to his stop. We had a 2nd car that was far away at my mothers house but he decided he wanted to get it back and drive it so now we're back to 2 cars. I think if your DH relies upon that car to get to work then it is not worth it. If you have to go out during the day - say Dr. appointment, or whatever, will you be able to walk or take a bus? Or will he have to take time off so you can have the car? Or you could drive him to work and back and then go pick him up later, but that wastes gas. I think if you live in an area where there is reliable transportation or you can walk anywhere you need to go (grocery store, dr, dentist, etc) then you should do it. If not then I wouldn't.

tricia.

 

[darose1234]

My husband and I are a one car family and have been ever since we were married (10 years). There have been plenty of times it was a pain because of work schedules but it always seemed to work out in the end. We decided that we would rather have the 1 nice new car every so often then to have 2 older cars that break down all the time.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[DisFlan]

We could be. My nice, shiny 8-cylinder pickup sits in the driveway about 95% of the time right now. We drive my DH's 6-cyl Cherokee - this saves a BUNCH on gas. It gets amazingly good mileage. We've never understood exactly why - it gets way more than it should.

I'd love to trade the truck in on a Prius, or even better - a cute little SmartCar! Can we get them in the U.S. now?

DisFlan

 

[lowie]

we are a one car/one driver family. my dh is blind so he doens't drive at all. it definately is good on the budget! we don't really run into any problems with only having one car. i drive him to and from work, unless one of his coworkers drive him, and they are so terrific that offer quite often.

 

[grumpy28]

I appreciate everyone posting their experiences with being a 1 car family. It would be a huge adjustment for us, but it is nice to know that it can work out well (with a bit of planning!).

 

[Local_Girl]

We were a 1 car family for about 9 years. During that time, DH had a job where he had to be gone (with the car) for 4-5 days at a time. We lived in a rural location back then, so it was a bit worrisome, but my MIL was about 15 miles away if we had any real problems while DH was away (we didn't). It required a lot of advance planning to be sure we were prepared for just about anything, LOL!

Now we have 2 cars, and would be hard pressed to go back to one. My kids started at a charter school this year on the other side of town, with no bus service, so I have to ferry them back and forth (we do carpool too). This is a MUCH better school, and my kids are much happier there, so it's worth the extra cost/effort. DH occasionally needs to drive to other locations on the job, so he needs a reliable vehicle also. We do try to consolidate trips whenever possible.

 

[hopemax]

DH and I will have been married 10 years in July, and we've only had 1 car. I don't work and we don't have kids so that helps with the need for a car. DH's first job provided him with a discounted bus pass, so he took the bus leaving me the car. His second job was 1 mile away from our apartment, and they paid him $35 a pay period to walk 3 days a week. And since it was only a mile away, if I needed the car on a day he drove I could just walk over and get it. His 3rd job, was 2 miles away, but it the desert, so I would either take him to work on days I wanted the car, or we would have lunch together. Then we moved to CO, under the impression that he would be telecommuting from home. Unfortunately, he got a 3-month layoff notice 4 days after we got up here (GRRR).

So now as he looks for another job, we are having to contemplate buying a second car, because he won't be able to find something as close as he has been in the past. But with prices these days, I think we will try and hold out as long as possible. The grocery store is right next door to our apartment complex, and there is a large shopping center (Target, etc) about 1.5 miles away. So I can get most of what I need by walking (which is probably better for me anyway).

 

[luv2laugh]

I'd love to trade the truck in on a Prius, or even better - a cute little SmartCar! Can we get them in the U.S. now?

DisFlan

Yes, they're in the US now. I REALLY wanted one, until all the info came out for them! I was so disappointed with the gas mileage, especially for only being a two-seater! I've been looking at other cars, and the Toyota Yaris is at the top of my list now. If I had the money though, I would definitely get the Prius!!

 

[laughinplace199]

We've been a one car family for about 8 yrs now. DH walks to the train and I am a SAHM, so I have the car during the day. The only problems we run into are on weekends due to our kids' activities. We might have DD's dance class and DS's t-ball game at the same time, so we have to work out a plan. It's also a pain when the car needs maintenance or repairs. Luckily, my parents live right down the street, so we can usually work something out so that we can borrow one of their cars.

We'll probably get another car in the next few years as our youngest will be doing sports and activities by then.

 

[DisFlan]

Yes, they're in the US now. I REALLY wanted one, until all the info came out for them! I was so disappointed with the gas mileage, especially for only being a two-seater! I've been looking at other cars, and the Toyota Yaris is at the top of my list now. If I had the money though, I would definitely get the Prius!!

I just checked the mileage on the SmartCar - you're right! I'd have thought it would do better than 30 or 36 mpg. I'd think it would be more like 50 or 60! I'll check out the Yaris, too. Thanks!

DisFlan

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

We are a one car family. I am a SAHM and DH uses the car for work. Both children take the bus to and from school. After school events need to be planned in advance so that I can either borrow my mothers car (she lives 10 doors down) or drive DH to work. I do my shopping in the evenings and on weekends. This helps save on gas also as I plan each shopping trip. The kids ride their bikes to friends. (this was hard on me at first, but I have gotten better at letting them go) It is amazing how much you can save on gas and payments if you are willing to try. I have also started walking to the stores if I need something and this is good for my health (I have a back injury and walking helps). Also its is very good for the environment. Its just a matter of scheduling and getting used to the fact that you don't "have" to use the car all the time. Good luck in your decision.