1 car experiment: FAIL

Today I posted at Consumerism Commentary about buying a 2nd car.

We have been surviving with 1 car for the past 6 months. It hasn’t always been easy, but there were some benefits to having 1 car for awhile. The main issue has become the weather combined with my daughter’s Kindergarten pickup.

The problems with having 1 car:

less time to cook dinner
less time to work for me
less flexibility with my husband’s work schedule (we have to drop him off and pick him up when it fits into the schedule)
less time at home, which means the house isn’t kept as tidy
too much time in the car for the kids (they get cranky)
lack of time for exercise (having to drive back and forth to pick hubby up uses an hour every day, time we could be exercising)
hard on the car (the car has more miles on it because we are essentially doubling the commute miles every day)
using more gas (we aren’t saving on gas, we are spending MORE than we did with 2 cars)

Some of the problems involve money. We are spending more on food, gas, and car maintenance than we would otherwise. If I ran the numbers (which I haven’t yet) I would guess that we are spending about $200 more a month in food and gas, and maintenance is likely to add about $50/month. That’s a pretty big chunk of change that could be going towards a car.

Our plan at this point is to start researching and running numbers to see what makes the most sense for us to do. We have a small amount of money saved up, but will be working hard to sell off old stuff, and earn more so that we can find a way to make the 2nd car happen sooner.

Leave a comment and tell me what works for you, and what your suggestions are, or feel free to head over to Consumerism Commentary and join the discussion there.

Kelly

Tagged as: car, consumer, one car experiment

Sara Broers

Depending on your logisitics- one car can make sense. We've never had one car, always had more than one. Living in the country - 10 miles from town- would make one car a pretty hairy deal. But you know, if we had to make it work, I'm sure we would find a way. Things do always work out for a reason.
UPrinting

Now a 2nd car does sound more economical and reasonable than spending $200 more for maintaining just one. It might be a bigger cost now, but in the long run, getting that second car will allow you to save more or use the money for other things. Good luck!
Kosmo @ The Casual Observer

That's a good point about spending more on gas. It's a bit of counter-intuitive to most people. Fewer cars = fewer miles, right? But dropping someone off at work in the morning and picking them up again at night is twice as many miles as if they just drove there and back.

Our commuter car (the only I drive 70 mile to and from work and day care each day) is a 1998 Ford Contour. Older, but looks good and runs good. It has long since been paid off and isn't nickel and diming too bad - a $500 repair about once a year (which sounds back until you divide it by 12 months and compare that $40 amount to a car payment).
.-= Kosmo @ The Casual Observer´s last blog ..Kosmo’s Favorite Sports Moments =-.
@bigguyd

I'm int he same boat...have the one car and am thinking about #2. Mostly stalling because I don't want another car payment. Argh....
Eric

Public transportation? Husband bike to work? (Wouldn't be feasible where I live but...)
Wojciech Kulicki

We're dealing with something similar recently. My older car needed extensive repairs, so we decided to experiment with one car for a while. Even before the birth of our first child, it was hectic, and now it's just getting to be where we're pretty much driving around if we're not at work. There's no time left for anything...

We're scrambling to save up enough for a new second vehicle!
melissa

my husband's DREAM is to only have one car. he talks about riding his bike to work and stuff... then i remind him that we live in NEW ENGLAND and have this little thing called WEATHER and he remembers how impractical it is!
Sheila

I can only tell you my experience with one car--everbody has different needs, different transportation options, etc. We have only one car, but there are only two of us now. My husband usually rides his bike to work. We made the decision when we moved to buy a house close to his job so he can either ride his bike or walk. I do take him to work at least once a week because he has to be there early, and his work is on the way to the gym for me. After we were married in 1981, we had one car until around 1992, I believe. My husband would take the car to work, and the kids to daycare. I would take the bus. When we moved to a smaller town with bad bus service, I walked (except when it was 20 below--then I got a ride with a coworker) to work, and my husband would drive. Sometimes when it was nice, he'd ride his bike, and the car would stay in the garage. (I wrote more, but it was too long)