photo credit: thienzieyung
Today I posted at Consumerism Commentary about buying a 2nd car.
The 1 car experiment has failed.
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
photo credit: moonrat42
3 months ago we made the decision to become a 1 car family. In August, we took my husband’s car in for a checkup since it was making a weird sound. The car needed about $3,000 in repairs and we felt it wasn’t worth the cost of repairing it. We sold the car to our mechanic, and have been using 1 car for all our needs ever since with the exception of 2 weeks. The reprieve from 1 car came when my parents went to visit my grandmother. They left their 2nd car with us, which was useful since it rained almost every day those 2 weeks.
I haven’t been walking as much as I thought I would, though. While our house is close enough to walk to many places I’m finding it difficult to find the time. I’ve entered a busy period of work, so juggling home, family, and work has been more urgent than trying to make more effort to walk.
How I get from here to there
Walking:
- home from school mid-day on days when I have no car (no bus service available)
- walking the dog
Driving:
- work (husband): Monday-Friday
- resource center that my homeschooler attends Wednesday and Friday
- grocery store: we prefer to shop at a grocery store that is about 3 miles away, and monthly or when I’m in the area I will make stops at Trader Joe’s and Costco.
- work (me): on Sunday mornings
- pick up for 5 year old from Kindergarten on the days I have the car, or rainy days
- other errands
- family outings
1 car lessons: what I learned from ditching our wheels
Stay home
In many ways having one car has made me be more focused on our home, and being in it, rather than constantly going out to do errands or meet with friends. Much of our monthly budget goes towards our housing costs, so it seems sensible to be home. here are some things I do with my time at home:
- Play with the kids or pets: This is the best use of time in our house since a little attention goes a long way to everyone playing nicely and quietly while we get things done.
- Clean the house: Most of us don’t dust the baseboards and the walls each week. Take some time to do a good deep clean for a room in your house. It’s amazing how much better it makes you feel.
- Fix it/paint it/redo it: Find an area in your home that needs sprucing up, or that has a problem, and tackle it. Maybe you can find a use for that old can of gray paint, or finally fix that broken lock on your bathroom door.
- Start a side business from home: Start a side job to earn extra money using skills you already have. Like a writer who starts a blog, or a computer programmer who starts a consulting business.
- Brush up on a skill/learn a new one: Whether it’s learning to develop iPhone apps, or learning to knit; there is no shortage of things you can learn. Some great places to look: iTunes, Amazon, or borrow a book from the library.
- Declutter: Organizing is a great way to find some extra cash in the form of stuff you don’t need, and find duplicates of everyday items like glue, tape, and even coins that are hiding around your home.
Consolidate shopping & errands
How do we get it all done with only one car?
- Plan ahead: Plan your meals, plan what you need to purchase within the next month. It’s great for budgeting, and for making sure you don’t forget something. If you have a spouse who shares in shopping and errands make a googledoc that you can share to avoid duplicates, and to ensure that when your spouse goes to the pharmacy he will pick up your prescription refill.
- Map out your errands: Take the time to figure out where you need to go, and what stops you will make when. For fuel economy purposes, go to the furthest errand first. If the grocery store is far away, take a cooler or get cooler bags.
- Make a list and stick to it: Keep a running list, and stick to it when you go out. If you think of something else when you are out write it down. If you are like most people, chances are likely you already have at least one at home.
I prefer to my grocery shopping on days when I only have my youngest child with me, or I will go in the evening. In our area Wegman’s is open 24 hours, and Trader Joe’s is open until 9pm every night.
Staying sane
With 4 kids, 3 pets, and a busy schedule it’s not always easy. Add the logistics of one car living and that sound you just heard was my brain exploding. It is possible to stay sane though, some tips for staying sane:
- Get outside as often as possible: Connecting with nature is a balm for your soul. Sounds cheesy, I know but it’s, but it’s also true.
- Create a haven: Choose somewhere that is quiet and neat. You need somewhere you can retreat to when the rest of your home is messy, disorganized, or chaotic.
- Find at least 10 minutes a day you can be completely alone/with people: If you live with others it is key to get at least a few minutes of alone time each day, even if it’s just in the shower. If you live alone, find a way to be around other people for at least a few minutes each day.
- Get out of the house when you can: Take advantage of things you have to do outside of the house, and plan to spend time with friends, on family outings, or date nights with your spouse.
Personally, I tend to get stir crazy after being home for days in a row, so I try to take time at least once a week to go outside of the house for a bit alone. Usually it involves working from a coffee shop, going out with friends, or the aforementioned late night grocery store run.
Could you do it?
It hasn’t been easy, but it has been entirely possible. We have not run into a situation yet where having 1 car has caused a major problem. Could you make one car living work? Do you aspire to one or no car living?
Kelly
For ideas on making one car living work for you, and lots of great commentary head over to Wisebread where I wrote, “Can You Survive with One Car in Suburbia?”
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the object of the hubby’s intention
photo credit: Mrs. Gemstone
I almost fell over last week when my husband uttered these words: “I think we should go to one car for a year.” <cue my jaw dropping to the ground>
I knew he was committed to paying off debt, like me, and that he was willing to try going to one car, but a year?! That was way more than I hoped for.
We have a great relationship, but let’s just say we’re BOTH pretty good at spending money, and justifying it to ourselves and each other. Unfortunately two spenders does not make a marriage richer.
He knows what he wants to replace our dead car. He knows what it will take to make that happen, and make sure that we aren’t killing ourselves just to make a car payment.
The first step is to sell the old car.
Fortunately our mechanic offered to buy it, we’re planning on working that deal out in the next week or two. We could sell it via Craig’sList or the like, but to be honest I don’t feel comfortable selling it to just anyone. It’s not safe in the condition it is in(the axle needs to be replaced, if it isn’t the wheel will literally fall off while someone drives it), and we know he’s going to put the work into it needs. Yes, he’ll get a profit, but not an obscene one. The labor charges are why we won’t have it fixed, but he can do it for about $700-1,000+ in parts and get about $1,000 for his investment.
That money will immediately go into a new ING Savings Account, called Hubby’s New Car. We’ll also be adding a minimum of $200/month to that account. Automatically saved, of course.
Next, we’ll focus on paying off my car which has a huge monthly payment thanks in part to a series of expensive, stupid mistakes we made years ago. Buying the car that died, and then having 2 more babies, and then leasing a van, and THEN buying a van. (you can blame this all on me since I’m the one with the womb)
In about a year we should have a paid for car, a sizeable downpayment, and better credit scores which will make buying a car and taking on a payment much easier to swallow.
Ideally we would be able to stick with one car, or fully pay for the car in cash, but we have other goals that need to be met at the same time so we’re taking a multiprong approach.
The hubby found out last week that Honda may be releasing a Honda Fit Hybrid in Fall 2010. So that’s our goal, and I think having something tangible to help us save, and pay off debt will be really, really good for us.
This month is an easy month for us, we’re on vacation this week, and have no obligations during hubby’s work hours until school starts August 31st. That’s when the real fun will start. I’ll be updating you monthly on how our one car lifestyle is working, and what we needed to do to make it work for us.
Changes we’re making due to a one car life:
- “investing” in exercise wear: since I’ll be walking at least 4 miles a day come September I need to “invest” in some clothes to wear for walking. My new gear is all mommy-workout friendly. Yoga pants, breathable materials, and a new pair of shoes are also on my list.
- tuning up the stroller: I’ll be using it daily, so we’ll spend some time tuning up my AWESOME Mountain Buggy Urban Double Stroller.*
- creating a car schedule: So hubby doesn’t stress if we need the car, I’ll stick to 2 days a week where I take him into to work and pick him up.
- pre-planning errands: I’ll plan errands for times when I’m without the kids, or with less of them, and all our errands will get done in one or two trips.
What about you, how do you deal with car purchases? Do you prefer older, used cars or new cars that you keep for 15+ years? Or are you carless, or a sharing a car? Anything you think I’ve missed in terms of planning for a one car lifestyle?
Kelly
*This is an Amazon affliate link, but I did not pay that much for a stroller. I paid about half that price. 
