Has anyone gone from owning two cars to one?

Was it hard to do or easy?

I would love to be able to get rid of one of ours for numerous reasons (maintanence, gas, insurance, etc.) but have not felt comfortable doing so. With me being a SAHM, it just doesn't seem all that necessary to own two cars when most everything is within walking distance. Just curious to see if anyone else made the transition.

We have been a 1 car family since dd was 1 month old (she's 5 1/2 now). It wasn't by choice when it happened (dh totalled our 2nd car and we didn't have the money to replace it) but we have chosen to keep it that way. My dh works less than 10 minutes from home and comes home for lunch every day. If we have somewhere to go, we just take him back to work after lunch, run our errands, and pick him up at 5:00. We are rarely ready to go anywhere before he comes home at 11:30, but if I do have to then either we get up and take him to work at 8:00 or he runs the car home when we need it. We're lucky his job is flexible like that, and it only takes about 20 minutes to get here and back.

It also works for us because we have a lot of family living in our subdivision. If I need to I can borrow a car from my sister, parents, or grandparents, or they can give us a ride somewhere. That rarely is necessary but it's nice to have that option as a back up. Overall having just one car has worked well for us. I don't wish it had been different (unless we were loaded and $ wasn't an issue, of course). It's been nearly 6 years now, we have a second child, dd is starting school, and we're overall getting more busy. It still works fine for us now but we're hoping to get another car by next summer. I'm going to hate the extra cost of a second car though.

I should also add that having only one car has forced me to plan our errands and appointments wisely, and we don't just go out shopping because we're bored. THAT saves us a LOT of money. We find other things to keep us busy such as walking or riding bikes around the neighborhood or visiting friends and family that are within walking distance.

Anyway, enough rambling. To answer your question - yes we've done it, yet it was easy, and yes I think you can do it too. Good luck!

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Jennifer
dd Sarah 1/4/02
ds Brady 1/15/07

We were a one car family for about 4 years after my oldest son was born, but we lived in a small city on a bus route, so I actually kept the car and my dh took the bus to work in the morning and I picked him up at night. The resaon we downsized was because we realized that his truck was only being used about once or twice a month. Even when he had it he took the bus because parking was so expensive where he worked.

I think a lot depends on your situation if you are going to be the one carless. Do you know a lot of people nearby? Even though everything is within walking distance, will you actually walk there with the kids? (I can walk to the grocery store where I live now but I think I have done it twice - I just don't see me walking back home with two kids AND a bunch of grocery bags.) I think you can start to feel very isolated if you do not have a strong social network in place already. I lived in a city away from all of my family and I hadn't been there long enough to have friends I could call if I really needed a ride somewhere - most of my friends were people I knew from working before my son was born, and they were all at work during the day.

Now we have two cars because we live more out in the country in a town with no public transportation. Our second car, however, is an older model smaller car. Insurance and registration for it is hardly anything compared to what it is for my van.

I would like to, but my husband goes out of town for work just about every week and I need a car to get around while he's gone. I do live on a bus route but the bus does not go where I need it to.

We were a no-car family for almost six years. We made sure we lived within walking distance to work (we worked at the same place). The most difficult part was getting groceries but we were able to order through the internet and have them delivered. Other times, we would walk to the grocery store and take a cab back. This was in Boston, which also has great public transportation.

We are a one-car family now, since there is no other way for my husband to get to his job which is outside of the city. It's a luxury having a car! He carpools with a couple of people who live nearby so I have the car when I need it for doctor appointments or whatever. Since we live in the city, we are within walking distance of everything we need. I take a nice walk for a few groceries every morning, and do the big shopping trips on the weekends.

In emergencies (like if one of our cats needs to go to the vet), or if he can't carpool on a particular day, I take a taxicab where I need to go, and I've had friends offer lifts (don't take them up on it very much, though). It's not difficult at all for us.

Good luck, you can do it and it will save a lot of money!

Going one car is a major readjustment from the standard American lifestyle. I have done it twice. This second time as a major simplification project whereby I quit work and focused on home and husband. I am actually sane now.

When I had babies and no money, we had one car, but I wanted the security of transportation in case anyone got sick or hurt. I would get up at ungodly hours to take my husband to work. I was expected to "take care of everything" because I was home and had the car. This turned out to be a major source of friction in our marriage.

Now, on my second marriage to a wonderful man and kids gone, I stay home without a car, walk a lot and we enjoy doing errands together.

Going one car saves a ton of money.

Cathleen

thanks for the feedback! One of our cars that is older probably won't make it another year and I just dread getting a replacement especially if it is going to sit in the garage alot. I have most of family in town with me and some are only a block away so I know I can depend on them if needed.

We have two, but I don't think we would be affected that much to go down to one. I'm pretty much a hermit! and I could always drive dh to work if I needed it that day.