Last week I shared our story of becoming a 1 car family. It’s been a month since we sold the truck and there’s only been one time we needed to compromise. I spoke at a retreat out of town 2 weekends ago so hubby was at home all day with the kids and no transportation. While he wasn’t really looking forward to it, he admitted that it really wasn’t that big a deal to stay home for the day.
This week I thought I’d share some comments from you all about how you have made it work to be a 1 car or no car family.
Rachel says: Lots of planning and compromise.
Elizabeth says: It has made us closer. We do more together- run errands, shop and go to appointments together.
Christine says: Prepare to go through what I call the “frustration period”. I would get up and begin to walk outside as if I was going to the car and ugh, no car!!! But we lived and are happier for it.
From watching several other one car families I’ve picked up these tips:
Use carpooling or public transportation for work, carrying a lunch to avoid the person with the car having to come get you.
Don’t allow a stay at home spouse to become a “human taxi cab” just to transport everyone else to their needed locations throughout the day.
Arrange for carpooling with other parents from the same school. Plan errands on the days you have carpool duty so that on the days you don’t have carpool duty you can stay home and your spouse can take the car.
I was surprised by how many other families do not have a car or have just 1. I think it’s a common misconception in today’s society- even if we always see families together in one vehicle – there must be another car at home. That’s definitely not so, it just takes a little bit of planning and forethought- just like couponing!
If you’re debating about making the change to become a 1 car family instead of a 2 car family, I’d recommend keeping a travel journal. Keep a small notebook or calendar in each vehicle and note the times that car is away from the house, where and who was with it. Compare them at the end of a couple weeks to see where times overlap that both cars were away from home. See if there are other options during those overlapping times. Can 1 parent cover both trips? Can a friend or neighbor help with carpooling? Can those trips be moved to different times or avoided all together? Chances are good that it will be an easy decision after comparing the journals. Either it will become obvious that the few times of compromise are worth the savings, or that there are too many times of compromise to make it work right now. If it won’t work for you right now, don’t worry about it- just continue to save your money on your other resources. 
Speak Your Mind