Our son helps to clear off the car on a cold December Vermont morning
Way back in Ye Olde Days, Tom and I each had our own car. It was made abundantly clear through not just one but two failed attempts that he is simply not made to maintain a car. Due to a desire to save
Today we own Maude, a silver Camry that is technically elderly but has low miles (only about 70,000 at current). It's a good, reliable car that has only rarely failed us (full disclosure: it's usually because I leave the headlights on and drain the battery). That's point one: if you're considering becoming a one-car family, you must assess your current fleet to decide which one is the most reliable. Oh, and carry some jumper cables. Or have a brother-in-law who is a mechanic.
Several times during our being a one-car family, we have lived close enough to my husband's job that he was able to walk to and from work. He enjoyed the exercise, and it freed me up from his schedule to be able to adhere to "only" the needs of my son and I. During those times, we rarely if ever said, "Man, it would be cool if we had another car."
Now that we've moved out of town, eliminating the possibility of Tom walking to work, we do sometimes say that things would be easier with two cars. We have a 15 minute drive to get to...well, just about anywhere (hello, Vermont). However, on a day to day basis, we are just fine--with a little planning.
Our daily jaunt is thusly:
- Leave apartment at 7:30 am. Or as close to as possible.
- Get to our son's daycare at 7:45 am. (One benefit of this arrangement is that we both get to be at pickup and dropoff, which is nice for our son--he routinely asks for "family hugs" before we leave).
- Get Tom to work at 8:00 am. (Goals are good).
- I get to my first office at about 8:20 am, and after completing my work there, I get to my second office at about 9:00 am.
- I must leave my office by 3:35 pm at the latest, or I will not make it to pick up Tom on time. We meet in a specific parking lot (that was chosen for it's ease of getting to by car) at 4:05 pm.
- We drive to pick up our son, and usually arrive around 4:20 pm.
- If we don't have any errands to run, we get home around 4:45 pm.
- Phew. Another workday done!
It's a lot of driving for me, but it saves on all the costs of a second car. For the workdays, there's really no need for a second car. We have found that there are situations where we need to communicate ahead of time, and to plan with the other spouse. But isn't that true in any marriage, regardless of how many cars you have? I do sometimes find the schedule constraining, especially when I see other co-workers leaving to do fun things after work (and I usually have to decline). It's just like anything else when leading a frugal lifestyle: don't compare yourself, or your situation, to others'. Your journey is not theirs.
Frankly, our jobs make this arrangement possible. I have a flexible work schedule, and my husband works school hours. If I needed to be at the office later, or earlier, we would have to look in to other options.
The public transit in our neck of the woods is next to nil. There is a small bus that could get my husband to work...45 minutes early. It's a good emergency back-up, but as far as reliable public transport...not so much. There is no public transit that would take me to my office. We look forward to the day when that's a possibility!
We do sometimes wish for a second car. However, living according to our current budget and means, we've decided to table the idea for now. This embodies both simplicity (to keep things simple, we have the one car) and frugality (we have what we can afford).
Do you have a one-car family? Do you find it helpful to your budget, or a burden to your lifestyle? Share your tips and questions in the comments below!
FLY. EVERYWHERE. USE YOUR WINGS.
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