One car families????

[MichaelsSahm]

Just wanted to see if there are more one car families?????

We're a one car family, mainly because I don't drive. I just got my green card, so I don't know how to drive yet.

I applied for a job at my DS's school (about mile and a quarter) and I got hired on as a Crossguard & Cafeteria monitor. I will walk to his school on the times I have to be there, hang around the school between shifts, or walk back home clean and go back for the lunch shift!

We live in a major city, with lots of traffic, thankfully sidewalks, although some of them are not ideal. I may get a bicycle.

Anyone else do this? or am I just really odd? I feel, we safe on money, I get exercise, I don't think walking one mile and a quarter is that long of a walk.

Maybe its because I was raised in Holland where everyone either walks, or ride bikes!

[Awaken]

we are a one car family in an area where everyone has multiple cars, even though it is very walkable and we have loads of public transportation.  it is simply out of the question for us financially to afford another car, insurance, maintenance, etc.  DH commutes pretty far via bike and I have the car w/ the kids.  sometimes it takes quite a bit of coordinating to get everyone where they need to be on time with one car but we manage.  we also have the option of paying for a flexcar, which is a car parked in an easily accessible area that you can rent for a few hours, days, or weeks, if we absolutely need 2 cars at the same time.

it is a challenge, but Im really glad we don't have double the car expenses and aren't doing double the polluting.

[mtm]

one car here, also in a big city so dh can take transit to work fairly easily or the kids and I can walk to everything. No desire for another car.

[PiesandAbrosmama]

totally a one car fam- have been always. We make it work! And that's great!!

[Adaline'sMama]

We are a one car family and it is usually fine. We live about 60 miles from the city, but he works there and when I go into town with him I sometimes borrow MIL's car for a few hours. We've saved about $2,500 annually since we got rid of our second car (and we werent making car payments). We dont miss it much!  

[maryeb]

We are a one car fam here!  We used to have 3 cars and I talked my husband down to two.  Last year we moved across the country and did not want to pay to have a second car shipped so we sold it and it's been fine.  Our neighborhood is walkable and public transport is alright but my husband works at home.  It has only been a bit of an issue a few times and we've worked it out.  We are thinking of buying a used second car...just talking about it still.  It's been really really nice to only have one car payment. 

Mary

[laohaire]

One car family here. I'm going blind and can no longer drive, so it's not even a question for us to have a second car. But I don't see how we could afford one anyway, so it's just as well. DH and I both work from home, so we're lucky in that respect. Our one car gets very little mileage as a result (we get a special rate on our insurance because of the low mileage - which is funny because we do certainly use it to travel 4.5 hours each way to visit family, for example).

We live in a town where many things are walkable, though honestly this year we've been extremely lazy and drive virtually everywhere. I think the closeness of our town plus lack of commute really makes a huge difference. When I was growing up, my father would commute an hour each way into the city every single day, my mother would have her own commute (35-45 minutes). My parents thought nothing of driving 30 minutes or more to a restaurant. DH and I would never, ever drive that far just for a restaurant (well, to be fair, eating at restaurants is like a 3 times a year luxury for us anyway). But my point is, when I was growing up my parents really burned up a lot of miles, and I'm grateful to live a different way now.

[redvlagrl]

We are a one car family and it doesn't get used every day. DH rides his bike to work all year around (even through heavy snow). We walk a fair amount. We went from no car to one, so it feels awesome to even have one!

[Kyamo]

We are a one car family.  We live in the suburbs of a big city, where the public transit is quite good and can get me anywhere I need to go, although a car is definitely more convenient and faster since this is not downtown.  My DH drives the car to work every day.  I use it it sometimes in the evening, if I have to go somewhere during the day I walk/bike/bus depending on distance and weather.  Right now I am working from home, before I got this job I was working one job a 20 min walk away and the other job a 40 min walk away.  My DH did not grow up here and hates the bus, but I grew up here and am really used to it - I have only had a license to drive on my own for about a year.  The bus takes longer but is less stressful, I can knit on the bus.  One car does save us a lot of money, but at this point it's not even a consideration, because our townhouse only comes with one parking space, so we would have no place for another car even if we wanted one.  

[kimmom]

We are a one car family too. We live on a semi rural farm and DH has a studio here he works from.. When he needs the car we make it work. I am SO MUCH happier to only have one car on the road to pay for expense-wise! Mind you once we are done building this winter we need to buy a bigger vehicle with a new babe arriving soon our truck wont have enough seats for us all! But we will still be a one vehicle one

[jimblejamble]

We're a one car family now too. Until about 2 weeks ago I loved it, but now that it's cold and it's been snowing (the temp this morning was 7 degrees! Ugh) I've got some crazy cabin fever. It'd be nice to have a second car just to get out of the house during the week, but I'm not taking out another car payment for that. I already pay $335 for my car (but it'll be paid off next year! yay!).

In better weather I love being car-free. Fresh air, exercise, vitamin D, my baby gets to see all the pretty plants outside (we're a couple blocks down from a nursery so in the summer there are tons of colorful plants), I'm saving money, it helps my knees (I can't stand up to do dishes for more than about 10-15 minutes but a mile walk feels great!), and it helps me to manage my time better. Instead of going to the store several times a week I have to really get everything I need at the store in one go...which saves gas money and time that I could be spending with my husband. His work is about 45 min away so we don't get a whole lot of time together these days.

[HeatherAtHome]

We have one car and live in a rural area. DH gets a ride to work with someone who passes by our house. I keep the car so that I'm able to go places if I have to. I don't work, but I tend to drive other people around, errands, grocery shopping etc. I would feel very cut off without the car! DH doesn't have his license (it just never happened) but he's been talking about getting it soon. I feel very weird over the idea of him taking "my" car to work and leaving me stranded. We would make it happen though, we're not really the 2 car family type. It's actually cheaper like this seeing DH's ride doesn't even charge him gas! 

[Disco Infiltrator]

One car family! We live in the city and have three bus lines a couple blocks away.  I take the bus to work and DW alternates her schedule with mine, so sometimes we're all home with the car and when she's working I'm home without the car.  I take DS on the bus (and light rail) to activities downtown and love it.  It's nice not dealing with car seats and being able to interact with DS, talking about what we see.  DD is still carried so she's really no big deal on the bus.  The hard part is the time because once the kids are tired I want to be home NOW and the bus takes time.  We'll probably go to two cars in the future because we're planning to homeschool and will need transportation, but I'm going to avoid it as long as possible.  

[sosurreal09]

we are a one car fam and DH always has the car b/c hes always working haha. i walk everywhere or ride my bike. DD isnt too fond of the bike yet especially b/c its freezing now! so we havent really been going anywhere. the "park" (more like a field with a couple swings) is just over a mile and we were walking there everyday b/c we literally have no yard. a lot of people think im weird but w/e

[averysmomma05]

We are a one car family and have been for 7 years now. We live in rural area so it is hard with just one car. My husband works, I work, and we both go to school at different times so we finally decided to buy another car. I can't WAIT until we get it next month because I HATE just having one car and being stuck inside. biking,walking,etc is out of the question in our area.

[june'smom]

We have one car and have for about 8 years.  Sometimes it is a pain because he needs to run errands for work and I need to get the heck out of the house.  We are looking into renting a van for when he plays out of town with his band so that I am not stuck.  That should relieve a lot of tension. 

I know we save a lot of money and we tend to drive less because it takes a lot of coordination to go places.  We plan better to get things done.  But it is not always perfect. 

[Geist]

We have one car. My husband works an hour away but he works 2 days from home and that will hopefully be going up in the future. Since I'm a homebody and don't mind staying home 3 days a week, it works really well especially when you factor in the savings from not having 2 cars.

[sanguine_speed]

We were a one-car family until last year and made it work.  We've moved.  Now, our kids' school is not within walking distance, and my partner needs to drive to work (no public transit or ride-share options).  So we're in a position that we need two cars, and thankfully we have the means to afford two cars.  If we didn't, we wouldn't have put ourselves into the position of needing two.

[youngspiritmom]

One car. Used to be none, but it was a gift! DH commutes by bus to city most days. Leaves the car for me and the little guy, but we like to walk to nearby places sometimes too because my son loves to me outside. Honestly, sometimes I want two cars because I've never had my own car and would like the sense of accomplishment from having purchased my first car with my own money. Maybe that's just me.

[DangerMom]

We are a one-car family, more out of necessity than choice, but I like knowing we are using fewer resources than we would if we had two cars. It's annoying at times, but quite manageable.

I used to be able to walk or bus to work quite easily, but with my current job I have to take the car to work because the bus ride is ridiculous, so that means DH and son are without one during the day. I know that's a drag, but we live in a medium-sized city so they walk a lot and take the bus. Then when I get home, DH has to take the car to work because he works kinda far away. I'm a homebody, so once I'm home I don't want to leave anyway, most of the time. 

I won't say we wouldn't get another car if we could, but we can't, and it's fine.