Becoming a One-car Family

I'm all about saving money but I don't think this would work at all for us. Do you have access to mass transit? Honestly the sports thing would probably be the most difficult for us.
We have 2 used cars instead of one new one. Would that be an option?

You will end up feeling trapped. Very difficult to do with kids unless they can walk or bike to activities.

Try it for a week or two. Park the 2nd car in the garage for 2 weeks and don't use it. See how it goes!

I admire you for taking the steps to become more financially responsible. It is hard for one to make major steps when you've never had to or never chose try. You are on a good track for thinking about things like this.

For my family, it would not be doable because my hubby is on the road a lot in his car and many times his car parked at the airport. It is not unusual for hubby to be away up to 4 nights a week. So with children, school, extra curricular activities.... that would not be doable. Granted, we have only 1 child but still, that kept me on the road like crazy.

Dallas has good rail and bus service which extends to the northern burb areas but I am not close to the bus stops, train station etc and getting around would be very difficult. I'd end up using Uber which would be spending money on Uber vs driving my car. I am not opposed to walking at all and I am accustomed to walking a lot along the numerous hike and bike trails in my area.

I really like KM's idea to park your 2nd car for a couple of weeks and see how you adjust. No excuses to get in it, just pretend it is not available or not in working order. This would give you the experience to try it before you put yourself in the situation and could possibly be faced with learning that it is not something doable for your family.

Best wishes to you!

It is "doable". When my van blew up, we had 1 car for almost 3 months before we could get another. I stay home and my husband is in sales so he made all his appointments after he could drop off our son and pick him up. Our daughter takes the bus so we didn't have to worry about her. I went shopping after he was home or on the weekends. I did noticeably "miss" it since I knew I couldn't just hop in it and go whenever I wanted so it did mess with my head mentally. lol

I will say that you need to have some money saved up in the event that the one car has some issues and needs repair and is in the shop for a few days. You'll need a rental or your husband will need to carpool. So be ready for that.

We pay cash for everything (no credit cards at all) and in Feb will be debt free. We are struggling right now to get caught up because we had almost 4k in car repairs for both our older, paid off cars, and it wiped out our emergency fund. So although it's nice to not have car payments, you still have to be ready to pay for the repairs. So my advice is to make sure you've got some money set aside for that. Good luck!

It depends on your situation... Is there reasonable and convenient public transportation available? Will your husband need the car for work, leaving you home without it (or are you willing/is it worth it to pick him up/drop him off every day)? Are your commitments close enough to walk/ride bikes to? Do you have friends who are able and willing to drive you in an emergency (need an ER run or something?)

We live in the country, and my husband works one direction while I work in the other... So we NEED two cars.

I would do as fangedbunny reccomends, and try doing without the car for at least a month before making a permanent decision.

We live in NYC and have one car between us. Many here don't own a car at all because often they are more trouble than they are worth with the cost of garages looking for parking at your destination traffic shoveling alternate side of the street parking and the comparative convenience of public transport and cabs.

Leave the second car at home for a month, see if you can swing it. Might prove easier than you think.

Best
F. B.

We were a one car family all this time...10 years with kids....actually many more years before that. We just got a 2nd car which sits and we only use in emergencies. No car payment though...we bought a used car we could pay for all at once. The way we made it work is my husband always rides his bike to work...or takes the bus. He's a bike riding fanatic, and we picked a place to live where he can take a bike trail into work. He never uses a car. He needs to use it for work about twice a year. We also use the 2nd car if the kids have activities/sports in two different areas at the same time. But before we had the 2nd car I would always set up car pooling where one of my kids would get a ride that day. It is doable to have only one car...but it takes thinking ahead and some planning. Can your husband take a bus/metro to work each day? Or does he like to ride his bike? The only downside is it takes my husband a little longer to get home each day.

it does seem odd that we can't get by without 2 vehicles in this country, doesn't it? but it's surely a thing for most of us.
i guess it depends largely on where you live. if you're in a fairly urban area, with public transportation and/or a good network of friends, i think it's quite do-able. but if you're like us, out in the sticks, it's really not. when i was working and homeschooling i jangled my network at LOT, but it still involved dropping kids off and picking kids up at a convenient spot. i couldn't expect people to drive all the way out here to get my kids.
it sounds as if the school part is covered, but would your husband drive to work? what would you do for doctor appointments and so forth?
i don't think you're spoiled, but whether or not this is going to make things better financially AND be do-able in a practical sense depends on a lot of factors.
could you maybe trade in the car that still has a payment on something cheaper? we've found carmax very easy to work with.
ETA great suggestion from the bunny with fangs!
khairete
S.

We couldn't do it - we go two different directions 5 days a week, sometimes we do three different locations so one kid is without a parent for a bit...I know people who do it, but it wouldn't work for us.

ETA: I remember when I was little my parents had one car. My mom would drive my dad to work so she had the car with the kids during the day. They made it work, but it makes my head spin thinking about it.

We are a one-car family. Husband needs it for work.
I'd say, check out your local public transport. Do some trip-planning to see if the schedules/bus stops work for what you need. How many things can you bus/walk to?

I also like the idea of trying it out for a couple weeks.
I'm a SAHM, everything I need is within walking distance or there is a bus that can get me there. I just need more time to do those out and about things, but we do okay with it.

Sorry - we have two cars and next year most likely, three.

We are a family of 4 but my boys have sports and after school activities. My husband commutes to work via the metro and drives 2 days a week.

How much or how long do you have to pay off the second car? Is it reliable?

The car that is paid off - is it reliable? Do you have the funds for an emergency repair?

I understand getting finances under control. Part of that is thinking about emergencies and car repair. If that paid off car is older, it will be natural for things to break down. Are you prepared?

If you can drive your husband to work? That would help you not feel like you are still "free".

Good luck!!

Is it possible to trade in the car for an older one as an even trade? This way you still have no car payment but still have 2 cars.
If the public transport system in your area is good you can make it work with only one car. But if an emergency comes up and you need to get some where fast you will not be able to get there.
I would look for a solution where you can each have a car but a lower or no car payment.

We have a large family and one vehicle. I am unable to drive at this point because of health reasons, so it wasn't so much a decision as an adjustment.

We have a big family and many activities, different schools. It just means instead of two taxis to ferry kids around in you have one. Sometimes we all go together so our whole family is in the van and we catch up as we drop kids off. Or we'll actually all go in and watch a hockey game.

It just means for us that instead of a kid saying "Can you pick me up at 8 pm?" from a friend's house, we might say "We can swing by at 7:20 pm". They have to adjust to the family. Not such a bad thing.

We drive/drop off other kids when it works for us, so that if other parents have to do the same for us, it's no big deal. There's also carpooling.

We schedule the kids' stuff, appointments, etc. all very effectively (second nature now) so we get stuff done at once. It's actually simplified stuff in a lot of ways. One taxi. Multiple stops. Family together ..

It definitely wasn't my choice - but it makes you realize of course you can do it.

I don't miss the gas bill, the maintenance or car payments either.

When I was still working and able to drive, my husband and I drove together so this wasn't such a stretch for us. We'd drop the kids at daycare and do a big loop. Maybe try something like that for a while. Try driving with one car only and see how it goes.

Good luck :)

We couldn't manage on one car.
My husband works and is on travel (with his car) all the time.
I work and have to drive 30 min to get there.
We live out in the country and you can't do anything without a vehicle.
Our son will be old enough to need to get to internships - he's going to need to drive to get there.
So we have 2 cars now but we're going to need one more soon.
If you're going to do this for just a few years before once again getting a 2nd car, I'm not sure it's worth it.
Getting rid of the car doesn't necessarily mean the car payment will go away - you still have to pay that off.
Letting the repo man come and take it away will really damage your credit rating.

We only have one car but then my husband has a work van he drives to work so it is only time together it becomes an issue. Even then it isn't really an issue. I made him sell his truck because in the five years I have known him he drove it three times and that was to move stuff from his old home to here. The next two years it just sat in the garage.

I have a 16 year old so we are going to start looking for another car so he can learn to drive. That is probably the biggest drawback to one car, you don't have a second to lend to a child but it doesn't sound like that is an issue for you.

Personally if I were you trying to make this work I would get up early enough to drive my husband to work. More than likely you will be the one who needs the flexibility of having the car with you.

My husband and I share a car. It's a pain sometimes, and it means I ave to get up a little earlier to drop him at work on my way to wok, but it beats paying insurance on another car, even if we could afford to buy another one, which we can't.
My kid is grown, so that isn't a concern for us.
When she was younger, we had one car, and if work schedules didn't mesh to be able to get her to and from school and EC activities, we arranged for her to ride with a friend's parents and paid them for their extra gas.

My best friend is a one car family. She takes the bus to work downtown and her husband rides his bike to work year round. The kids walk and ride bikes to school. The car is really only used for grocery shopping, trips across town or travelling out of town. We tried one car for a while, but it really didn't really work for us.

We have been a one car family more often than not during our marriage. We manage by living near a public bus line & having the kids ride the school bus. Is it always easy? No, but it suits us. We will likely get our oldest boy a used car before college though.

It seems it will be very difficult to convert to 1 vehicle, unless the kids are capable of riding a bike or skateboard to or from their event. Are there wonderful bus lines in your city?

Is your work from home full time? Do you have a little one that would break the bank if you left the home to work? Can you get a part time job and make extra money to keep the car? Twenty four months is a long time to be without an extra car.

Well, we are a two car family but my husband has a chronic illness that means sometimes he can not drive. We have had periods of 6 months when he was unable to drive so I've been the only driver. He works full time and I worked 3 days per week at that point (now I work when kids are in school 5 days per week). We used to live about 30 miles from our jobs and have two kids. With traffic, the commute was an hour plus. While I was able to handle it without children, and even with one baby, when #2 came along it became too much to handle. We moved to downtown Fort Lauderdale from the far western suburbs or as my friends called it "East Naples". While I miss the larger house, more parks, more family friendly activities and less congestion, I do NOT miss that commute. We've made it work. Honestly, in FL, the toughest part of being a one car family is that is so rare that people are not used to carpooling - there is little public transportation (there was nothing that would have worked for us to get from home to office) and the rain....

From a budget standpoint, if you sell the car that you have a loan on will you get more for the car than you owe? If not, and you have to bail yourself out than maybe it is worth it to cut elsewhere and just pay this one off...

Good luck!

We have always been a one-car family. When you've never had two, you become a good planner. Our life progressed in a way that suits having 1 car. (We have 2 young teenagers, neither is a driver yet. A lot of teenagers around here don't have their own cars. They walk, bike, or use the city bus system.)

We live in an area where a second car isn't a need. For example, the kids walk or ride a bus to school depending on which school they are in. Our house is within walking distance of a grocery store, pharmacy, library, hospital, dentist, restaurants, parks...all kinds of places. Big shopping trips are reserved for evenings or weekends.

When you lose a second car you have to adapt to it. You've created your life based on two vehicles so far, and that may have led you to make choices that you will have to reconsider.

KM's idea of parking your second car for a few weeks is a great idea.

Besides not having the cost of the payment, the insurancem and the gas, you'll also find that you save money because you're making fewer trips to stores. You'll learn to plan ahead more carefully, because you won't be able to run to Target for 'that one thing', which means you won't end up buying 5 other things while you're there.

I know a few one car families. I think it's very possible since one of you works from home. If hubby can use public transportation, then you're set. Otherwise, you can drop him off. Yes, you will have to bend your schedule a bit and problem solve, but I have two friends who manage and never complain about it. It's what actually works for them.

it's doable ...check out your public transit system; set up some carpooling thing for the kids activities like you or your hubbie can drive them one way and the other parent drives 'em the other or give the other some gas money or or a gift card every so often to Starbucks or wherever.We've been a one car family for almost 3 years now, since my 1993 Ford Escort died at the ripe old age of 20 --they just don't make 'em like that any more :(.. . And Hubby needed the other car more than I did for his 80 mile a day round trip to work... I've survived by taking the bus and the subway. Planned my job search based on the public transit system (and it worked) At the time, son's middle school was a block and a half down the street and now he takes the bus to the high school....Worked out some carpooling for scouts and soccer. And just this summer we traded in hubby's manual transmission Subaru of(of 13 years) for an a new leftover automatic which I too can drive and help out with errands and other assorted stuff ... and just have to worry about one car payment, along with just one auto insurance and excise tax pmt until we can more comfortably do the related expenses of a second car.... and after a while you get to meet some of the regulars on the bus ....

In my honest opinion a mom that has kids outside of the home has to have the vehicle. The vehicle stays for the kids.

So either you have to get up and take hubby to work then go pick him up or he rides the bus or finds a carpool or something.

if dh didn't drive his work van home we would of had serious issues with being a one car family. we did it for quite a while and if i didn't have family close by to help me out getting the kids places i would of lost my mind. even so there were a few times when i had to just stay home because of lack of transportation, and i am lucky to have a mom that can drop everything and loan me her car if i need it. we opted to purchase a second car that is actually reliable and are a 2 car family with dh still driving the work van. (we have a truck and a sedan, the truck is needed to pull our boat and we use it for hauling stuff that a truck is needed for. the sedan we use for everything else. (the truck is a 99 the car is a 15)
i would definitely try it for a while to see how it goes, and if you think the paid off vehicle may break down then think of the complications of having no vehicle.