I loathe cars. Everything about them annoys me. Repairs, getting gas, sitting in traffic, shopping for them, regular maintenance…all of it. I dream of living in a city with good public transportation and having a membership to ZipCar or something like that. But alas, that is not my life. No, my life is that of a 2 car family. And no matter how much I wish to change it, it is just not practical for my family to only have 1 car.
Even when we were in the throes of paying down our debt, we had to maintain 2 cars. It was expensive and annoying but we had to do it, mainly for these reasons:
- Public transportation where I live is horrible. We have no rail system save for a few trains running to Philadelphia and a few stops before that. If you work in the northern part of the state and work in the middle or southern part of the state (like my husband) there is no way to take a train. And the buses? Are a joke. They’re never on time and traveling by bus takes forever. When I was in grad school, I had a professor who did a study of how long it took to go grocery shopping using just the buses. She found that it took 3 hours to travel to and from the store. Considering I live a 5 minute car ride from the nearest supermarket, it doesn’t make sense to take the bus.
- My husband and I work in complete opposite directions. Our house is in the middle of our offices. Although carpooling would be fantastic, and we did do it when we both worked in the same city, it just doesn’t work now. There is no conceivable way for me to get him to work and then myself to work on time (not to mention getting the kid to school) and without spending a freaking fortune in gas. Should I quit my job, it becomes a bit more feasible to give up one car but I highly doubt that it is practical.
- I live within walking distance of absolutely nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. I live near a HUGE park but I have to play Frogger across 2 major roads to get there. I’ve never been good at arcade games, especially not in the real life version. Although I have what to do at my house and my very small neighborhood has a playground, it’s easy for my daughter and I to get a little stir crazy. Having a car means that we can go to the library or the park or wherever we need to go without having to drive all over the state to get the car from my husband (or drive him to and from work). It saves our sanity and gives us choices.
- I have major paranoia issues. This is also the reason I still have a landline. I am terrified that something bad is going to happen and I’m going to be trapped (and without a phone). If we are a 1 car family, that means my husband has our car (since I’m home right now) and I become helpless in the event of an emergency. That is not something I can handle.
If my family were in a very dire financial situation, I would let one of our cars go. Maybe. At this point, we own both of our cars and the only savings we’d get is in gas and insurance which would make some difference but not enough to give up a car entirely. Unless we wind up in a situation like we did with my husband’s previous car (which was my car from high school); repairing that car cost more than the car was worth and we were spending that money about every 4 months. Then it would make sense to go down to 1 car.
Hopefully that day won’t come and we’ll never have to make that decision. So, for now, we’ll stick with our 2 cars. No matter how ridiculously annoying they are.
We are pretty much the same way. Even though we both work from home having one car is just a major inconvenience. When we lived in Chicago we were a one car household and it just didn’t work for us.
Sean @ One Smart Dollar recently posted…Spending for Mother’s Day Expected to Increase in 2012
I can see the problem, but never is a long time. You can always move to a more bike/public transportation friendly city right? We shared one car for 5 years now and it’s working very well. We have good public transportation though.
Joe @ Retire By 40 recently posted…Healthcare Options for Early Retirees and Self Employed
Same here, even though I work only a few miles from home, a car is still needed. You can mitigate this by keeping your cars a long time. There’s a difference between having two ‘middle cost’ cars that average six years old and having two Lexus’ sitting in the garage. Keep common sense in the equation and you can afford to be a two car family.
Money Beagle recently posted…Do You Adjust Your Home Insurance Structure Cost?
These are the same reasons why I can’t be a one car family. It just wouldn’t work!
Michelle recently posted…Looking forward to the Bank Statement
I hear you! At least three of those things apply to my living situation but I stubbornly refuse to buy a second car. In fact, I hate having the one car and would get rid of it if I could. But since I live 7km from the nearest store, I have to stick with the one car. When I buy a house, the number one requirement is that it is within walking distance of work.
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I totally agree with you on all points. If I ever had a family we’d definitely have two cars.
We currently are. I ride a van-pool to work and my wife only works 4 hours a day, four days a week. So we actually get by with just one car. It’s nice. But I know it’s not for everyone.
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We were a 1 car family when we first got married, but right now, it would be hard to go back to having only 1 car. Our public transit system isn’t great, and it would take me 3 busses and 9 minutes to get to my work (where driving takes me about 30). Those extra 2 hours each day are worth the cost of the car to me!
Kris @ BalancingMoneyandLife recently posted…Feeling Stuck – But Are We Really?
I love having one car now that I work from home, but when the hubby and I lived 45 minutes outside of the city, one car just didn’t cut it. We tried carpooling for a while, but our hours were too different. Two cars it was!
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I understand that for the most part, two cars make your life significantly easier. However, you also said you live just 5 minutes from the nearest grocery store. It’s worthwhile to think of biking as an alternative method of transportation which can help minimize the time you have to spend in the car (parking, getting gas, etc). Especially for short trips, it can be a time (and money) saver!
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I have the same situation in almost every respect. When you don’t live in a major city, public transportation just won’t cut it!
Oren @ Oren’s Money Saver recently posted…Target Brand Diapers (Up & Up) – Alternative to Pampers
If there are two working people in a family, there HAVE to be two cars. Even if they work in the same building, one might have to work late or the kids might have a soccer game. There are so many things that can happen that necessitate a second car. Speaking of paranoia. I recently realized I am paranoid about not having my cell phone when I am in the car. If I leave the house and drive down the street without my cell phone I freak and have to go back and get it. It doesn’t matter if I am going down the street to the store, I have to have my cell phone. It is madness!!
JAMES recently posted…8 Stocks That Beat The S&P 500 EVERY Year From 2006 through 2011
Sounds like it’s time to move – haha. Just kidding. 1 car families isn’t an option for everyone. We’re happy to only have to pay for one though. 🙂
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We live in SoCal and it’s almost impossible to get around without a car. I would say a 2-car family is a necessity for 95% of people here.
Well Heeled Blog recently posted…Etsy vs. eBay: You May Be Paying More for the Same Thing
I am in the same situation as you. I’ve heard some other people trying to be a one car LOAN family, but I strive to get past that as well in the future. 2 cars no loans is my goal 🙂
Lance@MoneyLife&More recently posted…An Easy Way to Save Money (and Calories) While Dining Out
Living in southern California, I probably will always have 2 cars. When I retire, I think I may experiment, but it is difficult in this city without a car.
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Don’t feel badly about having two cars. My family has seven cars. Ten people and seven cars. Because honestly we’ve been very blessed to get them all used and have no car payments. We all have jobs in different parts of the state and different schedules. Plus, like you, no public transportation! Like you, too, if we had to, we could make it work with less cars. But right now this is what we have and it serves us very well.
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