one car family

[Tammy]

we are now a one car family. of course, there are only two of us, but we've had two cars (or more, depending on the ages/driving stages of our 3 kids) for more than 20 years.

I've dreamed of this for many years. It's so difficult in America to make this work. We are now living in downtown Phoenix, 2 blocks from my husbands work and 15 blocks from mine. We sold our second car one week ago, and we each have a bicycle.

Found out yesterday that there is a zip car place nearby. We also have bus and light rail.

if things go really well, we might be ready to take the no-car plunge in a year or so. one step at a time ...

we already are saving 800 a year in insurance, and our gas budget is probably going to be about 10% of what it had been. we were both commuting 30 min each way to work, and not able to car pool very often because of quite different working hours.

I'm excited for this change - just wanted to share it with people who would understand and support us, as some people think we are a little crazy ... as if it's a sign of being downwardly mobile as opposed to how we feel about it ... a sign of being upwardly happy and sustainable!

[Gina]

Good going Tammy! With only 2, that should make it doable with minimal planning. In the 'old days' it was the norm for there to be just one car in a family even with kids. And people survived just fine.

I live on a street where there seems to be a car for everyone over the age of 16. I expect that sort of waste will decrease in the years to come.

[Zippy]

Very cool!

[CatsNK]

Congratulations! It's terrific to be saving so much!

I'm on the fence - hoping to be inspired by people here to do what you have done. I've been garaging my car most of the time and already have come to view it as a 2,000lb appendage that I don't need to carry around, so to speak.

How have you found the reactions of friends & co-workers? Supportive or do they think you are crazy?

[Float On]

We were one car (truck) when the boys were little maybe as long as 5 years and we live 4 miles from the highway and my husband traveled many of the weekends for art shows. Weekends I'd stock up and stay home with the boys. There was always a friend I could call if I really needed to get to town for anything and we never had an emergency.
I'd do it again if I didn't work outside the home now.

[Bootsie]

Very cool! We're a no-car family, but we live in NYC so it's not that big of an accomplishment to be carless. I'm glad you're giving one-car a try. Who knows - you might encourage other people to give it a try too.

[flowerseverywhere]

I have an old car and you can always rent one in an emergency or if you need to go out of town. It will cost me a few hundred dollars to rent a nice car to drive to an out of state wedding next week. Far cry from the expense of owning it.

[Tammy]

How have you found the reactions of friends & co-workers? Supportive or do they think you are crazy?

depends on the person. some of our friends who are into sustainable urban living are cheering us on and telling us that in time we may be able to go without a car at all! others who are suburbanites don't say much. but it's not like we talk about it much or appear to ask for permission. we just do what we do, and let it go at that.

family is a funny thing. they reserve judgement until later, don't say much, but I think they pretty much don't know what to do with us. we are supposedly doing well in our life, good career stuff going on, successful in many ways, and choosing to downsize in both housing and cars. it just doesn't make sense to them because people in our situation are expected to buy a bigger house and drive expensive cars. :D

[jp1]

If you've got zipcars nearby going no car wouldn't be that tough at all. We have 3 zipcars in the garage of our building in san francisco which is way better than owning a car. First off, parking spaces rent for $120/month. At $7/hour we can use a whole lot of zipcars just from that savings. And best of all, they take care of everything. The only thing I have to do is go get in the car and drive away. And put gas in it every once in a while, but that's included in the rental fee.

[Hattie]

We have one car for the two of us but because we are fairly isolated could never go to no car. The only time one car is a pain is when it needs to be maintenanced. We usually have to sit in the shop and wait for them to work on it (sometimes a couple of hours!). If we take it to a "big city", sometimes they will give us a loaner car to use for shopping while we wait. Otherwise one car works for us. *S*

[Wildflower]

We were a one car family when we were young and poor with small children, and now again that we are retired. Being a one car family did not work for us though when DH and I both worked, and our kids had to be chauffered to their many activities in their tween and teenage years....

[Mrs-M]

Good on you!!! :)

We have always been a one car family. It hasn't been the easiest by any means, but economically speaking it has been a real cost saver for us over the years.

[CatsNK]

Interesting point, Hattie. When we sell the Subaru our only car will be a 7yo Honda with nearly 100K miles on it. A concern is when it goes in for repair - how will we cope. We've even pondered buying a new car so we can get the loaners from the dealer but that seems extreme...