Saving Money: Be a One Car Family

Little Miss Shoestring at 18 months

We’ve been a one car family for 5 years now. Most of the time it works out pretty well- especially when Mr. S is gone for extended periods :), but it does take some effort to make it work. When Mr. S was in language school he usually rode his bike the 8 miles or so from our house to school. There were days where this just wasn’t an option though, and if I happened to need the car that day also, I would have to get up early, load LMS into her car seat, and drop off Mr. S at school. After class, I’d pick him up or he’d catch a ride with someone.

The major advantages of having only one car are only one car payment and paying for insurance, gas, and upkeep for just one car. The disadvantages: juggling schedules and the inconvenience of not being able to run to the store whenever you need to (though this is actually a good thing if you're trying to save money). It does help that LMS is not old enough for school or in lots of activities yet. When she starts preschool in the fall we'll be back to juggling schedules. We're looking for a house to rent close to where Mr. S will be working, so hopefully we'll be close enough for him to ride his bike or for me to take a few minutes and run him to work without taking all morning.

Today Mr. S left for Virginia, taking our car and our little flatbed trailer with him. We debated back and forth which way would work the best: fly out and rent a car, take the train and rent a car, or drive our car. Ultimately, it came down to us not having the money for a rental car, which made the logistics of flying or taking the train too expensive. Since he took the car, that does leave me vehicle-less, but it should be fairly doable. Because of the incredibly tight finances right now, I haven’t been going into town much- it’s best if I stay away from stores so I’m not tempted to spend money we don’t have. Should I need to go to the library or do a bit of grocery shopping, my FIL has been kind enough to let me use his car as long as I give him a days notice so he can work from home the day I use his car. Mr. S’s parents will also be taking us to and from church since they already have car seats in their SUV for LMS’s cousins, and she can borrow one. Much easier than wrestling our car seat into my parents minivan. When LMS and I move out to Virginia, we'll take the train and Mr. S will pick us up. Easy peasy.

We’ll be paying off our car in the next few months, so we won’t have a car payment for too much longer. However, since we’re trying to get out of debt and stay out of debt, we won’t be buying a second vehicle till everything is paid off and we’ve saved enough to pay cash (it’ll be a used commuter car that gets good mileage, so hopefully it won’t cost a lot). The plan is to be completely out of debt within two years, so hopefully the second car won’t be too far behind that milestone. Just in time for LMS to be in school and starting other activities.