"You have one car? What?!"
Just over a year ago, we got rid of our second car. I was happy to see that ugly rust bucket go. Between the paint chipping off and the ceiling hanging down so far that the rear view mirror was pointless, I felt relief. But it wasn’t just a vanity issue, gas was getting to be too much. Insurance was getting to be too much. The maintenance on that piece of crap was killing us. Yes, it was time to let go. Nowadays when people get rid of a car, they replace it. Not this time. We had to make the cutbacks in order to make the bills. So off it went with some cash in our hands to pay up what we got behind on. Since then we have made no move to get a second car.
We have a 1995 Isuzu Trooper that has over 270,000 miles on it. When people hear that the first reaction is “Wow, that’s a great car to make it so long” and then what follows is “What about your second car? Is it as good as that one when it craps out?” Because most people think that maybe it’s time to have a backup. But we haven’t. We have adjusted to having one car. It’s not easy. Trust me it’s not easy.
The biggest issue is that we have three children, all of which I homeschool. Three children are very active. So planning who gets the car when is a trick within itself. My husband and I both are accountants, with the advantage of the fact that I work from home and at night from our office. My husbands daily work is a bit different than mine. He tends to visit clients weekly and work from their location. That’s where the biggest problem is because sometimes he is booked up all week. In those cases I try to plan things around the bus schedule. We are lucky to live right along the bus line. I can also find enough educational things in town along the bus line.
What happens though when I need to go out of town? That’s even worse. For the Type A Mom Conference my saving grace was I live where it’s held. So I can easily get him to drop me off. However, when I traveled to York SC for the Zhuniverse Tour that took some juggling on his part. In an unusual move he called his clients and rescheduled everything so I could have the car that day. While he was gracious about it, he huffed and puffed that he could not do that a lot.
Carpooling occurs a lot but is a bit harder with other home schooling families since most people cannot accommodate for an additional 4 people. But for events like hanging out with friends, it’s wonderful!
While the juggling may sound horrible, it’s really not. You get used to it and you get used to it quickly. I am very happy we made the decision to not replace our second car. In that time my kids have learned that walking ½ mile to the grocery store to pick up milk is not that bad. They understand how to use the bus system and the importance of knowing when to be where to catch a bus and show up on time at a designated place. They have learned how to notice some of the prettiest things around town that would otherwise be a blur in a speeding car. My eldest, whom is quite the ecological activist at 10 years old, is quick to let everyone know that she is working to not contribute to polluting the air with a motor vehicle.
Thinking about giving the one-car-family a try? Do it. You don’t have to get rid of that second car, just park it at a family members home and cover it up. For one year learn how to live without that second car. You might just find that you can be happy without it!
About Angela:Angela is a home schooling mom of 3 children, ranging in age from 5 to 10. She is also an accountant in her husbands’ family practice. In her spare time you can find her writing at The Pagan Mom Blog where she hopes to educate the masses on what paganism really is while inspiring pagans to be “out of the broom closet”
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growing up, we were always a one car family. to top things off, my mom didn't drive. my dad tried to teach her but scared her....maybe he didn't want her to know how. i don't know. but as kids, when my dad was overseas(my dad was in the navy), we had to walk EVERYWHERE and usually up to two miles each way. if it required going anywhere farther, like the commissary, my mom had friends who would take her/us. my mom always had good friends who offered and never minded taking her or us places when we needed it. so i know it can work for some. i'm glad you guys can do it. i wish we could, but we can't. husband has an hr commute each way everyday, and I am the chauffeur when the kids need to be at some type of practice or whatever. we live in a town of nothing, and while the city closest to us is 10 mins, it's too far to walk. i guess what thing we have going is that our truck is paid for. i think we have a yr or two left on the van :o/
ReplyDeleteLol! My husband and I were just talking about how stressful it has been sharing one car with the other at the shop before I stumbled on this article nice to know that we are not the only ones.
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