Yep, ya heard it here first. We are down to one vehicle.
One method of long distance transportation.
See, we used to own two cars; my car and my husband’s truck. Both have been completely paid off for years now. But we decided last week, to sell his truck.
Why? We have bills to pay, and we can go without a second vehicle. For now…
We have some bills that we just need to be gone already, and now with the sale of his truck, they will be gone. Thank goodness! And besides, you can’t fit more than 2 people in his truck, so we never used it when we went anywhere with our daughter, because there was no room for her car seat. And his truck was still in awesome condition, so we got a nice amount for it, which is good.
Eventually, we will get a second vehicle once our financial house is in order. It might be sooner rather than later, who knows? But for right now, we are making it work with one.
Any one-car households out there making it work? Have you ever thought about getting rid of your car?
Yay! We current have one decent and one junker which he drives to work. Both paid off. Right now I work too far and in a not so friendly bus route area so two cars is essential. But I’m working my way out of this job, to working for myself (more like volunteering) with a non-profit start up, which I hope will begin in about 2 months. Again I’ll be more volunteer than employee for a while and traveling to work the education side all over the area. When we are fully up and going with a retail side, I’ll be giving up my car for public transportation or bicycle as it will be extremely close and accessible that way. I can not wait! (..for all sorts of reasons!!!!)
Congrats on being mature enough to make that decision as well! It’s never easy.
Thank you! We hemmed and hawed over the decision, but I glad we did it!
always have had one car. it’s important to choose to live close to someone’s work or school so they can walk/bus and the other drives. coordinating trips and the week’s schedule saves headaches. carpools work great. with carsharing/renting like zipcar there’s no need for a second car. it’s fine, really. and the numbers on saving money by not having a second car (or car at all) are amazing.
Yeah we will be saving money, that’s for sure. Lower car insurance payments is definitely something I am happy about
We own two cars but only use one (the other is uninsured/unregistered) and we LOVE it! We are spending so much more time together now that our work schedules are synchronized. It sounds like you were prepared for dropping the truck anyway as it was the clear secondary vehicle.
Spending more time together is definitely icing on the cake
You have done a courageous and wise thing in my opinion. You have chosen to sacrifice in the short term to rid yourself of bills/debt. You may experience some short term pain but being rid of those bills will be huge in the long run. Awesome!
Thank you so much! It is indeed a sacrfice, but having these bills over our head seemed worse, you know? Like a gray cloud always hovering. Nice to know the bills will be gone
I think about it all the time. It’s my last loan, my biggest purchase, and a constant reminder of how I could have negotiated better. I got a bicycle recently so I’m taking the steps toward bike lane living, but I’m not ready to pull the plug on the car yet.
Portland seems very bike friendly. Here where I live, you have to commute and drive to everything. We want to eventually put down roots somewhere, where you can get around by foot or bicycle, and not have to constantly get in the car.
We’re a one car household, but definitely could be a no care household if we weren’t so attached to the idea and convenience of having a car. Probably most people in NYC don’t have cars, I guess we’re sort of the exception to the rule.
Yeah, I already miss the convenience of having another car. Can’t run to the store for anything! But I am happy to know we are getting our bills sorted out.
We have two cars but have toyed around with the idea of selling one. If one of us lost our job, we would consider it. Thank God, that hasn’t happened but I would never take it off the table.
We had toyed around with the idea for quite awhile too! It’s always an option to keep open.
We have thought about going down to one car but ours are both paid for. However, I salute you for making the change to help get your finances in order! Good job. It may hurt now, but it will pay off in the end.
Thanks Holly! I’m glad we made this decision too!
If peace of mind having those bills paid off means selling the truck, then I’m sure it was worth it. Since I am only one car, I just have to say I couldn’t live without it. But it’s been paid for for years!
It is definitely peace of mind to be able to pay these bills off
A weight off our shoulders, seriously…
Congrats on taking a big step to improve drastically your finances. We have one car but never go anywhere anyway, so not too much of a problem! I take the bus if I have to go somewhere.
Thanks Pauline! I am grateful that we had this option and could take advantage of it to pay off our bills.
As an urban city-dweller, I went without a car until I was 34 years old.
It’s been a financial struggle with it ever since due to my starving-artist level of income.
It’s really dependant on what you value though:
do you NEED a house in the burbs with a big yard? If so, it comes with the consequence of having need of 2 vehicles or some very clever car-pooling if the both of you are working.
Where I live it would be financially impossible for us to afford another car… We live in the statistically worst part of the whole country for car-crashes thus a 38 year old drive with NO at-fault accidents EVER and 20+ years of incident free driving experience has to pay $3000 a year in insurance for a car that’s only worth about $12k. If we lived in out in the sticks however that insurance amount would probably fall to $600-900. Mind you, then we would require a second vehicle. So the cost curve would probably be identical, however we would spend HOURS more getting to and from work.
I’m seriously tempted to going back to being NO CAR. Thankfully transit is plentiful where I live and cycling is a excellent option 11 months out of the year. (6-7 months for weather-weenies). Additionally there are car-share cars nearby so when I really do need a car for that mega shopping trip or when I have a gig, it would be completely advantageous financially to do so.
It’s very convenient though. A painfully expensive convenience.
Yes, I’ve found that owning and maintaining a vehicle is not a decision that everyone is okay with making. They sure do cost a lot.
This sounds like a well-thought decision for you and your family. There might be a little pain now, although it sounds like you weren’t heavily relying on your husband’s truck, which definitely helps. And being able to pay off some debt will feel really great too. I commend your courage and desire to be debt-free!
Thanks Shannon! I am so very glad that we are able to pay off this debt! It had been keeping us up at night.
That sounds like a solid plan. A two seater was probably easier to get rid of than if it was something the whole family could use. I’m sure it will be a bit of a sacrifice as that probably leaves you at home all day with the kiddo, but having that debt paid off is a great reward.
Yeah, it does leave me at home a lot more; still getting used to that!
But I am glad the debt is gone.
Awesome way to bite the bullet. I think this’ll be the story you remember for a long, long time when you’re sitting in your mansion. “Remember when we sold the truck to pay bills?” Way to attack life head on.
Thanks Joe! Grown-up decisions are hard sometimes, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do
Good job! We my car before our wedding bringing us to a one car household…that was 4 years ago! It’s been a bit of a pain at times but we’ve always made it work. As our family grows we’ll likely need another one but you’ll find ways around it!!
Yeah, we’re making it work so far
Wow, 4 years? That’s awesome! I hope we can last that long!
In seven years together, we only had two cars for about 3 months (which was crazy and we really didn’t need two). But honestly we can’t afford to run more than one! And as a childless couple, we manage to make it work.
That makes sense!
We have a small child; as she gets older, we may think about getting another vehicle. But for right now, it’s working.
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We’ve always had two cars but I would definitely sell one if we both didn’t need to drive to work
that seems like the smart thing to do for your family…..you dont need the car and selling it will get you ahead financially! Well done!
Thanks! I’m glad we did it and don’t have to think about those bills anymore