For those that can't manage without one car, it is helpful to find ways to use your 2nd car less. Weekends are a good time to combine errands and things to do.
I love that so many of you have alternatives to the 2nd car. I wish I had thought to include scooters in the article, but in our area we just don't see them. Motorcycles-yes, but not scooters.
Part of the reason I was so impressed we could do it, was because we have tried in the past and it was very isolating. At the time we lived in a walkable neighborhood, but you couldn't really go anywhere. Combine that with 95% of the neighbors working all day (while I was at home with little ones), and you have a recipe for isolation.
Should we ever move again (not happening for at least 5 years) we will move to a more walkable and pedestrian friendly area.
We did pay a premium to live closeby to my husband's job, but would have paid even more had we chosen to live closer. It was a decent tradeoff for us.
Shogun, we don't currently bike as a family. That would be expensive for everything we would need, but I'm hoping we can get there at some point. It doesn't help that my oldest is averse to riding.
ZipCar, well something similar anyhow, is available in the nearest metropolitan area, but that's over 30 minutes away for the closest car. It is a fantastic option for people who live in cities or areas that offer it.
Hola Kelly - Do you guys have Zipcar where you are by any chance? If so, it's a great variable way to use a car when you need to.
Family of 6.... hmmm, may be tough to ride one big long bike. Scratch that! :)
We live in the city and have one beater of a care between us. We use it only one weekends when we want to go to Napa, Tahoe, Carmel or wherever. Other than that, the benefits of city living is simply public transportation.
May not make the "50 Best" but I just learned about Groupon.com.
This site has deals in certain metropolitan areas (and growing?).
A deal is posted but is not available until enough people have signed up for the deal and paid. If the deal does not make, the money is refunded. If the deal makes everyone gets a huge discount. Deals you may be interested in may not be posted everyday but when one is it's fun to watch to see if you're going to get it. You can help the deal to make by getting your friends to sign up for it.
My wife and I have been a 1-car family for 9 years now. It's gotten a lot easier since she learned to drive manual transmission. 1 car living used to mean I drove her everywhere, since we always seem to end up with a stick shift.
Anyways, we've thought about adding a second vehicle; we're seriously considering making that second vehicle a scooter. A scooter-like ebike probably wouldn't meet our second-vehicle needs, but a gas scooter just might.
yes i think it is do-able. My husband and I only have one car, sometimes one of us has to take the bus, but we save a lot of money on extra insurance, gas and car repairs. We have a Budget planner which helps us stay on track and helped us to realize how much money we actually spend on cars.
I have seen incentie programs work: I used to work at a call center and they had great incentives and we all worked harder when the bonuses were good. However I understand where you are going with this blog.
Also, I think a good Budget planner is important, otherwise the company might overspend.
Hewlett-Packard has been notorious for the failed incentive program since the Fiorina days. Management can't seem to fathom why employees weren't responding to a recently cut gift card bonus program, and other incentive plans.
Never mind the fact that most employees haven't seen a raise or promotion in 6 to 7 years while work loads have tripled for most; vacation time can no longer be rolled into the next calendar year; opposite-sex domestic partners have been purged from health insurance enrollment; employer contributions to 401(k) plans were halted last year; all employees were required to take at least a 5% pay cut this past year; and they laid off more than 20,000 employees in 2008 alone, with several thousands more laid off so far in 2009.
Add to that the fact that CEO Mark Hurd took a $42.5 million total compensation package for 2008 and just this past month the IT Director (I think that's the position) and the CFO, among other upper management positions, received enormous pay bonuses. I understand that most of these bonuses are built into employment contracts at the upper level. But, honestly, why aren't these contracts being renegotiated?
In short, upper staff levels continue making money hand-over-fist (despite having taken paycuts themselves) while they shiv the lower level staff and move jobs overseas to remain profitable. And they wonder why employees are less than happy.
Many HP employees I know feel the situation is a huge injustice, but given the current economy, they don't feel that they can leave. I wonder if HP has even considered the productivity that they're losing when employees commiserate. I hear my fiance on the phone several times a week swapping injustices with other HP'ers. It certainly doesn't inspire them to work harder or longer hours.
(Remaining anonymous so my comments don't bite my fiance in the butt at work.)
My husband and I were a one car household for a few years. This spring we purchased a medium sized scooter for my drive to work. Although that is a net vehicle addition, it is still cost-effective for us for a few reasons.
Insurance on the scooter is very cheap. The scooter gets about 90 mpg, making our gas costs cheaper. The scooter is my commute method, the car isn't driven very much, because my husband works from home. Occasionally he uses the car for errands, or we use it when we need to buy a lot of groceries. We use the scooter for going places around town, as it seats 2 people and has a small cargo area under the seat. The car is old, so driving it less will (hopefully!) make it last longer. Scooters are pretty inexpensive new or used.
If you can't give up the second car, consider replacing it with a scooter! They are efficient, inexpensive and lots of fun! Save the car for hauling around cargo or kids.
I gotta say I completely agree. My employer only differentiates pay based on how many hours are billed by each consultant. The result? People try to bill as many hours as possible, and don't care about quality of work, nor are most consultants willing to contribute to the team that would help everyone be more productive. Can't do that effectively anyway because, just as the article alludes to, we're not given the tools we need to do so. And since management hasn't given any increases in salary (in fact, total compensation has declined in the years I've been working here due to not covering as much of the cost of insurance and ending the 401k match), they're resented. And it patently leads to unfair scenarios. For example, I happened to be available for one project that unexpectedly turned into a long term full time staff augmentation project, so I'm getting large bonuses, while my co-workers mostly get nothing because the economy is down. I'm not working any harder than they are.
My Dh and I are fixing up our house and getting ready to sell it, in the hopes of moving into an area where we'll be able to walk everywhere. He's looking at job opportunities in that same area, so hopefully when the move finally happens, we'll be able to get rid of his truck, and he can walk or bike to work, while I take the daughter to and from school. We're SO excited for this life change... it's hard to wait for it!!!
I've seen too many short-sighted decisions made by people who wanted to pad their bonus numbers. I think that many of these incentive programs do more harm than good to an organization. When the focus is limited to the current year, improvements that may take longer than one year are sidelined, and the quick fixes are implemented first. I can see this at my current job, where rather than creating a sense of ownership, the incentive program is encouraging people to "get it while they can" rather than thinking about the long-term health of the company.
My husband and I have been a one car household for over 2 years now. We got rid of our second car (a classic VW) when we moved to a small town in central WA (the snow and salt would have damaged the car anyway.) We were able to walk everywhere and we hardly used the car, since the town was so small.
We now live in a larger city. I don't know if we are considered to be living in the "burbs", but one car is still doable for us. When we moved here we purposely found a house that was within walking distance to my husbands job. Since he works at a University we save a ton on parking too.
I use the car most of the time, but since I work 10 minutes from my husband's job, he can take the car when he needs it.
We've actually been talking about the possibility of going "car-less" in a few years. There are a lot of zip cars around town and we live in a bike friendly place.
We have one car and have always had one car. He has never actually had a license because when he was younger his family couldn't afford insurance or a second car and the same goes for us. I work part time and it is only 5 miles away. I wish it was bike-able but it would be quite dangerous, no bike lane and not many bikers so drivers don't know how to drive around bikers, also quite hilly and I would need a nap when I got to work and don't know how I would get myself home.
Five years ago we moved to the apartment complex right behind husbands work so he walks. A second car just wouldn't get used. There is rarely a time when there are two things that need to be done. I think because it has just always been this way and we know no other way. It would be nice if there was more than one driver but I don't think we will ever need a second car.
My boss and his wife are also a one car household, they both work from home and I help them out with their business. They rent a car 3 or 4 times a year when one of their jobs requires a lot of meetings or other things.
We have two cars, but one is a old pickup that we drive at most once a week (and generally more like once a month) for hauling large loads.
Generally, we get by on one car with no problems. We live in a medium sized college town. I can walk to work, and my husband is at home with our son. From our house we can walk to several grocery stores, the library, the post office, restaurants, etc etc. We could almost get by on no cars if we had to! We did pay somewhat of a premium on our house when we bought one in a more downtown location than if we'd bought a couple of miles out, but I wouldn't trade. I love being able to walk everywhere.
i think the main goal is not necessarily to have a one-car household, but to really reduce your transportation needs. SO many folks here are talking about living 30 minutes or more from work. it's totally understandable that (especially in this economy) you need to take (and keep) whatever job you can get, but there's also a lot to be said for working near where you live. it not only makes commuting easier (or nonexistent) but it also invests you in your community more, increasing your commitment to local reforms like those mentioned above. as long as people work far from where they live, cars will be necessary, and nobody will be invested in "local" reform of suburban office parks where no one lives. maybe it's ultimtaely the housing situation, not the car situation, that really needs to be changed, though this will happen slowly, and over time.
We've been a one-car suburban family for 15 years. In fact, now that our oldest child is a young adult, we are now sharing one car between 3 drivers. Here's how/why it works for us:
~I am a SAHM, homeschooling my younger child, so neither I nor that child need transportation
~we are homebodies and our kids aren't involved in very many activities that require transportation during the week. Fortunately we live in a neighborhood with plenty of kids around for them to play with.
~my husband and oldest child work near each other and with similar schedules so they share the car to get to work
~I am an introverted personality and don't feel the need to get more socialization on a daily basis than what I can find in my neighborhood or online
~I do a lot of my shopping, banking, and other business online and feel like not having a car available actually saves me money by keeping me away from stores
~we have retired family members living next door who can help with emergency transportation
~our mechanic is within walking distance of my husband's work, so he can drop the car off and walk to work when we need repairs done.
~we have, a handful of times over the years, rented a car for a day or two when dealing with extensive car repairs or some other issue that required us to have 2 cars.
~my husband and I are in our late 40s and both remember our parents getting by with one car when we were young, so we knew it was possible before we tried it.
my partner and i, however, couldn't do it. we work in different parts of the city, and he'd have to get up an hour earlier to get out when i do...which would get ME up at 4 am. no thanks! i also have no way to carpool, as no one at my workplace lives remotely close to me. he could, but it would be a royal pain in the patootie to carpool with his friend (who has 3 kids, and has to call out randomly and without warning when one of them is sick). once my toy is paid off, i'm parking it and turning in the tags to give myself time to overhaul it (i don't intend to get rid of it ... ever, if possible), and will be buying a more economical gas sipper. depending on the reality of the rumors i've heard, an all-electric Cube might be that car.
my parents have it nailed, though. before my dad lost his job in the buyout of his employer, he would drive my mom to work and pick her up in the evenings. he still drives her back and forth, because the cost of parking in her garage far surpasses the cost of gas for him to drive her...he just doesn't dress in a suit for the occasion. :)
It's great to see so many people thinking and talking about trying a one car lifestyle.
For the people who mentioned working in the opposite direction as their spouse, have you considered when it comes time to change jobs limiting the area closer to home?
I know several people who have made it a priority to work close to where they live.
A big part of why one car works for us is we choose to live close to my husband's workplace.
I love that "Guest" is working on improving the layout of the town, to make it more walkable! That's a fantastic idea.
My wife's car was totaled in an accident once, and we subsequently carpooled for a month or two. Our commute is about 35-40 miles each way into downtown Dallas. The hardest part is scheduling. Since we both have varying schedules, we end up staying downtown for whoever was working later. We saved in gas & tolls, but we probably more than made up for it in eating out for dinner!
On the weekends, we're pretty much exclusively on one car because we spend most of our time together. But given how far away we are from the rest of civilization in our new subdivision (Wal-Mart, gas stations, etc.), it is almost impossible to make it work.
My husband and I are also a one-car family. It's fairly easy for us because there are just 2 of us. My husband also works from home and I only travel 6 miles to work (sometimes on my bike!).
I also wrote a post about living with only one car in the suburbs (and I have to agree with comment #5, the burbs are not designed well for walking and biking - it's a shame). You can check it out here.
Have you looked into cargo bikes to transport more bags of groceries or a child or two? I'm just curious, I am in awe of them but can't find any in my area. Good luck on your continued one-car family.
My wife and I relocated to Beaufort, SC exactly a year ago from Washington DC. We had one car in DC and decided not to purchase another car when we moved. Thankfully, I work from home, so I can either take my wife to work or do without the car if she drives herself. I know that we're a special case, but I think quite a few people are capable of living with one car, if they only figure out the total costs.
Cars are horrible investments, depreciating quickly and staying largely idle during the day. If we had two cars, my wife would drive to work and home, using the car for about 40 minutes a day. The car would be idle during the 8 hours she's at work. Total waste of capital.
Doesn't work for everyone, but if it's important to you to reduce your impact, this is a pretty straight-forward approach
Great article on getting things resolved. However, after doing everything you said, you didn't include the last step if you continue to get the runaround (and with some insurance companies you will) ... send a certified letter threatening legal action for wrongful denial of claims.
Consumer protection laws have a "minimum level" federal component and then a state component which often gives you additional protections. There are generally two types of "wrongful denial" actions, one under "unfair and deceptive business practices" and a second for "wrongful denial of insurance claim." To get action for a claim that should be covered but isn't, you should threaten both.
Go to your state attorney generals website and see if they tell you what procedure you need to file a consumer complaint. Here in Massachusetts, you have to send something certified mail called a "M.G.L. ch. 93A Demand Letter" to the person authorized to receive process (you can find this person listed on your state Secretary of State business listing website) threatening that if they don't resolve this issue within 30 days, you are going to file suit in X court (if the claim is for less than $1500 you can file in small claims court for a nominal fee). Type out an outline of the route of the dispute and all action you have taken to date (including those important names, dates, and minutes of conversations). Inform them you will be seeking triple damages for all costs, including court costs and attorney fees. Also, since this is an insurance matter, threaten you will also seek damages under M.G.L. 176D. You'd be amazed at how quickly most issues get resolved once you send the damand letter.
Your exact procedure will vary, but most attorney general offices and/or consumer protection agencies will tell you the proper procedure to follow in your state. Many courthouses have law libraries in them where you can read and photocopy attorney guidebooks (often called CLE manuals) about how to initiate the process in your state.
If they don't resolve the issue within 30 days, go ahead and file a lawsuit. The CLE manual should tell you how. Sit in the back of a courtroom a few hours so you don't get butterflies. Usually then, except unless you're clearly wrong about the procedure being covered, the insurance company will resolve the claim because it will cost them more to hire an attorney to go to court than to just cover the claim.
You can do this yourself if it's for a nominal amount of money ... you only have to pay a filing fee (generally $25 to $180) and fee to have a constable serve the paperwork. For a big, life-threatening issue or issues involving more than $2000, however, you should hire an attorney.
Hi! I have 7 kids, work from home (mostly) and we only have one car. I drive my husband, high-schooler and middle-schooler to work and school each morning (about a 20 minute trip) while my homeschooler watches the little ones. My high-schooler walks home, but everyone else is just a little too far to walk and the bus doesn't come our way. The older kids can take the city bus, though, to activities and movies - and I do drive around quite a bit - but it's way cheaper than having to pay for two cars! Sometimes kids have to wait a bit for me to come and get them...but that is very rare. It usually works out just fine.
For those that can't manage without one car, it is helpful to find ways to use your 2nd car less. Weekends are a good time to combine errands and things to do.
I love that so many of you have alternatives to the 2nd car. I wish I had thought to include scooters in the article, but in our area we just don't see them. Motorcycles-yes, but not scooters.
Part of the reason I was so impressed we could do it, was because we have tried in the past and it was very isolating. At the time we lived in a walkable neighborhood, but you couldn't really go anywhere. Combine that with 95% of the neighbors working all day (while I was at home with little ones), and you have a recipe for isolation.
Should we ever move again (not happening for at least 5 years) we will move to a more walkable and pedestrian friendly area.
We did pay a premium to live closeby to my husband's job, but would have paid even more had we chosen to live closer. It was a decent tradeoff for us.
Shogun, we don't currently bike as a family. That would be expensive for everything we would need, but I'm hoping we can get there at some point. It doesn't help that my oldest is averse to riding.
ZipCar, well something similar anyhow, is available in the nearest metropolitan area, but that's over 30 minutes away for the closest car. It is a fantastic option for people who live in cities or areas that offer it.
www.moneysavingmom.com has saved our large family thousands of dollars this year alone.
Hola Kelly - Do you guys have Zipcar where you are by any chance? If so, it's a great variable way to use a car when you need to.
Family of 6.... hmmm, may be tough to ride one big long bike. Scratch that! :)
We live in the city and have one beater of a care between us. We use it only one weekends when we want to go to Napa, Tahoe, Carmel or wherever. Other than that, the benefits of city living is simply public transportation.
May not make the "50 Best" but I just learned about Groupon.com.
This site has deals in certain metropolitan areas (and growing?).
A deal is posted but is not available until enough people have signed up for the deal and paid. If the deal does not make, the money is refunded. If the deal makes everyone gets a huge discount. Deals you may be interested in may not be posted everyday but when one is it's fun to watch to see if you're going to get it. You can help the deal to make by getting your friends to sign up for it.
http://dealsea.com/ is one of my favorites.
My wife and I have been a 1-car family for 9 years now. It's gotten a lot easier since she learned to drive manual transmission. 1 car living used to mean I drove her everywhere, since we always seem to end up with a stick shift.
Anyways, we've thought about adding a second vehicle; we're seriously considering making that second vehicle a scooter. A scooter-like ebike probably wouldn't meet our second-vehicle needs, but a gas scooter just might.
yes i think it is do-able. My husband and I only have one car, sometimes one of us has to take the bus, but we save a lot of money on extra insurance, gas and car repairs. We have a Budget planner which helps us stay on track and helped us to realize how much money we actually spend on cars.
I have seen incentie programs work: I used to work at a call center and they had great incentives and we all worked harder when the bonuses were good. However I understand where you are going with this blog.
Also, I think a good Budget planner is important, otherwise the company might overspend.
Hewlett-Packard has been notorious for the failed incentive program since the Fiorina days. Management can't seem to fathom why employees weren't responding to a recently cut gift card bonus program, and other incentive plans.
Never mind the fact that most employees haven't seen a raise or promotion in 6 to 7 years while work loads have tripled for most; vacation time can no longer be rolled into the next calendar year; opposite-sex domestic partners have been purged from health insurance enrollment; employer contributions to 401(k) plans were halted last year; all employees were required to take at least a 5% pay cut this past year; and they laid off more than 20,000 employees in 2008 alone, with several thousands more laid off so far in 2009.
Add to that the fact that CEO Mark Hurd took a $42.5 million total compensation package for 2008 and just this past month the IT Director (I think that's the position) and the CFO, among other upper management positions, received enormous pay bonuses. I understand that most of these bonuses are built into employment contracts at the upper level. But, honestly, why aren't these contracts being renegotiated?
In short, upper staff levels continue making money hand-over-fist (despite having taken paycuts themselves) while they shiv the lower level staff and move jobs overseas to remain profitable. And they wonder why employees are less than happy.
Many HP employees I know feel the situation is a huge injustice, but given the current economy, they don't feel that they can leave. I wonder if HP has even considered the productivity that they're losing when employees commiserate. I hear my fiance on the phone several times a week swapping injustices with other HP'ers. It certainly doesn't inspire them to work harder or longer hours.
(Remaining anonymous so my comments don't bite my fiance in the butt at work.)
My husband and I were a one car household for a few years. This spring we purchased a medium sized scooter for my drive to work. Although that is a net vehicle addition, it is still cost-effective for us for a few reasons.
Insurance on the scooter is very cheap. The scooter gets about 90 mpg, making our gas costs cheaper. The scooter is my commute method, the car isn't driven very much, because my husband works from home. Occasionally he uses the car for errands, or we use it when we need to buy a lot of groceries. We use the scooter for going places around town, as it seats 2 people and has a small cargo area under the seat. The car is old, so driving it less will (hopefully!) make it last longer. Scooters are pretty inexpensive new or used.
If you can't give up the second car, consider replacing it with a scooter! They are efficient, inexpensive and lots of fun! Save the car for hauling around cargo or kids.
I gotta say I completely agree. My employer only differentiates pay based on how many hours are billed by each consultant. The result? People try to bill as many hours as possible, and don't care about quality of work, nor are most consultants willing to contribute to the team that would help everyone be more productive. Can't do that effectively anyway because, just as the article alludes to, we're not given the tools we need to do so. And since management hasn't given any increases in salary (in fact, total compensation has declined in the years I've been working here due to not covering as much of the cost of insurance and ending the 401k match), they're resented. And it patently leads to unfair scenarios. For example, I happened to be available for one project that unexpectedly turned into a long term full time staff augmentation project, so I'm getting large bonuses, while my co-workers mostly get nothing because the economy is down. I'm not working any harder than they are.
My Dh and I are fixing up our house and getting ready to sell it, in the hopes of moving into an area where we'll be able to walk everywhere. He's looking at job opportunities in that same area, so hopefully when the move finally happens, we'll be able to get rid of his truck, and he can walk or bike to work, while I take the daughter to and from school. We're SO excited for this life change... it's hard to wait for it!!!
I've seen too many short-sighted decisions made by people who wanted to pad their bonus numbers. I think that many of these incentive programs do more harm than good to an organization. When the focus is limited to the current year, improvements that may take longer than one year are sidelined, and the quick fixes are implemented first. I can see this at my current job, where rather than creating a sense of ownership, the incentive program is encouraging people to "get it while they can" rather than thinking about the long-term health of the company.
My husband and I have been a one car household for over 2 years now. We got rid of our second car (a classic VW) when we moved to a small town in central WA (the snow and salt would have damaged the car anyway.) We were able to walk everywhere and we hardly used the car, since the town was so small.
We now live in a larger city. I don't know if we are considered to be living in the "burbs", but one car is still doable for us. When we moved here we purposely found a house that was within walking distance to my husbands job. Since he works at a University we save a ton on parking too.
I use the car most of the time, but since I work 10 minutes from my husband's job, he can take the car when he needs it.
We've actually been talking about the possibility of going "car-less" in a few years. There are a lot of zip cars around town and we live in a bike friendly place.
We have one car and have always had one car. He has never actually had a license because when he was younger his family couldn't afford insurance or a second car and the same goes for us. I work part time and it is only 5 miles away. I wish it was bike-able but it would be quite dangerous, no bike lane and not many bikers so drivers don't know how to drive around bikers, also quite hilly and I would need a nap when I got to work and don't know how I would get myself home.
Five years ago we moved to the apartment complex right behind husbands work so he walks. A second car just wouldn't get used. There is rarely a time when there are two things that need to be done. I think because it has just always been this way and we know no other way. It would be nice if there was more than one driver but I don't think we will ever need a second car.
My boss and his wife are also a one car household, they both work from home and I help them out with their business. They rent a car 3 or 4 times a year when one of their jobs requires a lot of meetings or other things.
We have two cars, but one is a old pickup that we drive at most once a week (and generally more like once a month) for hauling large loads.
Generally, we get by on one car with no problems. We live in a medium sized college town. I can walk to work, and my husband is at home with our son. From our house we can walk to several grocery stores, the library, the post office, restaurants, etc etc. We could almost get by on no cars if we had to! We did pay somewhat of a premium on our house when we bought one in a more downtown location than if we'd bought a couple of miles out, but I wouldn't trade. I love being able to walk everywhere.
i think the main goal is not necessarily to have a one-car household, but to really reduce your transportation needs. SO many folks here are talking about living 30 minutes or more from work. it's totally understandable that (especially in this economy) you need to take (and keep) whatever job you can get, but there's also a lot to be said for working near where you live. it not only makes commuting easier (or nonexistent) but it also invests you in your community more, increasing your commitment to local reforms like those mentioned above. as long as people work far from where they live, cars will be necessary, and nobody will be invested in "local" reform of suburban office parks where no one lives. maybe it's ultimtaely the housing situation, not the car situation, that really needs to be changed, though this will happen slowly, and over time.
We've been a one-car suburban family for 15 years. In fact, now that our oldest child is a young adult, we are now sharing one car between 3 drivers. Here's how/why it works for us:
~I am a SAHM, homeschooling my younger child, so neither I nor that child need transportation
~we are homebodies and our kids aren't involved in very many activities that require transportation during the week. Fortunately we live in a neighborhood with plenty of kids around for them to play with.
~my husband and oldest child work near each other and with similar schedules so they share the car to get to work
~I am an introverted personality and don't feel the need to get more socialization on a daily basis than what I can find in my neighborhood or online
~I do a lot of my shopping, banking, and other business online and feel like not having a car available actually saves me money by keeping me away from stores
~we have retired family members living next door who can help with emergency transportation
~our mechanic is within walking distance of my husband's work, so he can drop the car off and walk to work when we need repairs done.
~we have, a handful of times over the years, rented a car for a day or two when dealing with extensive car repairs or some other issue that required us to have 2 cars.
~my husband and I are in our late 40s and both remember our parents getting by with one car when we were young, so we knew it was possible before we tried it.
it's definitely possible for some folks.
my partner and i, however, couldn't do it. we work in different parts of the city, and he'd have to get up an hour earlier to get out when i do...which would get ME up at 4 am. no thanks! i also have no way to carpool, as no one at my workplace lives remotely close to me. he could, but it would be a royal pain in the patootie to carpool with his friend (who has 3 kids, and has to call out randomly and without warning when one of them is sick). once my toy is paid off, i'm parking it and turning in the tags to give myself time to overhaul it (i don't intend to get rid of it ... ever, if possible), and will be buying a more economical gas sipper. depending on the reality of the rumors i've heard, an all-electric Cube might be that car.
my parents have it nailed, though. before my dad lost his job in the buyout of his employer, he would drive my mom to work and pick her up in the evenings. he still drives her back and forth, because the cost of parking in her garage far surpasses the cost of gas for him to drive her...he just doesn't dress in a suit for the occasion. :)
It's great to see so many people thinking and talking about trying a one car lifestyle.
For the people who mentioned working in the opposite direction as their spouse, have you considered when it comes time to change jobs limiting the area closer to home?
I know several people who have made it a priority to work close to where they live.
A big part of why one car works for us is we choose to live close to my husband's workplace.
I love that "Guest" is working on improving the layout of the town, to make it more walkable! That's a fantastic idea.
My wife's car was totaled in an accident once, and we subsequently carpooled for a month or two. Our commute is about 35-40 miles each way into downtown Dallas. The hardest part is scheduling. Since we both have varying schedules, we end up staying downtown for whoever was working later. We saved in gas & tolls, but we probably more than made up for it in eating out for dinner!
On the weekends, we're pretty much exclusively on one car because we spend most of our time together. But given how far away we are from the rest of civilization in our new subdivision (Wal-Mart, gas stations, etc.), it is almost impossible to make it work.
My husband and I are also a one-car family. It's fairly easy for us because there are just 2 of us. My husband also works from home and I only travel 6 miles to work (sometimes on my bike!).
I also wrote a post about living with only one car in the suburbs (and I have to agree with comment #5, the burbs are not designed well for walking and biking - it's a shame). You can check it out here.
Have you looked into cargo bikes to transport more bags of groceries or a child or two? I'm just curious, I am in awe of them but can't find any in my area. Good luck on your continued one-car family.
thanks for the post-
Little House
My wife and I relocated to Beaufort, SC exactly a year ago from Washington DC. We had one car in DC and decided not to purchase another car when we moved. Thankfully, I work from home, so I can either take my wife to work or do without the car if she drives herself. I know that we're a special case, but I think quite a few people are capable of living with one car, if they only figure out the total costs.
Cars are horrible investments, depreciating quickly and staying largely idle during the day. If we had two cars, my wife would drive to work and home, using the car for about 40 minutes a day. The car would be idle during the 8 hours she's at work. Total waste of capital.
Doesn't work for everyone, but if it's important to you to reduce your impact, this is a pretty straight-forward approach
Great article on getting things resolved. However, after doing everything you said, you didn't include the last step if you continue to get the runaround (and with some insurance companies you will) ... send a certified letter threatening legal action for wrongful denial of claims.
Consumer protection laws have a "minimum level" federal component and then a state component which often gives you additional protections. There are generally two types of "wrongful denial" actions, one under "unfair and deceptive business practices" and a second for "wrongful denial of insurance claim." To get action for a claim that should be covered but isn't, you should threaten both.
Go to your state attorney generals website and see if they tell you what procedure you need to file a consumer complaint. Here in Massachusetts, you have to send something certified mail called a "M.G.L. ch. 93A Demand Letter" to the person authorized to receive process (you can find this person listed on your state Secretary of State business listing website) threatening that if they don't resolve this issue within 30 days, you are going to file suit in X court (if the claim is for less than $1500 you can file in small claims court for a nominal fee). Type out an outline of the route of the dispute and all action you have taken to date (including those important names, dates, and minutes of conversations). Inform them you will be seeking triple damages for all costs, including court costs and attorney fees. Also, since this is an insurance matter, threaten you will also seek damages under M.G.L. 176D. You'd be amazed at how quickly most issues get resolved once you send the damand letter.
Your exact procedure will vary, but most attorney general offices and/or consumer protection agencies will tell you the proper procedure to follow in your state. Many courthouses have law libraries in them where you can read and photocopy attorney guidebooks (often called CLE manuals) about how to initiate the process in your state.
If they don't resolve the issue within 30 days, go ahead and file a lawsuit. The CLE manual should tell you how. Sit in the back of a courtroom a few hours so you don't get butterflies. Usually then, except unless you're clearly wrong about the procedure being covered, the insurance company will resolve the claim because it will cost them more to hire an attorney to go to court than to just cover the claim.
You can do this yourself if it's for a nominal amount of money ... you only have to pay a filing fee (generally $25 to $180) and fee to have a constable serve the paperwork. For a big, life-threatening issue or issues involving more than $2000, however, you should hire an attorney.
Hi! I have 7 kids, work from home (mostly) and we only have one car. I drive my husband, high-schooler and middle-schooler to work and school each morning (about a 20 minute trip) while my homeschooler watches the little ones. My high-schooler walks home, but everyone else is just a little too far to walk and the bus doesn't come our way. The older kids can take the city bus, though, to activities and movies - and I do drive around quite a bit - but it's way cheaper than having to pay for two cars! Sometimes kids have to wait a bit for me to come and get them...but that is very rare. It usually works out just fine.