if you're a one-car family...

amyinaustin · February 2011

how do you make that work? I'm assuming you'd have to be a SAHM or a WFHM in order to do it, but I'm curious of the details.

Do you switch of days (DH has the car 2 days, you have it 2 days), do you take him to work and pick him up, or do you just deal w/o a car all the time while you are at home w/ the kiddos.

We have 2 cars, but I have the huge gas guzzler as "my" car w/ the car seat in it(even though it's technically dh's car) and I rarely drive it, but I do have it in case I need it which makes me feel good. It's paid off, otherwise we'd definitely consider getting rid of it, or at least I would-DH would hate that idea.

I'd love to hear how you guys make it work - hoping that will help me come up with ideas on how to drive the gas guzzler even less.

mcurban · February 2011

amyinaustin:
how do you make that work? I'm assuming you'd have to be a SAHM or a WFHM in order to do it, but I'm curious of the details.

We are a two car family, but of our friends (both here and in NC) who are one car, the majority of them both work outside of the home and they carpool to work.

jakbtx · February 2011

we are. I SAH and keep the car. it works because we live central and DH has a fairly easy bike commute to work. Biking to work also serves as some built-in exercise/mental health break for him. it works even better now with the car2go program. if DH doesn't feel like biking, he can usually find a car within 5 min walking distance of our house. i do much more driving than he does w/preschool dropoffs/pickups, errands, etc. i would go completely nuts without car access w/3 kids.

MrsMillerTime · February 2011

We are. I SAH & DH WFH so we're pretty lucky in that we never really "need" to leave the house. We coordinate our schedules every couple days so that I know if he has meetings he needs to go to and he is aware if I need to go to an appointment. If he worked outside the home, I would most definitely be driving him to/from work every day (or he would find a way to utilize public transport and/or carpool) so I could keep a car at home. There is no way in hell that I would leave myself stranded at home with a toddler and no vehicle for an extended period of time. Just the thought that I couldn't leave (in the case of emergency, etc.) would drive me bonkers.

libbyann · February 2011

We are. Our situation is kind of unique in the fact that I WFM and WOH depending on the day. About 2 days a week I'll take DH to work and pick him up from work to allow Will and I to run errands, go to storytime, etc. The other three days a week we stay at home, walk to the park, watch movies, and hang out here. I always have the option to take the car in the morning if I need to do something that day, which is nice.

In case of emergency, we'd either call 911 or my dad, who WFH about 10 minutes away. We only have one carseat though, so unless it was a life or death situation where we'd be calling an ambulance, it'd be 30 minutes or so before we could get anywhere [my dad would have to go to DH's work to get it out of the car]. I'm perfectly okay with that situation.

On weekends, our roles reverse. I usually have the car to go to sessions while DH stays at home & hangs out with Will. He'll take me to and from sessions if he needs the car for something, but usually it's easier for me to just take it.

userdeleted · February 2011

DH and I have shared a car since we were in college. We used to live within walking distance of his job, so that was pretty easy. Now that we're farther away he'll either carpool, or I drive him to work. I almost always keep the car because I can't be trapped at home - I'd go nuts!

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