Car loans, maintenance, gas and insurance premiums can add up. You might be able to give your budget a break by downsizing to a single vehicle or by giving up a car altogether. Here are some things to consider.
Do You Have to Drive to Work?
If you and your partner work in different cities and you both commute to work every day, you might think that you each need a car, but there might be other options worth considering, such as public transportation and carpooling. If one or both of you can work from home, you might be able to get rid of a vehicle and reduce your monthly expenses.
Do You Have Kids?
If you have children, you probably spend a good deal of time driving them to and from school, extracurricular activities and friends’ houses. If you have kids of different ages who participate in different activities, you and your spouse might share the responsibility of ferrying them around.
A family with kids may or may not need multiple vehicles. There might be other ways to get your children where they need to be. For example, you might be able to work out a carpooling arrangement with other parents or have a relative or friend who lives nearby drive your kids to their activities.
What Other Transportation Options Are Available in Your Area?
Where you live will heavily impact your decision about how many cars your family should have. Some regions have public transportation systems with buses, trains and subways that run frequently and serve a large geographic area. In other places, public transportation is limited or nonexistent. Research the options in your locale and figure out if you could use public transportation to meet some or all of your needs.
Could Your Family Get By With Just One Car?
Being a single-car household requires a lot of planning and coordination. That’s particularly true if a family has kids with busy schedules or if spouses work in different cities or have different schedules.
Talk to your partner about whether you could make things work with one car. It might seem impossible at first, but you might be able to adjust your work schedules, use other forms of transportation or carpool.
Having a single vehicle can be risky. Think about what you would do if your car broke down or got damaged in an accident and you couldn’t use it for several days or weeks.
How Much Money Could You Save By Getting Rid of a Car?
Costs for insurance, gas and maintenance can vary widely depending on the types of vehicles you have and how old they are. If you currently pay a lot for one of your cars, ask yourself if you would be better off without it. Spending less on vehicle-related expenses could free up money for other things, such as saving for retirement.
