We lived in Hawaii for 10 years. Mopeds were in! We each had one. They are convenient but also very dangerous. Plenty of crash stories but I’ll spare you. After some time, we bit the approaching bullet and bought a car. A Honda Civic, nothing down, $250 per month. Not bad. When we moved from Hawaii to Raleigh, we had to ship it and took a $2,500 hit on that fee. Nonetheless, it was great having it shipped straight to our door upon arrival. Not having to go car shopping and potential paying a down was really helpful after an expensive move where I really needed the time to ramp up in my new job.
So, how has it been? Since moving, we had a kiddo. That certainly further complicated things but I’ll tell you, we have not met the threshold of giving in and adding another line item (and other expenses) to our family’s finances.
Total spent each month (avg): $375 *includes car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance and care
So, how do we get away with the “one car life”?
We’ve made it 2.5 years now.
1: We use Uber and Lyft often. On average, we spend $75 per month on these types of services. Although I could be stashing that away into another car payment (to eventually pay off and have an asset), it’s just not worth it. I want us to remain “light” and worry about less.
2: I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit card which gives you a $300 credit towards anything travel, annually. Whenever that time comes and I use Uber/Lyft, it automatically credits my account to make for a free 30 rides, give or take.
3: Coordination is key. All be it, my wife does not work full time but still, she needs to use the car quite a bit for various things each week. Many days she will either drop me off, pick me up or both. As best we can, we’ll map out the week before it gets going and figure what days I’ll have the car vs take a Uber/Lyft.
4: Not giving in. “Come on down, do we have a deal for you!” Nah. There has been so many times where I’ve almost did it—start searching the inter webs for the latest used car batch, rationalizing a down payment, etc. It’s tough. Particularly with all of the great options and features in vehicles these days. Bottom line is that we’ve held off and will continue to for as long as we can!
It’s important to point out that doing the “one car life” is not a great fit for everyone, but it works for us. That’s key. Find what works for you. Perhaps there is an opportunity to off load your two pricey vehicles and turn them in for more economic options. By doing just that, you would see $200-400 in savings per month, same as I am seeing. Or as my wife points out, perhaps having a really nice, pricier car is important to you—then that’s a great reason to have one! Or two.
I’ll end by saying the future of mobility is changing and will drastically do so over the next 10 years due to technology. Other than saving money, it’s great to start adopting new modes of transportation as things like autonomous ride hailing vehicles, car manufacturing subscriptions, etc. will be taking over vs. the popular model of single occupancy, personally owned vehicles.
January 23, 2019 at 10:16PM
