Welcome to my 52 Ways to Save $100 a Month series. We’re serious about saving money in 2016. Sometimes it’s the little things and sometimes it’s the big things. I’m here to walk you through some little things that can add up to BIG savings. 52 little things to be exact. Every week, join me back here for another small money saving tip or idea that might not seem like significant savings until you see the overall yearly savings. It might just blow your mind. So pop in each Tuesday and read a new tip that will help you on your way to save $100 a month!
I know some of you live in cities where cars are optional. I also know that some of you live in more rural areas where 2 cars in your family are essential. I completely understand, but today I’m talking to those 2-car families who have not yet examined the possibility {or explored the saving that follows} of ditching one of your cars. The savings are pretty profound, although it will take some juggling, some sacrifice and some serious adjustment.
Determine if it’s Feasible: Sit down and write down your weekly schedule. When does your required travel actually overlap? How often are both of your vehicles away from your house? If it’s during the same working hours, think of alternative ride sources. Public transportation may be key if you live in a bigger city, and carpool or ride sharing might be an option if you live in a smaller city. It’s identifying the actual vehicle gaps that will tell you if this is even an option for you. If your husband is a traveling salesman and you cart kids in 5 different directions during the same time, this might not work for you. But if you take a hard look at essential travel, it might surprise you to find you can make this work.
Make a Plan: Reducing your family vehicles will require much more planning and coordination. You can’t just hop in the car and drive to the store without being aware of your spouse’s schedule and vehicle needs. Make a car calendar that is visible to the whole family. Check local bus, tram and train schedules and have them posted nearby as well. The visual will help you see if there are any upcoming gaps and plan accordingly.
Spend a Little to Save a Lot: Just because you cut out the expense of a second car doesn’t mean your vehicle budget will be cut in half. If you use public transportation or rack up more miles on the one car you have, make sure you budget accordingly. The savings will still be substantial, but you still have to work some extra costs in to your budget to allow for those big savings.
Learn the Art of Pedal Power: Do you own a bike? Do you live in a bike-friendly community? {I don’t suggest you pedal down the freeway} You might have to get up an extra hour earlier, but hopping on your bike to commute to work not only solves the transportation problem, it’s great for your health and your environment. You’d be surprised just how far you can pedal. Don’t let an office 20 miles away deter you. If you live in a traffic congested area, you might just speed right by all those enraging traffic jams. Of course, you have to create a back-up plan in case of weather.
Walk the Talk: Walking to work is obviously only an option if you live relatively close to work. While this might not be an option for everyone, I love to walk and think a stroll to work in the morning would calm me and prepare me for the stress of the day. I’d be willing to walk about 5 miles to work, but for some that number might be much less. I say if it’s possible, huff it!
Carpool is King: I’m not just talking the morning neighborhood carpool to school. You can carpool to school activities, kid’s sports, the gym and, of course, work. Many cities offer “Park and Ride” commuter van carpools for a nominal fee. If you can coordinate it, think about carpooling with a spouse. You might have to drive a bit out of your way for the drop-off, but the savings make it completely worth it! Check with neighbors. You might not be driving to the same office, but if you’re in the general are, the carpool might still work. You can also pay for a carpool to keep from having to take a turn. The small fee you pay will still be thousands less than what a second car would cost you.
Think Outside the Box: Maybe a commute is not as necessary as it once was. We live in an age of telecommuting. Could you possibly work from home one or more days a week? Companies are increasingly allowing telecommuting instead of having employees work from an office, as it lowers their overhead as well. Discuss this as an option with your employer. This would eliminate the need for transportation to work and make life with one less car that much more possible!
How many cars does your family have? Do you think reducing that number by one is a possibility?
How Much Can You Save: $9,000+ That is what studies say the average cost to own a standard sedan per year is. If you own a larger vehicle or a luxury car, that number dramatically rises. This includes routine car maintenance, tire replacement, depreciation, licensing, registration, and taxes. This does not include monthly payments if you are leasing or still making payments on your car. If you factor that in, the savings are staggering. AAA suggests a savings of $62,000 over 5 years. SIXTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! HOLY CATS PEOPLE!!
More Ways to Save:
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clean Out Your Closet {Week 1 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Break Up with Cable {Week 2 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Barter Better {Week 3 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Change Your Own Oil {Week 4 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Adjust Your Thermostat {Week 5 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Take Advantage of Your Perks {Week 6 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Pack Your Lunch {Week 7 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Make It Yourself {Week 8 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Preserve Your Bounty {Week 9 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Keep the Change {Week 10 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | The Art of Borrowing {Week 11 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Ditch the Gym {Week 12 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clip a Coupon {Week 13 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Start Your Garden From Seed {Week 14 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Learn to Cut Hair {Week 15 of 52}
Abby says
This is my favorite tip by far! We’ve always been a one-car family. We pay slightly more in housing costs to live in a slightly smaller house, square-footage wise. But in this massive metropolitan area, my husband’s commute – including walking to/from the train station – is under 30 minutes. We also looked for a neighborhood where our kids could walk to/from school, which is another reason why this works.
Two other tips that make it work for us: look into Uber/ZipCar. We have a ZipCar membership for those rare times when we need two cars at the same time, or, more often for when our regular car is in the shop. The second tip is check if your garage is near transit or Uber! This can make a huge difference, as it’s no fun to spend an entire day waiting for a car to be repaired. Our garage is walking distance from our house – which is pretty much amazing, especially when our previous car was approaching 130,000 miles and needed work pretty regularly.
The rockiest times were those ages when our kids were too big for strollers, but still slooooowwww walkers. If we had to run errands on foot back then, it felt absolutely glacial. But it’s a pretty short phase, and I do think learning how to be a good pedestrian while young is a life skill!
Lisa Millar says
We went from a 2 car to a 1 car couple when we moved from the city into the country.
I didn’t have a formal job anymore and my husband works nights. It def. was the right move. The only time we have been inconvenienced is if our car needed some work done to it.
I am sure if I add up the past 4 years, I’d be pretty happy about the savings!
Jess says
We did this calculation a while back and it is a ton of money! One of the points we came up with was that if we ever got stuck needing 2 cars we could rent a car for $26 a day and still save a boatload over owning 2 cars.
This also came into the backup plan when we decided to ditch the minivan in favor of a small SUV. We save over $150 a month in payment and gas so if I ever need a minivan for an event I can rent one for $32 a day. We have not had to do this yet but it made me feel better knowing we had the option 🙂
Rosaleen says
I’m “retired” and hubby should retire within the next year or two. I do NOT see us becoming a one car couple within the next 5-10 years. The only thing within walking distance is a convenience store, and I am likely to take off for weeks at a time for hiking or visiting my mother. Once hubby stops working, we each are likely to want a car to escape the other for sanity’s sake!
Deborah says
I won’t bore anybody with a life story, but having a second car when my kids were growing up would have made a lot of difference in my kids and my own life. Every ones life is different, but if having another car gives you the freedom to do things, then don’t give it up!!!
Sophie says
I wish we could make this work! My hubby and I work overlapping schedules and he takes kids to daycare and I pick up as a result of our work schedules. Maybe once my littles are in school we could make it work because it really does save money and force you to be intentional with your time!
Monica says
We have been a 1 car family for about two years now. It was difficult to get used to at first but is so worth the money it has saved. We live in the suburbs and my office is, pretty much, right across the street from our house so I am able to walk to/from work or catch a ride from my hubby or co-worker. My husband works downtown so he needs the car during the day. It does take planning and getting used to but after a while you will realize just how many extra errands, grocery trips, store trips that you thought at the time were totally necessary are actually not, which also saves you money.
Donna in VA says
We did this for a month when hubby sold his old car and was waiting for the new one on order. Fortunately I was able to ride the bus to & from work for $1/ride at the time. So I calculated we saved $1,000 that month. Riding the bus was time consuming (walk to & from the stop, wait for the bus, longer trip time). But I would be willing to do it for a limited time. The ride now costs $1.50 but still so cheap!
TIffany Kerns says
When we moved the last time, we consciously chose to live in a less than 2 mile distance from my husbands work. This allows him to bike or walk (exercise and decompression) and frees me to have our one van. With 4 kids this does get difficult at times when we don’t have two options and three kids needs to be different places but we have developed carpool options and occasionally we just rent a vehicle if a weekend is too crazy. It still is much cheaper than owning a second vehicle.
I do think the only way this works though is when life/work/school/shopping is within a small radial distance. I can do most of my life in a 3 mile radius and this makes it much more doable.
Daddio7 says
I’m retired and I figure it cost $2 a day to keep my old work truck. No way am I going to strand myself at home and lose the usefulness of having a truck living in the country for that small amount of money. Buying a good used car also helps save money. My wife paid $8000 for her 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis 12 years ago and it is still in perfect operating condition. She can drive it four more years before the current set of tires wear out. She bought our then 16 year old son a used 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix for $3000. After two years of high school and six years of college he is still driving it. It runs fine but the AC quit so he might try to get something newer this summer.
Jen Young says
We started out as a one car family in the 1980’s then bought our second car in 1991 ( a used Geo Prism).
When we our son was born we dropped our first car & became a one car family again. That meant if I needed the car I had to get our son out of bed at 4:30 AM to drive my husband to work then be back at 1PM to pick him up. During good weather my husband rode his bicycle to work – 5 miles each way. Looking back I’m not sure how wise that was but he survived. He road his bike on a major 2-lane highway at 4AM, in the dark with big semis flying by. There were no bike lanes, just a grassy shoulder to pull off on.
In 2002 or 3(can’t remember) we bought our second car as a married couple. A 2000 Honda Civic. So he drove the Geo to work & I used the Honda. In 2009 our son bought his first car, a 1998 Honda Accord & we became a 3 car family.
Now in 2016 I still drive the 2000 Civic, our son is married & on his own (having already so my husband drives the 1998 Accord. We still have the Geo that he drives occasionally. We can’t agree on which car to drop, the Accord or the Geo. My husband wants to see just how much farther he can make the Geo go…he’s already driven it for 25 yrs & though it looks terrible it does still have a lot of miles left in it.
So in 29 yrs of marriage we’ve only bought two used cars. By doing that we’ve saved a lot of money in the long run.
Patrice in U.P. says
Another savings cost factor is auto insurance.
Lissa says
Mavis are YOU selling your car that you traveled to Sweden to buy?!?! THAT would be huge (don’t do it). I can’t believe all of the changes/sacrifices you are willing to make. So inspiring!
PS- After 4+ years of reading your blog(s) daily I finally started my own seeds this year and am resurrecting my long ignored garden–thanks to you!
Samantha says
Our family has always been a 1 car family, and we’ve made it work for us. We live very frugally, and I ride the city bus to work and back home. It costs $70 for a annual bus pass. We are saving a TON of money by having 1 car. We also just paid off our car last year, so one less payment/bill to worry about! I love your blog Mavis, and I think you have lots of good tips on this post!