To think 2 car households are totally normal these days.

[Karleeb30]

I appreciate not everyone can afford to run 2 cars but it is a necessity in our case.

We live rurally with no public transport links. Dp works unsociable hours, I'm currently off work but have needed it for work previously , just not currently.. We have two dc who both have sen so needed for appointments when dp is at work. I'd also be very isolated without a car living where we do. We have thought about just having one buy it would be a struggle with appointments and no public transport links.

Basically we have dp's 15 year old trusty car he's had forever that he uses for work. He's had it for years. It's not suitable for us as a family as only a 3 door and small and wouldn't be great for dc.

Then we have a 6 year old (that we bought second hand last year ) family car which I use more than him but dp drives too at the weekends. Previously we had an older car as a second car.

It is a struggle to keep both going at times but both are pretty reliable so far (hopefully don't jinx it here) and haven't cost us much other than your average costs for a car.

I have recently received remarks off a family member. Saying we must be rich if we have 2 cars especially if I am not working (which is degrading tbh, people have no right to judge us in our current circumstances and they don't work themselves which is the funniest thing about it so they are very hypocritical.

We are not rich, we get by but living month by month especially down to one wage currently, we do struggle. We don't have any other luxuries!

We are fortunate we can keep 2 cars running because I know not everyone can but like I said we don't have much else in the terms of luxuries.

Aibu to think 2 cars is not a luxury in most cases but a necessity and people should
Keep their beaks out where it's not needed?

We are in that middle between rich and poor where we aren't rich (I wish) and we aren't poor either.

Yanbu

Depends entirely on where you live and where you work and what the public transport options are. If there are alternatives then one car should be enough eg if you live in a city.

I don’t see how it’s anything to do with your family??
We are definitely not rich but are a 2 car household. Both our jobs require that we need a job (I do home visits across a county) and my husband does shift work with no public transport options at the times needed. We also both have days that we have to collect my son from childcare (we wouldn’t have time to reply on public transport after shifts ending) I agree what what you are saying. In some cases it’s a necessity. I certainly wish we didn’t need 2 cars it would certainly save us some money! But in order to keep our jobs it’s essential.

We have 2 cars. Dh works, I don't....I have a 14 year old runaround which gets to the supermarket, gym, meeting friends and walks in the country.
We live in a city but transport links are shocking....a bus takes 50 mins to do a journey I can do in the car in 15.
We use dhs car for breaks/ days out.
Neither of us are " into" cars...we just want one which is economic and reliable.
And we are not " rich"!!

We can’t afford a second car so make do with one. Walk / cycle / train when required. Links aren’t great (not London) but we are used to it and get on with it. From observation, those who get used to the convenience of two cars cannot then go back to one.

What do you mean by these days, having 2 cars isn't a new thing. It was normal when I was a child and it's normal now.

Who cares what anyone else thinks about the number of cars you have, are they short on stuff to concern themselves with?

We are in that middle between rich and poor where we aren't rich (I wish) and we aren't poor either.

People who say that are usually rich. You can look up charts to see where you are in terms of percentiles.

It’s not really your relative’s business how you’re financing the cars, so they should butt out.

Two cars are horrible for the environment. Only you know how much you really need them, but I don’t believe all MNetters “live very rurally” as they claim they do.

We only have one but both work from home. We couldn’t manage with one if DH went back to work in an office because there are no buses or trains to the children’s school.

Just ignore.

Some people run no cars.

Some people run two.

Some people holiday in the Caribbean. Some people camp.

Everyone has different incomes and different priorities .

Why do you care?

Entirely depends, doesn’t it? There’s no “normal”. Everyone I know is either a one- or zero-car household. But we’re all in London and Brighton where having a car is rank madness. Imagine families in rural areas without decent public transport with 2 working parents have an entirely different set-up.

Just ignore other people’s commentary on how you run your life.

It’s cheaper to buy a house with no public transport, but then you’ll have to spend extra money running one or even two cars.

I would still class multiple cars as a luxury in most cases.

However it is location and profession dependent.
We're a one car family, have been since dh and I moved in together as we moved walking distance from my then job, dh has spent the last 18 months working from home, and I've changed jobs, I need to drive to work now and drop ds at nursery on my way. However, it looks like dh is on a gradual return to the office, meaning we're going to have to look at our options because our hours don't quite line up.

We recently moved from a city to a village. In the city most people only had one car but out here it's much more normal to have two.

We'd really struggle out here if we only had one car, not sure we could actually manage it unless we made some big life changes (different jobs etc). In the city we probably would have been ok with no car at all most of the time.

We are a one car family and I would say it's the exception. Most families I know have two or more cars.

We could probably "manage" without our car completely. But it's convenient. And having grown up with no car, much preferable.

We have two cars, as do most of our neighbours (where there are two adults). The only exception on our road is a retired couple and one couple where the SAHM drives husband to and from work then has the car for the rest of the day. We're in bog standard 3 bed terraces but fortunately most have off road parking.

@EatYourVegetables

We are in that middle between rich and poor where we aren't rich (I wish) and we aren't poor either.

People who say that are usually rich. You can look up charts to see where you are in terms of percentiles.

It’s not really your relative’s business how you’re financing the cars, so they should butt out.

Two cars are horrible for the environment. Only you know how much you really need them, but I don’t believe all MNetters “live very rurally” as they claim they do.

We are far from rich. Dp earns just over 30 grand a year which is actually decent salary where we live but now high compared to some areas and dc also get disability benefits which helps with added costs but we don't get anything means tested. We live in a small 3 bed house we bought for £140000 a few years ago but now likely worth £200,000. But that's totally off topic.

We live very rurally but also near the coast. There are no good public transport links in the whole county live in - let alone our village.

I know it's terrible for the environment. My car is meant to be economical (£20 road tax a year). Dp could cycle to work but I don't feel it would be safe at 4am on an early shift or 10pm on a late shift on dark country roads.

@AFuturisticalSound

What do you mean by these days, having 2 cars isn't a new thing. It was normal when I was a child and it's normal now.

Who cares what anyone else thinks about the number of cars you have, are they short on stuff to concern themselves with?

You are likely right but I grew up in a house without in one car for years then we did get one and it was a struggle as my mum always needed it but my stepdad needed to get to work too! These comments are not from my parents 💕

We live in a teeny tiny box house (no joke because its fucking tiny) but we own 2 cars, only I drive but hopefully that will change soon.

Not rich not poor, but 2 cars are affordable. They cost us under £120 for fuel/insurance/repairs per month.

Some people spend that on a mobile phone contract or their sky bill!!

We have no sky or contracts, but i do have 2 cars. One is 4 years old one is 7 years old, and yes sometimes cost me a bit in repairs but still overall cheaper annually than bus / taxi / my personal effort of walking

I live in a safe, small city now, and most people we know have 1 family car, often rarely used, and often an e-bike too (it's a hilly city) for commute.

However I grew up in the countryside with dreadful-nonexistent public transport, and 2 cars were a necessity.

Well, we had 2 cars growing up because my dad had a company car, as did DH's dad and my best friend's dad. Fairly normal in the late 80s and 90s.

I'm not personally of the opinion that the only justification for a car is work. DH works from home but if he got an office with commute we'd buy a cheap second car. No way am I schlepping to work on irregular rural Wiltshire buses for my 3 work days, especially as I'd be emergency contact for nursery, and I use it to take DS out on my 2 days off.

We have a larger income than you but I’d consider us getting a second car extravagant, because there are only a couple of days where both would get used. We just build our schedule around sharing it. You asked for opinions though, generally I agree that other people should keep their noses out, I’m not judging.

@Vodka1

We live in a teeny tiny box house (no joke because its fucking tiny) but we own 2 cars, only I drive but hopefully that will change soon.

Not rich not poor, but 2 cars are affordable. They cost us under £120 for fuel/insurance/repairs per month.

Some people spend that on a mobile phone contract or their sky bill!!

We have no sky or contracts, but i do have 2 cars. One is 4 years old one is 7 years old, and yes sometimes cost me a bit in repairs but still overall cheaper annually than bus / taxi / my personal effort of walking

We are similar. My concern is if we were to get rid of one car:

1. How we would manage. Both mhself and dc have appointments a lot. If Dp couldn't get the time off, we would be screwed to get anywhere.

1. If we ever decided to sell one car then changed our mind how we would afford to buy a car again. Hoping to get back to work myself soon.

1. How isolated I would be stuck in the village. There's not even a shop here.

A lot of people have now tried to manage with one car if they can. Working from home helps. The less cars the less pollution. That needs to be taken into consideration.

@Viviennemary

A lot of people have now tried to manage with one car if they can. Working from home helps. The less cars the less pollution. That needs to be taken into consideration.

I do agree of course but unfortunately my partners occupation can absolutely not be done at a home. Even in lockdown he'd be at work as usual. They never shut down or worked from home. It would be impossible!

We could do with two cars sometimes but doesn’t justify having two. It just means one of us needs to walk a bit 😂