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.

Not a single one of them have ever said it was environmental reasons.

This is us, I have to make the decision based on our finances and work/life balance. If getting on a bus was cheaper and actually got my kids to school when they needed and me at my desk by 9 like my car does, I would absolutely consider it, but I'm at a stage of my life with a busy career and 2 young children where realistically I have to prioritise my working day and finances over what is better for the environment. And that is how it will be until my hand is forced or until I'm in the position of having less immediate responsibilities that enable me to look beyond my own family.

If the council/government actually helped by placing children in the nearest schools and put on affordable and frequent bus services it would be much more feasible, so I do not take the blame entirely. Don't tell us to walk our kids to school then create academies which can create their own admissions' criteria nothing to do with location.

@Macncheeseballs

Why do so many choose things like nurseries so far away from their homes, little kids being ferried around every morning in toxic traffic

DD's nursery were far away from home as they were en route to work.

Her schools were a drive away. Nearest school was also too far to walk to and then still be on time for work for either me or Dh.

Not everyone lives, works, goes to school/nursery, shops, socialises etc all in a very small radius. Even if they live in busy cities many people live and work long distances from one another. Dead easy to use public transport if you are on direct lines/routes in one location. Much harder and more time consuming when it involves more than one connection, opposite directions, anti social hours etc which many people deal with.

We have three vehicles DH work can, my little run around and the family car. We live rurally with two buses a week so can't rely on public transport. I had my own car when I first met DH and have always continued to do so. However I was toying with the idea of getting rid of my car because I don't use it that much but DH'S van is off the road so thank goodness I still have my car for school runs etc. I don't have an issue with it being bad for the environment - you can only drive one at a time and I haven't been on a plane for over 25 years!

Having your own car is completely essential to me so my and DH have one each. I bought my first car as soon as I passed my test aged 19 and would never give it up to rely on DH's.

For me it's about having my own independence and being able to do what I want when I want without having to ask someone else to use a car.

Both mine & DHs families think the same so it was completely normal for us growing up. I don't know anyone who does actually share a car.

Our eldest DC is about to turn 17 with DC2 the year after and we will buy them both a car each as we agree how important it is.

We are in no means rich, live month to month and have no savings, but we prioritise having a car each and we always will.

I don't think it's anyone's business what you choose to spend your money on and is very rude to comment on it.

It’s not just about living rurally.

I live in a town with great transport links and didn’t drive at all for many years. During that time there were various jobs I either turned down or never applied for and places and events I didn’t go to. I did convoluted bus trips to places only a few miles away if I really needed to go. Doing the job I do now would involve a two-hour multi-state, multi-transport commute instead of a half hour drive and I wouldn’t be able to do a class I do in a nearby city at all if I didn’t have my own car. It’s about 20 mins’ drive away but over an hour and a half on public transport.

Having access to good public transport really often means just being able to get to your nearest city and nearby major destinations easily. Not that you can do without a car - not without cutting down on your options anyway.

Ok macandcheeseballs you’ve convinced me. I’ve just put my car up for sale based on your two one liner posts.

Thank you for doing so much research into my weekly plans and for looking up stations and journey planners for me. I’m very grateful.

Many people have to have two. I didn't with exh because we lived in a city and close to work so I either dropped him at work on my way to work (and picked him up afterwards, it was only 10 mins from my house) or he walked/cycled. Now I live with dp and we both have cars because we work in opposite directions and there's no suitable public transport (15 mins by car for each of us but 1 hour 30 by 2 buses)

Tokyo, sorry what I meant was I don't put much value on 'high standard of care' at nurseries, hence would opt for closest one, so your values are probably higher than mine, if that makes sense!

Jackie weaver, you're welcome

@TheAntiGardener I use my car more in a town than I did in a village. In the village our daily necessities were within walking distance, schools, post office, hairdressers, football club. In our town everything is so spread out, and particularly due to the schools allocated I feel like I live in my car. I hate it and really didn't factor it in before moving, I assumed as we had to drive 10 miles for everything else out our village that we'd drive less overall (not realising what school places we'd get admittedly) so now I use 2 tanks of fuel a month vs what was probably less than 1 (when home working in both situations, different when I had to work out the village obviously).

We tried to do without a second car for a long time, as we really didn't like the idea. However, for years I was leaving work at 4pm, and getting home at 6pm on a good day. Around 3 times a week the 4.15 bus would be full, and I would need to wait over an hour for the next one, and get home after 7. Now I drive it in 45 min, and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner.

I wouldn't have done it if there were better public transport links, or even if existing ones were reliable. But they are shit, and crazy expensive.

I would find it very hard to go back to one car now, though hoping to switch to electric at some point next year.

My husband and I each have our own cars. He also has a work van that he can’t drive outside of work. We could probably manage with one car, but he has had his since we started going out nearly 10 years ago, and I bought mine outright 2 years ago. We don’t need to sell one yet, so we haven’t.

@nameswap48 - I’d never have thought town v country would involve more driving either. Good to know because I mentally rule out anywhere rural as I’m not a keen driver! But, yes, it really goes to show that if you don’t have access to a car when you need it your mobility is reduced massively. For me I’d be fine getting into the city centre (just 15 mins in fact), anywhere reachable on foot and a few other local places. Other than that, forget about it.

@Macncheeseballs

Why do so many choose things like nurseries so far away from their homes, little kids being ferried around every morning in toxic traffic

I chose mine because it was closer to work, if anything happened then I could be there quicker instead of driving 20 miles to the one nearest home. HTH

Trapped, yes I can see why that's necessary, not sure everyone is doing that mind.

@Macncheeseballs

Why do so many choose things like nurseries so far away from their homes, little kids being ferried around every morning in toxic traffic

Because the closest nursery was awful. Disinterested staff, children looked bored and it was a dump. It was also attached to a school with a dreadful OFSTED report.

Is that enough justification for you?

WRT schools because I didn't put down the hideous school above, I selected 6 other primaries within a 2 - 10 mile radius. She was allocated a place at the school which is 10miles away.

HTH

It would be interesting to see what this does to sales in electric vehicles. Earlier this year DH was considering a job which would involve driving every day. We had an electric car lined up because the idea of driving every day in our current car just wasn't ok with us.

Charging infrastructure is getting better and is more than possible for every family/person commuting. But I suspect most people have excuses not to switch.

I also suspect the idea of travelling by means other than a personal car isn't a consideration to many people when purchasing a house, or committing to schools or activities.

We’re a one car household but definitely an anomaly amongst friends and neighbours. It’s nice to be able to say it’s better for the environment but frankly we only have one because I stopped driving due to surgery and have yet to get back into it. We both work from home now so really don’t need a second car right now. I wouldn’t equate a two car household with being rich. It’s a necessity for many.

Slightly off topic but I do marvel at the sheer number of expensive cars out there and how much of people’s incomes must go on their cars.

Iachy, I get that some people are allocated schools far away, not out of choice, but you chose the one 10 miles away

Everyone has their priorities don’t they - but I do think that more often than not when people insist they NEED 2 cars what they mean is that they don’t like the alternatives. I know lots of people local to me who have 2 cars and insist they couldn’t do without, I live in a city with excellent public transport links within the city and beyond and I’ve managed perfectly well without a car for years. I bought a car recently not because I NEED one but because I wanted one. People make choices. Other people don’t have to approve of your choices do they.

Incidentally it’s amazing the number of people who have treated me like I had a disability when I didn’t have a car, or assumed that I must be struggling financially. Same people also didn’t like that when I bought a car I chose to get a used but very new car - apparently I was being “flash”! You can’t win…..

As both partners within a household started working (i.e. less of the 50s stereotype of man work, woman cook) it of course would have to follow that both would need their own transport too.

@Stellaris22 with the cost of energy going up dramatically at the moment I would be hugely apprehensive about buying an electric car right now, I'd want to see what happens with gas prices first, I'm sure others will feel the same so not sure what this temporary petrol blip will realistically do to electric car sales.

We are a low income family and we have 2 cars. We live somewhere with no public transport and my DH is a shiftworker who does very unpredictable hours. If we didn't have 2 cars I would basically be trapped at home and wouldn't even be able to do a food shop or book a GP appointment for the children.

I just don't see what the hell it's got to do with anyone else.
They can jog on.

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.

How is it ‘hypocritical’?

They’re not saying you can’t or shouldn’t have two cars….? They’re just saying you must be rich. Which, if they don’t work, they probably do think you are - at least, compared to them.

Nothing ‘hypocritical’ about it.

It really doesn’t matter. You know your own circumstances - so 🤷🏻‍♀️