To ask if you have successfully become a one car family

[TheSecondMrsTanqueray]

DH gets the train to work. I mostly wfh now. DD uses my car when she's home from uni but, although, we live rurally there is public transport and we could put her on DH's insurance.

Anyone given up a car? How did it go and were the savings worth it?

Re food shopping...
I have a delivery pass that is unlimited deliveries for £8 a month. We generally get two a week.

It so heavily depends on the intricacies of your life - not just rural/city status. You should decide based on your exact requirements and not any judgement from anyone else or how you think anyone will perceive you.

Never had two cars, but we have never needed a second one.

Yes we have only one car, for a while I was working on agency not all the year (to fit in with school) so didnt want to tie myself financially to the cost of a car

I now have a permanent job on 30 hours which ties in beautifully with the local bus. OH also works a 4 on 4 off shift so I have use of the cars then...works for us

or are lucky enough to have everything close together so they don't have to do a multistage journey of work via school and childcare drop off and the same on the way home, which would be impossible on public transport

But it isn't always luck. I could have bought a cheaper house that was much bigger than my current home but I prioritised living close to school, transport and high street.

This is exactly what we did. We chose our house specifically to be in walking distance to work, school shops etc. However, both you and I could afford to buy a more expensive home. I think many people can't afford to live in areas closer to their commitments so they end up buying cheaper housing far away and are therefore dependent on their cars. I wish public transport was better.

We have more than one car but very rarely use two at the same time so, in theory, it would work for us.

In practice it might not because the most versatile car is a largish 4x4 SUV and it would make most sense to keep that. That would mean using it for every journey wherever we are going which wouldn’t please the SUV haters.

We did, and to be honest we could have managed without two a long time ago, but I inherited my dad's car. Our daughter now has that car, and as we are both retired it's hardly ever been a problem to manage with one. I have occasionally got a taxi, and the hospital is on a bus route from our house, so it's actually easier to take the bus rather than park up there.

DH and I successfully had one car when we both lived and worked in a town with good public transport. I think the key to success is that you can both independently achieve the majority of your weekly journeys without a car.

We managed to continue with one car even whilst our DC were babies until we relocated to a rural area.

Where we live now, with the jobs we do and the activities our DC do one car would be prohibitively expensive compared to two cars.

I have been testing this theory this past week and a half as one car has a fault and the dealership were not able to offer a courtesy car at short notice. I have just totted up what I've spent on taxis and I definitely should have just hired a car. Even with calling in every favour from friends we have spent over £340! However, I think when the DC have left home one car might be possible with careful planning and the odd taxi. We do have some limited public transport but of course it never goes where you want on the day you need it to go!

@SallyWD I agree that people have budget constraints but in most parts of London for example the houses closer to the particular high street will be smaller and as you go a bit further away the houses get bigger, people have drives, bigger gardens. Often the houses are the same price or cheaper. Some just prioritise amenities and some want space. My friend and I moved at the same time and we had the same budget. She was desperate for a detached & Im in a terrace. Even though we live in the same area we have quite different set ups because I'm a 7min walk from stuff and she is a 30 min walk (uphill). Her family needs 2 cars and she spends a lot of her time as a taxi for her dc. I grew up minutes from amenities so I know the benefit of them particularly for when my dc get older & couldn't imagine living any other way.

I have 5 children and we manage with just 1 car. Husband has a motorbike right enough but doesn’t that that daily. School, nursery etc is all
walkingd distance.

We live semi rurally but have 2 cities within a 45 min bus journey. We have one car but I'm only having to travel to the office once a week and H twice. It does take coordination and compromise but we are literally saving hundreds of pounds a month not running two cars. Teen gets the bus to college and school is easy walking distance. I walk to exercise classes, shops etc.

It's worth it for us. Will probably get another car when teen learns to drive mostly for him to use.

If we lived right in a city like London we wouldn't have a car at all as the public transport is so good.

City centre, both WFH, wal everywhere, car pool wit other parents for 3 DCs' activities. Simples!

We've never had more than 1 car.

Sister and BIL have two cars but my niece is using one for work. It’s not going well…

We are fine with it, we both work and have 2 under 2. It helps we live in a city with 4 stations within walking distance and an ok bus service. Plus none of mind walking. Having 2 cars is just too expensive for us

We’re a one car family and have been for about 5 years. There’s occasional days when we have appointments in opposite directions at the same time but the majority of the time we manage perfectly fine with the car and the bus when needed

We have done a trail for the last 3 months and it is working for us. Although occasionally partner gets the bus for work.
It depends on lifestyle, jobs, public transport and the location of your jobs and the amenities you need.

Yes, we have. For a year and a half now, after my car (thankfully the smaller one, but annoyingly the nicer one) died.

We live in the centre of a small town and have four children. Both of us can work from home (we alternate who’s in the office, and the other only works a 10 min drive away). If either has a work trip away we think about the week ahead and either make sure the person at home has no need for a car/can borrow/hire one/uber or taxi. It’s still cheaper than having two cars.

Two of the kids go to school 3 min walk away, one a 15 min walk away and the last a train journey away (we live 10 min walk from the station). There are corner shops, Uber eats/deliveroo, 15 min walk to the nearest supermarket.

I’d prefer the ease of having two cars, and we could afford to replace my car, but it became hard to justify the extra cost when it only affects us a few times a year. That being said my eldest is going to learn to drive soon, so we’ll get a small manual run around then (I only have an automatic licence). It’ll also mean I can become named driver on our current car so can keep my no claims, and my husband on the manual, with child as extra.

We can only make it work because of our life. Proximity to schools, work, shops, public transport, friends is really important, alongside a heap tonne of flexibility.

We were a one-car family for most of our time, from the start of our relationship until October 2023, and then became a no-car family. Far, far less stress about MOT, tax, insurance, residence parking permits, etc. We've hired a car 3-4 times for specific things, and that's worked out a lot cheaper than owning one.

Very easy for us and we live in a rural village with no real public transport to speak of.

Husband wfh and we just talk about who needs the car when.

Occasionally we both need it at the same time and then we use a taxi - so much cheaper than running two cars.

We are a larger family and recently got rid of our second car we just have one now. My partner only works around the corner and I stay home. On the whole it works pretty well, there are some times where it can be difficult (if we need to be in two places) but its not annoyed us to the point we want to get another car yet. The savings are more worth it to us, and I feel like I’m doing something for the environment. It might change in the future but for now it’s manageable!

Well are you going to share fairly or is your DH going to get the car every time there is a clash? Because that's what I see happening a lot....

We’ve only ever had one car. Two dc. We make it work.

We dropped a car and DH picked up a motorbike, works well for us, he rides the motorbike around 10 miles a day to and from work. Seemed an awful waste to have two cars when one was basically doing < 80 miles a week.