For many families living in suburban or rural parts of the UK, having two cars is pretty normal — especially where commuting, school runs and daily errands aren’t easily done by public transport. But since getting married we decided to only have one car, and have continued with that decision since having children. And recently I’ve noticed more and more families are managing with one car. Even people with multiple children. Even people where one of them does shift work. Even people where both of them work in different locations. They’re just making it work.
There will be many reasons for this, but although it’s harder to only have one car, we’ve found that it’s been overall a much better decision for our family. Here are some reasons why:
- Cheaper running costs
Life is getting more and more expensive with the rising living costs and inflation in the UK. Having two cars means two MOTs, two services, two tanks to fill, two insurance policies and, unless you’re lucky enough to have a new car, double the garage costs to fix issues. And it’s a lot for just one car.
Could we afford a second car? Yes, we probably could, but it would mean cutting our budget somewhere else, like no holidays, less spending on birthdays etc. With a tight budget, the cost of a second car takes a lot out of that budget, and quite simply – it isn’t worth it.
- More family decision making
When there’s only one car, everyone in the family is forced to think more about each other. It requires being more aware of everyone’s schedule. You can’t assume the car will be free, someone else may need it. It may mean someone can’t go to something because there are two conflicting events, so you’re going to have to work out that problem together to find the best solution. You have to compromise your own plans sometimes. And that’s a good thing to learn as a child.
- More intentionality = less driving
If there are two cars, you don’t necessarily have to think hard about how to make everything work logistically. But you really do with one car. You will have to make a plan as to how to get everywhere you need to go, by the smartest route possible to take the least amount of time. So with one car, you’ll be more intentional about what needs to be done. And one better planned journey is cheaper than two hastily thought out journeys.
- Limits extra curricular activities
Extra curricular activities seem to be more popular than ever for children today. Everyday children are being carted around to various sports clubs, hobbies or activities. Having read about the effects on children in books like The Anxious Generation, and what we have seen in some families around us, we will stick with minimal extra curricular activities. Obviously, you can make this decision if you have two cars, but having only one car really does act as a natural filter from over scheduling. You can’t physically drive two children to two different clubs at the same time. And not only regular activities, but also events like birthday parties and other things at the weekend. We simply can’t get to everything sometimes, so it means saying no more.
- More healthy
If one person has the car, if the other person wants to go out, then the only way to do that is to walk or cycle to the destination or use public transport. That means doing a nursery run in the pram, come rain or shine. That means going to the library or the park, instead of driving somewhere else. That means walking to the hairdressers, or the post office even if that’s 30 minutes away. Realistically, if you have a car at your disposal, the temptation to use it is too great. So we’re all doing a lot more walking.
- More time together
You will end up having your family together in the car more if you only have one car, because you might have to drop one parent at the station, and then all the family will have to join because you can’t leave them alone. Then it means a journey you’re all doing together listening to things or talking together, simply because one parent can’t just drive them self somewhere.
- Less pollution
We’re not huge eco warriors, but it’s good to have less cars driving around isn’t it? Less cars means less pollution and less traffic and less risk of driving related incidents. It’s always nice being somewhere with less cars and this means we’re doing what we can to reduce local pollution.
- Shop locally
Although we get our main food shop delivered, if the car isn’t available then we end up using our local shops and amenities more than we would otherwise. This means if we have some guests that we weren’t expecting when we did the food shop, we go to the butchers or the convenience store. It means if someone is visiting, we’ll go to our local coffee shop rather than driving to a garden centre. It means getting my hair cut in our local hairdressers because I can walk to it. It might mean meeting a friend at a local pub. We all want to shop local, but this forces us to put more into our community rather than always outside of it.
I’m not suggesting you sell that second car tomorrow. But I do think families should make decisions about significant things like a second car in view of their family directions and values, rather than a stand alone decision, a simple budget calculation or because they’ve always had two cars. And maybe some of the benefits mentioned above might have a positive impact on your family like it has for ours.
