The big news in our house is that we have decided to have a trial period of using one car. I have to admit that this is mainly instigated by me. I have been saying for a long time that we could manage with one car. My husband has recently had knee surgery and could not drive for 2 weeks so it seemed like a good time to give it a go!
We have worked out that, before any maintenance, assuming the car never has anything wrong with it (yeah right!!) and not including depreciation, it costs us £600 a year before we even leave the drive. Add to this depreciation, wear and tear, maintenance and petrol and we are talking substantial costs. Then consider the environmental costs of running two cars and we just can't justify it any more.
I realise we are lucky because my husband works from home a lot of the time. I tend to cycle to heybaby* and the kids go to school within cycle/scooter distance.
We have not agreed how long we are going to 'trial' this for. We are currently in week 3 and our first major challenge has arisen this morning. Our car was in the garage on the other side of town for an MOT and needed to be collected. Our two and a half year old also needed to come with me to collect it (husband working and can't walk that far anyway, post knee op). Normally I would just hop on the bike, seat on the back for my daughter, no problem! However, the bike does not fit in the car. Of course, my luck being what it is, it was raining this morning too!
'No problem', I thought, the boys can scooter to school, I will take the Mountain Buggy with rain cover and walk it. Imagine the scene when I realised I had left my trusty Mountain Buggy locked in the car boot at the garage.
At this point my husband offered to drive me in the other car (the one we are not, under the terms of the trial period, allowed to use!) It took some will power but I declined. We got the Like a Bike and the waterproof suit out and off we went!
I have been wearing a smug smile ever since. First hurdle cleared. I will let you know how we get on!
Nicely done. We have only been able to afford one care here in Perth and things tend to be a long way from one another. The car went into the shop for a warranty repair and like you I had to find a way to collect it. As luck would have it I had a client meeting only a couple of miles away, so was able to take a series of buses to get to the garage... Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteGet you blogspotter - brave move, good move tho, wish we could do it!
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