Becoming a One Car Family

            In my quest for frugality, I realized that one place that sort of unnecessarily drains money every month is our second car. Now, I know that it may be impossible for some families to live with only one car, but we are making it work.

            I only have one child, and my husband works about half a mile from our house, so I recognize that our situation is unique. For the sake of full disclosure, however, I will share this frugal tip:

            Become a one car family. I now either drop my husband off at work every morning (yes, I lug my son into his car seat—sometimes still in his pajamas), or I live without a car for the day. I also recognize that because my extended family lives within a mile of my house, I’m also at an unfair advantage to most of the population, but bear with me.

            By suspending the insurance on one of our cars (if you drop the insurance completely you will have to pay a down payment when you renew), we are saving about $60/month on insurance, and we are saving some gas money as well. It may be worth the extra expense to you for the convenience of the second car, but for those of you who are seeking to be frugal by necessity, dropping the second car could save you enough each month for groceries or for a cell phone bill.

            I will be honest, it is really difficult some days. I get frustrated at times, but it will pay off at the end of the month if you sacrifice convenience now. Also, if you don’t sell the extra car and merely suspend the insurance for a while (our insurance company will let you do it for up to six months), you will still have a car when it becomes a necessity again, and you won’t have to pay a down payment on a new car, or pay to buy the new car.

            More to come in my frugal adventures!