An Extension

Four days. That's all that is left of November, meaning that our one car experiment is nearing the finish line. But you never even updated us, you're thinking. That's right, I have yet to write another word about November's challenge. Until now.

Why did I leave you all wondering about this? Mainly it's because it was such a seamless transition that I frankly forgot we were doing it at all. It was not until this weekend when The Hubs was planning to work on Ghetto Car that I remembered.

So did I cheat? Not once. Ghetto car is still sitting unfixed, collecting dust and kitty prints in the garage. After finally looking at parts online, we realized it would be at least $600 to fix-a few hundred more than originally anticipated. I was not convinced that it was worth it. Then, in a harsh twist of fate, Nicer Looking Car started leaking oil and the driver's side interior door handle fell off. Great, even more money to shell out into vehicles.

Instead of working on either car this weekend, we were stuck in a dilemma. Fix one car, sell the other? Fix both cars? Sell both cars and get a good used car that won't need all this work? We own both cars outright--no loans. Trade-in value between both cars is a mere 5k according to Kelley Blue Book. Yet, Nicer Looking car needs about $600 worth of work. Ghetto car needs at least $600 worth of work. And those prices are if The Hubs does all the labor. Plus, each car is at least ten years old and over 100k miles--making them due to continually have problems arise. Weighing the pros and cons of each car and scenario, we felt stuck. A newer car would be fantastic, but I love our savings account a little too much right now. Both of the cars we own have their flaws and features. What's a family to do?!

Extend. After much deliberation, we decided to keep both cars, work on Nicer Looking Car, stay as a one (working) car family, and see how it goes. Since we don't have car loans, we aren't concerned about forking over money every month for a non-functioning car. As for car insurance, it's about the same price for two cars with the bare minimum as it is for one car with good insurance (we feel that if we only have one car, premium car insurance is safer because we have no fall back vehicle to turn to). Gas money is about the same, if not a little less.

All that we miss with having only one car is about an hour of sleep, The Hubs' pride, and being somewhat homebound for 24ish hours. Oh yeah, and the firefighters at The Hubs' station getting to see me at my "just rolled out of bed" best when he's dropped off. There goes both of our pride.


What about you? Could you pull off being a one-car household? Have you ever given it a shot? Feel inspired? Let's chat!

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