Redefining the Meaning of Wealth

Our trusty Toyota Prius

Several years ago, my husband’s 86’ Volvo started having major problems. We didn’t feel the expense to maintain the car was worth it, so we donated her to an animal charity-Animal Farm. Thus this event marked the beginning of our one car household experiment.

As we set out on this adventure we were curious to see if we could do it. And more importantly, could we do it in Los Angeles- a city where one car per person is seen by many as a necessity. Since I love to challenge the “status-quo” I was gun-ho to make a one car household a reality, even if only for a few short years.

It’s been over four years now, and I’m happy to report our attempt to get by with one car has been successful. When I mention to people we only have one car, many are shocked but curious to know how we do it.  I tell them that coordinating work schedules is the most difficult aspect, but it can be done. Once we got into the swing of things, it became second nature.

I would drop my husband off at work every morning and then head on over to my workplace. We decided I would keep the car during the day since my employer did not charge us to park and my husband’s employer did. In the evenings, I would swing by and get David. Sometimes, he had to wait ½ hour or so, but we still figured the savings were worth it. If he ever wanted to go on without me, he would hop on the Big Blue Bus and make it home in less than an hour.

The rest is easy because we do most errands and socializing together anyway. If one person needs the car for something the other is not involved in, then we adjust and accommodate each other. In other words, we have learned to share. So far there have been no fights!

When we began the transition to a one car household, we told ourselves (and still do) that if at any time our quality of life begins to drastically suffer, then we would make a trade-off somewhere else in our budget and buy a new car. So far so good! We’ve been successful because we have been willing to be inconvenienced a little bit in order to save money. However, the interesting thing is since we have settled into this lifestyle we haven’t felt inconvenienced at all.

Our main reason for not getting another car was the expense. It didn’t make financial sense to us to buy another car that would just sit in a parking garage all day while we were at work.  We also like the environmental impact as well, although I’ll admit it was not our main motivation. However it was our motivation to buy our 2001 Toyota Prius when those came out on the market.

Our one car household decision has proved to be a Godsend for us now that I’m not working. I still take David to work and pick him up at the end of the day. Since our income is much less than it was when I was working, not having additional expenses for an extra car is a great factor in helping us get through this chapter in our lives.

Living with one car between two people has made our lives much richer. We keep more of our hard earned money and we have quality visiting time on our commutes. More importantly, we are learning that you don’t have to follow the crowd and do certain things just because everyone else is doing them. And of course we are learning to share-just like they taught us in kindergarten!