Conventional wisdom states that downsizing is an effective way to simply your life. We 'downsized' to one vehicle three years ago, when my husband blew the head gasket on my baby, my Subaru Forester, while driving up to Copper Mountain to go skiing. This was a very abrupt transition into the land of ONE VEHICLE. We have managed, for the most part, quite well. Luckily it happened in the spring, so all during that spring and summer Dean managed his 70 mile roundtrip commute to work by a combination of bus and bicycle, but I'm sure that it wasn't easy or fun. That fall Dean lucked out and got into a commuter van route, and it has served him well for all this time. Dean got the word two months ago in mid-January that the company that owns the vans was ending his route. Dean's van had a few riders come and go over the years, but the riders had dropped off, and it was no longer sustainable when four riders dropped to just three. Even though Dean and the others tried to find other riders, it wasn't going to last. We had a month to figure out what Dean was going to do.
I went into panic mode. That spring and summer that we adjusted to having one car was also a moment of reckoning and when we made the jump and began Financial Peace University. Without the financial burden of a second car (we owned it, but there was still insurance, annual registration and maintenance), we could do so much more with our debt snowball. And now, when we were sooo close to paying off all our debts and poised to sell our house and move into something that could accommodate our growing children, coming up with a down payment, and finding extra money in the budget for a car payment, insurance, taxes, registration, fuel, maintenance... pretty much decimated our snowball.
But. Life with one car has not been easy. Juggling multiple schedules - especially on busy Saturdays - meant multiple headaches. We've had to miss stuff, be late to stuff, be early to stuff and sit and wait in the car, or drive back and forth for three solid hours to drop-off and pick-up various adults and children. There were weekends that the kids and I stayed home, while Dean took out all of the car seats and loaded up the van with scouts and gear and went camping. I actually liked those weekends, because then I could just stay put with the kids. There was always the worry though, about a multitude of "What if???" scenarios that crossed my mind. There were also several times that my either my mom or my dad had to come to our rescue and lend us his or her car when schedules dictated that we had to be in two different places at the same time. Every week meant a new plan, where we would have to negotiate the family schedule and figure out who needed to be where and when.
It also has not been easy on Dean. It meant a huge loss of personal freedom for him. He couldn't just take off from work during his lunch hour and do some errands or go to an appointment - that had to be scheduled with the other van riders, and he could only put so many miles on the van. It also meant that he could no longer go to work early to take part in spin classes, or stay late when a deadline was looming. He couldn't run errands after work, he couldn't stay after work and participate in any of the social things he used to do like golf league, training rides or poker nights.
I think that downsizing to one car makes great sense for some - couples or families with fewer children. For us, though, it actually made life much more complicated. I am glad for the experience, because when push came to shove we know we can pull it together and manage it, and it did influence our decisions and help us say 'no' to some things. But the very nature of our home school experience and our suburban surroundings, when the activities we do are spread far and wide, morning, afternoon and evening, means we have to travel by vehicle to 95% of what we do. It's sad, and I wish it weren't that way...but it is what it is.
So, taking into account all the benefits of having one car versus all of the headaches that it means for this suburban family, I am feeling very grateful that in the end we managed a very good deal on a new car, and were blessed with a most fortunate timing of a tax refund and small work bonus. We were also rewarded for all of our hard work on maintaining a tight budget while working our snowball with an excellent loan rate (0.9%) because of a good credit rating in relation to the much lower debt load we are now carrying. If all goes well, in 2-3 years' time we can revive the dream of moving. Most of all, I have a happy husband. :) He has waited a long, long time for this day - and the new car, a Mazda CX-5, is a fun ride!
